![]() But just for now I have to deal with the brutal reality of where I am, and I have to focus on how to survive today." So the Stockdale Paradox as it's called, is a powerful lesson in resilience. The ones who made it out had a completely different mindset - "I know and believe that one day I'll get out. As Stockdale puts it, eventually they just died of a broken heart. And then they'd hope they'd be out by next Christmas. Then they'd hope and believe that they'd be out by Easter and Easter would come and go. They would hope and believe that they'd be out by Christmas, but then Christmas would come and go. The ones who didn't make it out, surprisingly, were the optimists. ![]() ![]() How did Stockdale do this? Well, a clue comes when he describes who made it out of the camp and who didn't. He was tortured repeatedly and he lived through incredible deprivation, but he found the strength of character to lead the other prisoners in a way that ensured as many survived the ordeal as possible. Now Stockdale lived for eight years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi during the Vietnam war. Some of you may have also come across it in Jim Collins, leadership classic, Good to Great. One of the most gripping accounts of this was chronicled by Admiral James Stockdale in his book 'In Love and War'. And in fact, as we'll find out shortly, it's almost essential that we go through the pain, misery and uncertainty to get to any outcome that we so desperately crave. Those two things are not mutually exclusive". You can be optimistic that the longterm growth trajectory is up and to the right, but equally sure that the road between now and then is filled with landmines and always will be. And in fact, you know, it will be filled with misery. Sensible optimism is the belief that the odds are in your favour and over time, things will balance out to a good outcome, even if what happens in between is filled with misery. He says "Optimism is usually defined as a belief that things will go well, but that's incomplete. I think it really captures the essence of what resilience is. The other day, I came across a great quote from Morgan Housel. We'll look at the parallels with our current circumstances and I'll finish with a few ideas for building resilience in a way that will help you to embrace it in all its ugliness. I'll then tie that in with some insights from Viktor Frankl. So we're going to start with a look at what the Stockdale Paradox actually is. For those of us who choose to lead, this is incredibly important because it needs to become just another part of our day jobs. It fits perfectly into our current paradigm, as we look to an uncertain global future. How do we cope when everything appears hopeless, and the barriers seem insurmountable? The Stockdale Paradox is a roadmap to surviving even the most difficult and gruelling of circumstances. As we tap into the experiences of those who've come before us. The disruption, challenge, and uncertainty we've dealt with in the past six months or so has tested all of us, but who among us will commit to coming out the other side of this better for the experience? This episode illuminates the road to true resilience. This week I've decided to revisit resilience with a slightly different lens. This week's episode: Resilience, Faith and Optimism: The Stockdale Paradox. Hey there, and welcome to Episode 107 of the No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast.
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