Learn to embrace the struggle

What?

How can we make ourselves more resilient to changes and challenges in our everyday lives along with our career development?  In Chapter 13 of Jaqueline Novogratz's Manifesto for a Moral Revolution, she discusses the importance of allowing ourselves to embrace the struggle in our processes. Learning to embrace the struggle allows us to not only be able to tackle difficulties more efficiently in the future but makes us savor our successes even more than what we would if we didn't work hard for those successes. How can we use past failures and barriers and turn those experiences to better ourselves and our teams to a future that is filled with more success?

So What?

Novogratz (2020) believes that we as humans are growing a new sense of awareness of our interdependence which causes us to reimagine the way we try to live by a new set of guiding principles. Even when there is a tragedy or struggle, there is a certain beauty that endures through all of it and a certain beauty that is within us all, but only if you let that beauty live (Novogratz, 2020). This means that as we face these struggles there is always something that we can look forward to and help motivate us to continue on our path. When people strive to continue or find new success, it shows that beauty resides not only in showing up and extending ourselves to others with kindness but also in how it allows reinforcement in our own resolve and to rejuvenate each other (Novogratz, 2020). Every person that wants to see a change in their lives or around them must have the ability to find that strength and willingness to carry on through the barriers and struggles. She continued that faith becomes an issue when we associate it with political parties or when nonbelievers of ideas are seen as heretics. It is important that we as humans look for shared moral principles that can enable us to flourish outside of the struggle that is inevitable. Novogratz (2020) says that beauty lives in the narrative of those who are striving to overcome profound obstacles just to survive. Leaders and humans, in general, are made to overcome struggles and come out on top and reap the fruits of their labor.

Now What?

It is important as leaders to not just give up at the sight of a single challenge or misfortune that may come our way. This means and shows that you are prepared as a leader and are willing to battle the storm to reach the planned success and value that you or your group may be working towards. Rarely is the success path uncontested by internal external forces. There will always be barriers and obstacles between us and our success, so we, as leaders must be able to come up with a solution on the fly to overcome these. Novogratz (2020), repeats that life is hard and that humans have always been able to create beauty in the darkest times and meanest places of our history. No matter what barriers leaders face we should be programmed to look in many different ways for a solution as humans are also hardwired to come up with solutions to major problems. 


References 

Novogratz, J. (2020). Manifesto for a moral revolution: Ideas you can use to change the world. Holt & Company, Henry.

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