What will your next “tough time” reveal?

This week I had the honor of speaking to and learning with a data driven, big and growing business with excellent culture who just came through a tough year. Their exec team kicked off the company-wide in person meeting with truth and optimism and had the room nodding and laughing in minutes. The Exec VP of Sales – who oversaw both the painful slumps throughout the year and the bottom-of-the-ninth incredible December sales numbers – centered his remarks around a great paraphrase of a quote from author James Lane Allen. The exec, let’s call him Steve (because that’s his name), said:

Tough times don’t build character, they reveal character.

He’s right – in the struggle we use the strength and skills and character we have. If we’ve build up resilience, integrity, perseverance and motivation we use them. If we have strong network and high trust, we draw on those. And if we have been skating along, being (as my Grandma would say) “no better than we had to be” we will probably stop skating as we fall through the ice into the frigid waters below. Harsh, I know.

He also revealed a challenge. We can use the tough times to strengthen “future us” at the same time that they reveal our current character. While the quote “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is not actually reliable (we all know someone who goes through hard things and is overwhelmed every single time) we can use the difficulty in the same way we can use exercise. Meaning that, although most of us don’t like stress or exercise, they can both make us stronger next week, month or year.

But the best lesson underlined by Steve’s inspirational kick-off is this:

Build character in the “regular” times so that the tough times reveal your best.

What tough times have you experienced recently? What did you learn or prove about yourself? Hit reply, I’m truly interested in your answer.

All my best,

Dr. G