The leader must have drive and determination to stick with difficult tasks until they are completed.
According to Niccolo Machiavelli, “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain as to success, than to take the leader in the introduction of a new order of things.” Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir referred to the quality of persistence when she advised that things do not just occur in one’s life. She encouraged people to believe, be persistent, and struggle to overcome life’s obstacles. Leaders from Walt Disney to Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, have shown the importance of persistence for business success, and military leaders from Ulysses Grant to George Patton have proved its importance on the battlefield. However, no better example exists to show the importance of fierce resolve as a leadership quality than that of Winston Churchill. Historians agree that his leader, with his bulldog will, was a determining element in the success of the Allied nations in defeating the Axis powers in World War II. In the face of impossible odds and seemingly certain defeat, Churchill rallied his people. Simply, he would not give in: he would not give up.
If you are the leader, ask, Do I have self-drive and unflagging persistence to overcome adversity even when others lose their strength and their will?
If you are just starting to read the Leadership Qualities Series, check out the first post about it and then read the other entries in the series.
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