I don’t know about you, but when I graduated college I was pretty excited to be done with school. (The jury is still out on whether or not I’ll go back.) At the time, I was most thrilled about not having anymore homework.

What I didn’t realize then (but I realize it now) is that in a way, we never leave school. Life is one big learning lesson after another. And the “school” that has probably taught me the most is what I like to call “The Leadership School of Adversity.”

I’m going to make a bold statement: You will not be successful as a leader until you learn to embrace adversity and the stress and pressure that come with it.

In this Your Leadership Coach video, I share why adversity is such a great teacher and how we can use those not-so-pleasant seasons to serve as a catalyst for our growth and development.

 

 

Game Plan

The question we need to ask ourselves in the midst of adversity is: “What can I learn from this?” Can you think of a time when you faced stress or pressure recently? Take some time to reflect on one of those times and think about what you might learn from that experience.

Here are a couple examples:

• You encounter a poor supervisor: What can I learn from them? What will I not do if I become a supervisor?
• A project fails when you thought it would succeed: What can I learn from this? Why did it fail? What can I do better next time?
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Life is less about wins and losses and more about learning.

 

Tweetable Lesson