How - Dov Seidman [149]
THE LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK, CONTINUED
In Spite Of
Everything worth doing encounters resistance along the way. To move a big rock requires you to fight gravity and inertia. To climb a mountain requires you to overcome the effects of thin air. Say, for instance, you return from giving a presentation to a potential partner. The discussions went well and you feel the prospect should be doing business with you and not your competitor. But one person in the meeting announced to the room that the company doesn’t have room in its budget this year. What is your attitude when you hear this? What is your disposition to obstacles?
In 1905, Madam C. J. Walker started selling a scalp conditioning and healing formula, Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower, door-to-door to African-American women throughout the South and Southeastern United States. Walker, the daughter of former slaves, had been orphaned at age 7, married at 14, and widowed with a child at 19. She worked doing laundry to put her daughter through school before she envisioned a new life for herself. “I got my start by giving myself a start,” Walker said. In spite of obstacles far greater than any that most can imagine, Walker grew her enterprise into a company that employed 3,000 people. She became the first known African-American woman to become a millionaire. “I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South,” she was fond of saying. “From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. I have built my own factory on my own ground.”7
It would be hard to imagine anyone who envisioned and accomplished so much in the face of seemingly overwhelming obstacles than C. J. Walker. She pursued her vision in spite of obstacles, and this deeply ingrained attitude was central to her ability to thrive. If you want to make a Wave happen and the person to your right doesn’t want to stand up, are you done? Do you sit back down Waveless? Yet we’ve all seen Waves happen in which people at first don’t want to stand up, but then get caught up in it. It becomes a great Wave. This can occur only when its leaders persevere in spite of initial resistance. A self-governing leadership disposition helps you ask the question, “How do we help our partner find the budget they need to support the program?”
I’ve never met a good sailor who hasn’t sailed in rough waters, and I have never seen a vision, never heard an interview, and never read a biography about someone who achieved something worthwhile that did not include stories about gutting out rough times, overcoming obstacles, and getting there in spite of all that got in the way. It’s a fact that you will face obstacles; it is a constant of life. What matters is not the obstacle, but HOW you think about obstacles, HOW you approach them, and HOW you behave in the face of them. Leaders believe they will find a way in spite of the forces aligned against them. They never walk away because of a problem. Sometimes you won’t succeed despite your best efforts, but if you don’t start with the in spite of disposition, you will seldom win.
Confront Complexity and Ambiguity
We live in a world full of conflict. Had we infinite resources, perhaps we could say yes to everything and wouldn’t need to make tough choices. Perhaps we wouldn’t even need a Leadership Framework. But the world is full of conflict, full of competing