This week, a man whom I have great respect for, said something to me that I have heard him say before, but that, this time, maybe owing to the time of the year, I found myself thinking even more about.
He said to me, “We try. We hope.”
On this occasion, I told him that I am a great believer in hope and that hope is vastly underrated. I think that’s because the “Hope is not a strategy” crowd has done much in recent years to diminish the standing of hope in the world. But in the history of mankind, every notable accomplishment has likely been preceded by hope. See, achievement is not possible without hope.
And that’s the point for the week.
Hope begets belief. And belief begets doing. And doing begets winning. But hope comes first.
With hope, that which seems impossible enters the realm of human consideration. That’s because intrinsic in hope, I think, is the notion, or better yet, the assurance, that we are not alone. And that together, with help, almost anything can happen.
Bolstered by that belief, we try more often. And because we do, solely on the basis of math, we will win more. But it starts with hope.
So much did Pope, now Saint John Paul 2 believe in the power of hope that about it, he said, “I plead with you, never ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.” What he seemed to know, beyond any doubt was that hope, in fact, will never disappoint. Because even in suffering, darkness, and uncertainty hope brings with it the promise of something new, a chance at redemption, an opportunity to get the thing we failed at right the next time around.
We try. We hope.
As we stand on the doorstep of a new year, I wish for all of you, and for all of mankind, great hope. Because in hope, there is nothing that remains unavailable to us.
This week, Rolling Stone magazine updated its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was the first time Rolling Stone had updated the list since 2004. In a news piece announcing the release of the new list, one of the commentators suggested Times Like These by The Foo Fighters should be #1. Unfortunately, the song did not crack the 500. Everlong, by the group, however, did, hitting #409 on the list.
But the suggestion of Times Like These reminded me of the story behind the song, and a lesson for us all. The song was written by the group’s front-man, Dave Grohl in 2002 during a period of great angst for him personally and for the group. In August of the year before, drummer Taylor Hawkins had suffered a life-threatening heroin overdose. During that uncertain time, Grohl chose to moonlight as a drummer for another band, further unsettling his mates and adding unnecessary division when the team needed unity instead. Their recording session late in 2001 ended in disaster 6 tracks in when the band, after constant fighting and bickering, chose to trash what they had recorded and go their separate ways for a time. It was during this hiatus that Grohl wrote Times Like These. Grohl has been quoted as saying that the song with its notable refrain which includes the line, “It’s times like these you learn to love again” was for him about “hope and love and compassion” and a way to express what he was feeling about the band. Dave Grohl, at the worst point in the history of the Foo Fighters chose hope and in so doing wrote what he has called, “the best song I’ve ever written.” The Foo Fighters went on to reunite and recorded their album, One by One, which debuted at #3 on Billboard, ultimately going Platinum. But it would follow. For it is true that what we hope for we most often achieve.
And that’s the point for the week.
At the root of any accomplishment is hope – hope rooted in a conviction that there exists something better than our current condition.
See, life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whatever we hope for, we are likely to accomplish.
Hope inspires imagination. Hope inspires curiosity. Hope inspires belief. Hope inspires action. Without hope, there is only ever despair and a steady downward spiral into an oblivion of brokenness. But with hope, there exists light, and possibility and an invitation to something more.
It has been said about hope that it is not a strategy. But for those for whom hope has underpinned a business turnaround, a personal recovery, a saved marriage or the return of something lost, hope was foundational to the strategy. Certainly hope alone is not enough. But without it, there is no strategy. Perfect plans don’t stand a chance until those who must execute them have hope for their success.
Choosing hope is the first step in choosing a better life – no matter whether you’re fronting for a rock band, leading a business or simply raising a family.
True, caring leaders understand this. They know that arriving at any better point b begins with a collective hope that doing so is not only possible, but altogether probable. Hope is the catalyzing force that enables teams to overcome fear, doubt and a lack of confidence on their way to achieving something more. Hope is, on many days, the difference between getting out of bed or not, between pressing on or not, or between saying no to a drink or not – because there is something to hope for. Accordingly, teams that hope more win more, for no other reason than they collectively maintain focus on a better point in the future. Bad days feel less bad. Bumps don’t hurt as much. And reasons to quit start to sound like reasons to keep going. All because of hope.
Sunday, Pope John Paul II became Saint John Paul II after being canonized in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
Most of you know my faith. In my lifetime I have derived a tremendous amount of inspiration from John Paul II and his encouragement to reject fear in the place of our better angels. A short quote from JP2, as he’s known around our house, has been a constant companion and source of strength for me whenever I have felt life gaining an upper hand on me.
“I plead with you–never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”
His simple invitation to carry on, to maintain hope, and to resist rest is an invitation to persevere. It is an explicit advisement that in hope, there is no fear.
And that’s the point for the week.
I am certain that even the best among us have difficult days. I am equally sure that from time to time each of us becomes tired, of what we’re doing here, of life at home, or of the pressures of the world around us. It is in those moments that hope matters most. For in hope is a vision of something better. And from vision is borne both a desire and a confidence to act.
But without hope, there is despair and a lack of purpose.
All that we do here, our work to transform this business, is rooted in hope. Our hope for a future that is better than the past from which we started. Our hope for a life for each one of us that is better than the life we left. Our hope in a business we cannot see but only imagine but recognize as infinitely better than the one we help in our hands just two short years ago.
Without hope, we’d have only fear, discouragement and bitter taste of having long ago given up.
For my part, I simply want to thank each and every one of you for never doubting, never tiring and for never giving up.
We are moving closer to that place we hope for.
One day soon, we will arrive at that place, together.
So, keep hoping.
And win.
If you like the blog, you’ll love the book. To purchase a copy of Phillip’s book, The Not So Subtle Art of Caring: Letters on Leadership, from John Hunt Publishing, London, please follow this LINK. “Letters” is based on 85 story-backed lessons Phillip used while leading actual teams to accomplish extraordinary things. It is an outstanding resource for those who wish to commit to becoming the sort of leader that people WANT to follow.
The other day as I flew from Charlotte to Kansas City for a meeting with YRC, my iTunes DJ spun up the hit song, Airplanes by B.o.B.
The opening line (and chorus) from the song struck me in a way it hadn’t before.
“Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now.”
I thought first of my dad, then about a wider point on leading.
It made me think of my dad who, upon hearing my mom or one of his four sons wish for something, was fond of saying, “Spit in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up first.” (Except he didn’t say spit) What he was trying to say in his dry-witted way was that activity, not hope produces results.
Some are fond of saying that, “hope is not a strategy.”
To me, both my father’s saying and the conventional wisdom of the Ken Doll leader set and their tired little “hope is not a strategy” cliché are both too limited in their thinking. They ignore the value in hope. They fail to recognize the value that hope plays in forming vision and that vision plays in shaping the future.
And that’s the point for the week.
For our company, our homes, our communities and our world to become all that we want them to be requires that we first envision or hope for something better for them. It is an absolute certainty that doing the same thing tomorrow as we are doing today, even if we choose to do it twice as hard, will deliver nothing more that exactly what we have today, possibly just a tad more of it.
But hope helps create the vision for where we want to be – the point in the distance we want to achieve. Inherent in hope is the critical belief that things can be different and better. When we exert hope upon the world it moves. We overcome the inertia of our present path and shape a new one; a road to our own promised land, the destination we envision.
And when effort is added to that vision, our world can actually become all that we hope it can be. But effort without vision is not unlike banging one’s head off a wall. Just as wishing without effort is like, well you know. But hope comes first.
So, hope in all things.
And win.
If you like the blog, you’ll love the book. To purchase a copy of Phillip’s book, The Not So Subtle Art of Caring: Letters on Leadership, from John Hunt Publishing, London, please follow this LINK. “Letters” is based on 85 story-backed lessons Phillip used while leading actual teams to accomplish extraordinary things. It is an outstanding resource for those who wish to commit to becoming the sort of leader that people WANT to follow.
