Persistence Pays

Make no mistake about it, being good a great leader is hard work.  You can't let your guard down, you can't get discouraged, you can't give up, and you can't let them see you sweat.  It all comes down to persistence.  Great leaders expect their team to push hard to succeed, and great teams expect a leader who demonstrates dogged determination in even the most trying circumstances.

Persistence is the willingness to maintain focus and purse your goals in spite of obstacles, the ability to keep reaching for the next rung on the ladder no matter how worn out you are, the realization that success is not always the express elevator or the rose petaled path.  The leader who can remain resolute fuels the fire that drives the team.  Determination is contagious and teams will strive for great heights as long as they know their leader is there with them, ready to offer a hand up when the going gets tough.

Perhaps the best leaders are those who master the "Anyways" from "The Paradoxical Commandments" by Dr. Kent M. Keith


People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honestry and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, It is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Master the Anyways and your team will follow you through thick and thin.