How to Be Build Resilience

Are you a program manager or want to be one?  Salespeople and program manager “seller/do-ers” have to be courageous, determined, and persistent people.  Are you persistent and determined?

Persistence is defined as “continuing in a course of action, without regard to difficulties, obstacles, or previous failures; see: ‘relentless’ “.   I particularly like that last bit:  “see: ‘relentless’.”   People and events that seek to sap your courage and persistence are relentless, aren’t they?   We shall strive to be relentless in return.

A COMPLIMENT

I’d been with Radian Corporation about a year.  My team had recently won an environmental clean-up and construction project from Chevron Chemical in Los Angeles.  I was having a good run.  An experienced construction manager was interviewing with Radian; the program managers were meeting to vote on the candidate.  One of the regional managers summed up his view of the candidate, “He’s a strong contender.  But he’s no Eva.”  Bob gave me that beautiful compliment in 1992 and I have never forgotten it.

RELENTLESS PERSISTENCE

I believe Bob was referring to my persistence and determination to win.  Quoting Webster’s definition above, I worked then, and I strive to work now, to persist in a course of action “without regard to difficulties, obstacles, or previous failures.”  It’s that last bit – “without regard to previous failures” – that hangs us up the most.  But why should we let them?  If you’d known the perfect solution to the problem, you’d have done it already.  You didn’t know.  You didn’t know.  If you knew, you’d have done it already.  Keep going straight ahead.  Be relentless.  Be persistent.

Bob said I was persistent.  I wonder if he thought of me as “relentless”.  I hope so.

Thanks, Bob.