“Just keep swimming.”​ Dory.

We talked recently about leaders who use the value of nerve to welcome problems and tackle the inevitable bumps in the road head-on. Today we would like to share our top tips on tenacity which underpins the value of nerve.

Tenacity: without the gentle persistence and fierce determination that comes with the value of tenacity, leaders might let themselves off the hook from leaning-into said bumps in the road. While the temporary relief of avoidance can feel good, it’s also a great incubator for longer term problems. Great leaders use tenacity to stay the course even when they’d rather not. Here’s how they do it:

• We get it, leadership can be a slog. But no one ever said it was going to be easy. Drawing down on the value of tenacity helps you to dig-in and stay on target when the going gets tough [which it inevitably will].
• On the topic of staying on target, tenacious leaders develop a plan and they know how to stick to it, while at the same time remaining open and flexible to data that indicates a need to chart a different course. They don’t knee-jerk, nor do they give up after this first, second, third, or subsequent hurdle.
• Which takes us to our final tip around tenacity and the idea of remaining constructively discontented. Leaders who role model tenacity understand this paradox and accept that it is completely okay [and necessary] to be satisfied, happy, and grateful for where they [and their team] are today, while simultaneously holding a desire, ambition, and vision for better, more, or different. While sometimes the seductive pull of focusing on the next new thing can be strong, leading with tenacity helps you to remember that here is no better than there, and that there is no better than here…except when it is ;)

How tenacious are you?