Adversity ( from 2014)
I am posting a paper I wrote in 2014. I have been going through my old documents and have been finding some very insightful ideals that I would like to share with followers of PA Provisions.
William Paul Bosanac OLEAD 409: Adversity and Learning
Author Note Penn State University (Organizational Leadership Program)
Adversity Defined. Warren Bennis states, “The worst problem leaders can face, says is “early success. There’s no opportunity to learn from adversity and problems. Adversity being defined in the Webster-Merriam Dictionary as, a difficult situation or condition. Misfortune or tragedy. Everyone experiences these situations in life, but it is what you learn from these experiences that matters. Many times we expect things to go as planned. When they don’t, we get upset and focus on those feelings rather than focusing on why things went wrong and how to avoid those things the next time. Adversity is part of the human experience and without it one will never grow. These experiences equip an individual to be prepared for any situation and lead his or her followers in the right direction as they have already been through it before. Fail Forward I have studied many world leaders and the majority of them have had many failures in the journey to being a great leader. Michael Jordan says, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Prior to Retiring, Michael Jordan won six NBA titles and was looked to by not only his teammates as a leader, but an entire nation. Ludwig van Beethoven is widely regarded as one of history’s supreme composers. Before the start of his career, Beethoven’s music teacher said “as a composer, he is hopeless”. He also lost his hearing yet he managed to produce great music. He went on to compose nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, one opera, five piano concertos, and many chamber works including some ground-breaking string quartets One of the most compelling stories of adversity is the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln has had a barrage of misfortunes, setbacks, and adversity during his journey to leading the United States. He lost his job, was defeated for legislature, failed in business, his sweetheart (Ann Rutledge) died, 1835, he had a nervous breakdown, was defeated for nomination for Congress, was defeated for Senate, was defeated for nomination for Vice President, was again defeated for Senate, then finally Elected President. What these leaders have in common and correlates to what Bennis believes is that without the adversity and working through it, they may not have learned the skills to make them the leaders they were. Perseverance Adversity has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Raised by a single mother from the age of six months. This was difficult for me as it always bothered me to see fathers practicing sports with their sons, or helping them build things, or whatever else it is that fathers teach their sons Although I didn’t see it at the time, I actually am thankful to have learned a lot of those things on my own. If I didn’t have to teach myself a lot of those things I may have never grown up to be such a problem solver in my professional life. I also excelled in sports because I would work so hard to perfect a shot or a pitch and would not give up until I did. The other thing I am thankful for is being forced to move out on my own at the age of 17. This was a difficult time for me, but by the time I was in my mid-twenties and all of my peers were struggling with finances or still living with their parents, I had already been managing my life for five years. I am in my mid-thirties now, and although I am still working to finish my bachelor’s degree, and am not quite at the level I thought I would be in my career. I feel like I have experienced so many things, handled tremendous adversity, and learned from every bit of it. Once I reach the career level I am striving for, a leadership role, it should be a smooth transition. Now that I think about it. It probably won’t go as smooth as I would hope, but that’s ok. I will learn from that adversity as well.
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