I’m sharing my personal and professional thoughts with you here on my campaign website for three reasons.
First – You should know who I am. What I value. What and Who I care about. And what kind of voice and leader I aspire to be for the City of Poulsbo.Second – You might learn something for your own life, be it personal or professional.Third – You might just simply enjoy it. I hope you do!
Grit.
Great word, but what’s it really mean?
Resolve. Perseverance. Resilience. Determination. Toughness.
Yeah, in my opinion all of those. Maybe it’s the pithy four-letter word that wraps up all the other ones into one neat description.
The word “experience” gets tossed around a lot in multiple circles of life. You hear it referred to in business (especially for job postings and promotions), in athletics, in entertainment, and in politics, to name just a few. In my own mayoral run this year, the word “experience” has already made its appearance!
If you’ve lived long enough, you will gain “experience.” Everything we do, every job we’ve held, every opportunity we’ve had to lead, and every time we’ve ever had to be resilient matters. All of those life moments lead to who shows grit.
Our experience is shaped by the wins and losses we face. We develop grit from all of it.
It reminds me of one experience in my life that has helped me in my journey.
A little over 30 years ago, I was a volunteer firefighter in the residential community where we lived. We were a 100 percent volunteer staffed station.
In the almost two years of serving, I participated in two fires and many more emergency medical calls. This experience didn’t shape my life into a career in the fire service. Rather, it taught me a more valuable lesson.
In every scenario that I was called into, I was part of a team. Now, I’d been part of teams before in athletics. But this team wasn’t about made baskets or putts; this team was about life and death.
In medical emergencies, someone was in distress. While the peril may not have been life threatening in the moment, someone was counting on us to help in a time of great need. But when that call came in, we didn’t know.
In the case of the fire calls, it was our own mortality that we had to trust to each other.
As a team, we had to put aside any biases, personalities, or conflicts to act as one.
This “experience” has helped define my life in the work that I’ve done, how I’ve coached my teams, and how I’ve led people. I learned how to put aside differences in agendas and personalities to work collaboratively. It hasn’t always been perfect and it’s not supposed to be. However, that experience has been a valuable part of my life development.
You have many examples in your life. What do you draw from when facing adversity, when needing to make an important decision, or when simply needing to fight through a day?
That’s grit.
We all have experience that propels us to lead, whether that’s a family, a business, a team, or a city.
Embrace your experience. It’s what has given, and will continue to give you, true grit.
Keep chasing unleashed.
Quote of the Week:
“Grit is that ‘extra something’ that separates the most successful people from the rest. It’s the passion, perseverance, and stamina that we must channel in order to stick with our dreams until they become a reality.”
~ Travis Bradberry, American author
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