This Issue: People Who Persist Have Courage

History knows no resting places and no plateaus.

-- Henry Kissinger

History is relentless because it happens every second. In other words, no resting places and no plateaus. The same applies to business--you can’t rest on your laurels, you can’t become complacent, and you have to be persistent--even when the odds are against you. That’s where courage comes in.

Hemingway coined the phrase, “Courage is grace under pressure.” Some people, when they hear the word “courage” automatically think of heroic moments in war and in calamitous situations such as earthquakes or other disasters. That of course applies, but in our daily lives we also have the opportunity to be courageous. Going at it day after day without becoming discouraged is a form of courage as well. It may not be as dramatic, but the results can be.

People are surprised when they hear I very often work 12 hour days in my office. That is the norm for me, not the exception. I know that to succeed and to remain successful, I have to be persistent. If you are working 40 hours a week and then add on another 20 hours a week for awhile, you’ll be surprised at how much more you will achieve. Prolific people are prolific for a reason.

I remember reading about Michelangelo when I was a student. That guy was not only a genius, he was unbelievably tenacious. He went to extreme lengths to achieve the results he did. He also had courage because he lived in a tumultuous time in history during which he had to deal with the de Medicis, a variety of popes, warring families, and even Savonarola. He often worked in appalling conditions. He had quarrels with the pope. How he managed to get anything accomplished in the midst of all this was amazing. He had to have persistence and courage to match his talent. Most of us don’t know the names of the popes from the sixteenth century, but most of us have heard of Michelangelo. That’s staying power.

On The Apprentice, you will notice that the candidates are not only persistent in their pursuit of landing the big job, they also had the courage to go for it in the first place. Auditions can be daunting. There were over a million applicants. Those weren’t great odds and yet they persisted. That’s why I believe there are no losers on that show. Taking the first step means these people are winners to begin with. No one likes to be rejected, and they are risking rejection in front of millions of people. I give them a lot of credit for that, and I expect all of them to succeed, whether they are chosen as my apprentice or not.

Courage means never giving up. It’s much easier to give up. Don’t take that route. Being determined enough to continue despite discouragement is probably the number one virtue necessary for success. Some very ordinary people have accomplished amazing things by simply being persistent. Abraham Lincoln is a good example. His courage made him extraordinary.

Sometimes I’m hard on people because I know they can do more, and I know they haven’t lived up to their potential. I may have more faith in their abilities than they do, so I have to be the catalyst to get them going. I remember a young executive who was in my office one day when I realized I wouldn’t be able to make a speaking engagement. I told him he would have to step in for me. He told me, “Oh, I don’t do public speaking.” So I told him, “You do now.” And do you know what? He has become an accomplished public speaker. He just needed a shove to get going. I need people who can think--and speak--on their feet, and that’s one way to develop them.

Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s the conquering of fear. Just because someone appears to be confident doesn’t mean they have no fear. Many great performers suffer from stage fright. They have to fight to overcome it. Sometimes it never goes away, but that doesn’t mean they don’t perform. They work through it, they persist. They know part of their job is having the courage to display their talent. Talent alone isn’t enough. Talent takes work and talent requires courage.

History has shown us that those who persist very often succeed. Respect yourself enough to give yourself a chance! The odds will be on your side. I expect every one of you to succeed, and I will accept no excuses. So let’s get going. History isn’t waiting for any of us.

Trust yourself. When danger comes, you will have what it takes to deal with it.

In his book Lost and Found, Dr. Arthur Caliandro writes that when he was a little boy, he and his father had a favorite game. Arthur would stand three or four steps up the stairs in their home. His father would stand on the floor below and call, “Jump, Arthur! Jump!” Arthur would hesitate. What if he jumped and his father dropped him? But when he finally got up his courage and soared out into the air, his father always caught him. What a good feeling it was to land securely in his father’s strong arms.

That story teaches a valuable lesson about courage. Until we take heart and jump into the unknown, we can never land in the place that is right for us. Yet when confronted with risk, most of us hesitate to jump.

In contrast, successful people have learned to take risks, even when experts say they are foolish to do so. Look at David Neeleman, CEO of Jet Blue Airways. He had the courage to establish a new enterprise in an industry that has been consistently unprofitable and hostile to newcomers, and to try to generate profits by charging less than his competitors, not more. Now, there is a risk-taker. He is pursuing his dream and, so far, the sun is shining on him.

How can you cultivate that kind of courage?

1) Trust yourself. If you jump, you will save yourself from harm. You might not think so, but you will because you have formidable resources on your side: your experience, talent, resilience, and common sense. Trust yourself. When danger comes, you will have what it takes to deal with it. Your own arms will catch you, just like those of a loving mom or dad. Of course, your friends and family are part of your support team, too. You rarely act alone.

2) Take smart risks. Study other companies and entrepreneurs who have done what you want to do--both the successes and the failures. Learn the skills you need to compete with the best of them. Education gives you a practical advantage.

3) Reduce risk to an acceptable level. If you are buying a building, insure it adequately. When you take on a business partner, make sure he or she has the financial resources to go the distance with you. You cannot eliminate all risks, but you can control the factors that affect your success.

4) Create worst-case scenarios for the risks you are taking. If you apply for a loan and get turned down, what is the worst thing that will happen to you then? Probably nothing serious. If you interview for a high-stakes job and get rejected, what is the real damage? Probably none. When you look at your fears realistically, you see that the lions that were causing you to freeze in place were really kittens.

5) Gain courage from the stories of notable risk-takers. Here are four that come to mind:

• David Neeleman, CEO of Jet Blue Airways - http://www.jetblue.com/learnmore/index.html
• Mikhail Gorbachev, who risked personal destruction when he struck the first blows to end Soviet communism - http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/gorbachev.html
• Abraham Lincoln, who spoke out against slavery when it was far safer to keep quiet - http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/
• Michelle Wie, the young Korean-American golfer who is demanding to compete with men in PGA events - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Wie

Because fear of failure immobilizes you, it does a lot more harm than failure itself. Think of that little boy on the stairs. Arthur jumped, and you should jump, too.

Talented people often fail because they lack the courage to act on their ideas. Some people fear risk to the point of doing too little in the name of self-preservation. The greatest risk in life is to take no risk. The worst decision of all is to decide to do nothing. A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Everyday sends to the graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.

Wherever we see greatness, we are looking at the result of someone who had the courage to act. Without action there can be no change, and without change, no improvement or growth. Fear can be immobilizing, but action sets change in motion. The best cure for fear is action. The worst kind of fear is the type that immobilizes us and prevents us from taking action. Every step of action that we take is a cause put in motion. The best way to abort the future is to let timidity stop us from pursuing our goals.

Acting with courage also takes tenacity, that quality sometimes called "stick-to-it-ness." If you are going to take risks, you must also be prepared to stick to your goals even when the going gets tough. Failure is always a possibility, but failure is simply feedback. It's how you deal with the feedback that makes the difference. Each of us must be like the proverbial rubber ball--the harder we fall, the higher we will rise. The journey of greatness is not ice-cream lane. Anyone who wishes to become great without the courage to persist or the discipline to be focused is playing make-believe in the nursery of life. Life is too serious to be spent on this type of thinking. Failure is only postponed success as long as we are willing to persist.

Not all days are the same. The temptation to give up is natural on the highway of greatness. Some indeed do give up. Failure is possible on the path to greatness. Those who do not have the courage to fail, and then persist will never know the meaning of greatness. Failure is simply feedback. It is how we deal with the feedback that makes all the difference.