adversity Archives - Capacity Building Solutions

Our Relationships End Up Being Tested When They’re Under Pressure

When everything is going smoothly, maintaining good professional relationships becomes effortless. Celebrating successes, engaging in small talk during breaks, and collaborating harmoniously on projects become relatively easy. However, when the environment changes—when there’s a significant challenge to our business model or external factors exert immense pressure—that’s when we see the true character of the relationships we’ve built.

Daily Leadership Thought #179 – Create Your Own Destiny

Courage still matters in business and in life. Many of us avoid the difficult decisions or talk ourselves out of taking risks. We strive for comfort where only pain and discomfort exists. It’s better to bet on yourself and your business and accept the consequences then to live in someone else’s shadow or become another fish in the pond of mediocrity.

The Struggle Is Part of the Journey 2.0

The struggle is part of the journey. I’ve always been a fan of the John Adams quote, “People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity.” Collectively and individually, we learn little about ourselves when things are going well. In fact, we tend to take our success for granted. The more comfort and security we achieve, the more this becomes an expectation. Unfortunately, this also means our tolerance for discomfort or challenge goes in the opposite direction

How Quickly and Randomly Life Can Change

No one is immune to life’s unpredictability. We may wake up one day with everything okay, only to end the day with everything in tatters. We may unknowingly experience the symptoms of a minor head cold, which can lead us to the brink of a pandemic. We may take our social and political stability for granted, only to watch it almost unravel before our TV screens in just one afternoon. Two planes could fly into two buildings, and one could crash into a field on a beautiful September morning that will change your sense of safety and security in the world forever. It really can happen that fast. Life can change in an instant.

Sometimes There Are No Easy Answers

The only way to survive a crisis or challenge is to first accept that it exists and then work TOGETHER toward finding the strength and wisdom to identify options and implement the best solutions. We need to channel our emotions into positive, collective action rather than divisive, petty, and ill-informed behavior. The challenge or difficulty we overcome (or not) is what will define us.

11 Things Every CEO Should Be Doing Right Now

If you are a CEO, the time to lead is now! It is a fact of life that the only constant in the world is

Leadership Thought #449 – Are You Moving Forward Or Being Held Back?

There is a famous saying that, “if you aren’t moving forward, then you are heading backwards.” I completely agree. There is no such thing as standing still in life, Time moves forwards regardless. Too many of us spend too much energy getting stuck in our present circumstances or being held back by our past. There is nothing we can do about what has already happened. All we can do is learn from it and strive to become a better person in the process. In terms of the here and now, your attitude and efforts should always be geared towards positive ends. Leave the negativity to others. My mom often used to say, “Make the best of it, whatever “it” is.” As usual, her wisdom is a beacon of light that shines through my life.

Leadership Thought #441 – Keep Pressing Forward

Life rewards persistence. Too many people give up too soon and never get to fully realize their potential or dreams. Success isn’t just about luck or good fortune. It is more about focus, hard work, determination and resolve. Everyone’s life journey has bumps along the way. Keep pressing forward even when it’s hard. Obstacles strewn along our path are just opportunities to further build our character. They also test how much we truly want something. If success always came easily then it really wouldn’t mean anything.

Leadership Thought #429 – Concern For Our Kids…

I’m very concerned about the artificial reality we are creating for kids today. Everyone gets a medal or award. Disappointment and/or adversity is to be avoided at all costs. We are also teaching our children that they are the center of the family universe and everything revolves around them: their needs, wants, etc. If we let them to think everything they do is exceptional, then ultimately nothing they do will be. We allow them to continually isolate themselves socially and retreat into the comfort of impersonal technological communication without the wisdom of understanding the dynamics of human and social interaction. We worship their youth but then push them to grow up quickly and act more mature than they actually are (or should be). It’s almost as if a whole generation of parents is trying to make up for perceived deficiencies from their own childhood. We are forgetting how to be parents, coaches and teachers and instead striving to become friends, cheerleaders and positive psychologists.

Leadership Thought #427 – Weakness Is Infectious (and Dangerous)

At the risk of sounding like an old codger (which I am not), I can’t believe how worked up people get up over common issues these days. It’s almost as if any level of adversity is intolerable. You would have thought the end the world was near the way everyone especially the media reacted to the recent winter storm. We were bombarded with worst case scenarios and impending doom. People raced to stores to stock up just in case they lost power for a few days. My goodness, can’t we handle a few days of discomfort if required? As a friend said yesterday, “Why the huge interest in toilet paper, can families really not survive a few days without TP?” Are they that close to the edge of hygienic catastrophe? I’ve seen it happen in families, businesses, schools, and communities: if you are not careful, weakness and worry is infectious. Like all significant change, it all starts with small symbolic gestures and begins to gain momentum elsewhere.