Leaders Distinguish Themselves During Tough Times
Dr John C. Maxwell


What is your current goal as a leader? During the first year of my lead ership career, my goal was simple at the end of the year, I wanted to receive a unanimous vote of support at the annual business meeting of my small congregation.
I’m a third-generation minister. I grew up in a denomination where people believed that the job of a pastor was to make everybody happy. The leaders who were given the most respect in the denomination were those who never rocked the boat and who managed to keep everything calm their organization. The more things stayed the same, the happier the people were. And they confirmed their happiness at the annual business meeting where one of the things they voted on was whether to let the pastor keep his job. To me in that first year, the greatest possible sign of my success would be a unanimous vote of approval for my leadership. That’s why it was my goal.
As that first congregational meeting approached, I was quite confident that I would receive a unanimous vote. After all, I had spent an entire year doing everything in my power to please everybody at the church. At the end of the meeting when we had finished all the business and the votes Hs been counted, the secretary stood and read the tally: 31 yeses, 1 no, and 1 abstention. Though I tried to hide it, I was shocked, confused, and deeply hurt.
Immediately after adjourning the meeting, I hurried home and called my father who was a leader in our denomination. I told him the whole story, and numbly recounted the results of the vote.
“Dad, should I resign because of this bad vote?” I asked.
To my honor, I heard him laugh.

“No, son,” he replied, “you’d better stay. I know you well, and it’s the best vote you’ll ever get.”
For the next six months, every Sunday morning I would look out at the people of the church and ask myself the question “Who voted against me?” I never did find out. But I did learn something about myself. I discovered that I desperately desired the approval of others. That had the potential to be a big problem for me. Whenever an unpopular decision needed to be made, I would want to punt the ball rather than carry it. As a young leader, I was very quick to embrace the perks of leadership I was much slower to pay the price of leadership
When people are faced with this kind of weakness, they can run from it, or they can try to overcome it. While it is true that people should try to grow in the areas of their greatest talents, this was different. This was a character issue. It was the kind of weakness that threatened to short-circuit my leadership ability and derail my career. If I didn’t deal with it, then I would never be effective or go to a new level as a leader.

What Is A Leader To Do?

It took come time, but I finally landed on a thought that would help me to make better choices as a leader during the tough times: I can’t lead peo ple if I need people. When I discovered this idea, I didn’t mean it in an arrogant or aloof way. Of course leaders need people. The purpose of leadership is to take people where they couldn’t go on their own, inspire and equip them to do what they thought they couldn’t do, and accomplish what can only be done by a group working together. To do that, leaders should love their people and be close to them. However, there are times when a leader must move forward, taking a courageous step and not waiting for others’ approval. It is not healthy for a leader to need people’s approval. As a leader, if I try to please everybody, eventually I will alienate everybody. A leader must be true to the vision and the people—even when it’s not popular. That is one of the burdens of leadership.

The statement “I can’t lead people if I need people” became a constant reminder to me during this early season of my leadership. Every time I felt a tug of desire to please people rather than lead them effectively, I repeated the statement to myself. By the time the second annual business meeting rolled around, I was much less concerned about how the vote turned out. What mattered was that I stayed true to the vision. And by the way, my father was right. I never got a better vote. That first one was the best vote I ever had!

Making the Tough Call

Every leader faces tough times—and that’s when leaders distinguish themselves and show who they really are. Leading others can be very difficult and can take great courage. Of course, it’s not that way all of the time. About 95 percent of the decisions a CEO makes could be made by a reasonably intelligent high school graduate. What is often required is common sense. But CEOs don’t get paid for those decisions; they get paid for the other 5 percent! Those are the tough calls. Every change, every challenge, and every crisis requires a tough call, and the way those are handled is what separates good leaders from the rest.
How do you know when you’re facing a tough call and need to be at your best as a leader? You’ll know when the decision is marked by these three things:

1. The Tough Call Demands Risk
I once read that as the Soviet Union overran and annexed Latvia in 1940, the U.S. vice consul in Riga was concerned that American Red Cross supplies in that city would be looted. To guard against it, he requested permission from the State Department in Washington, D.C., to place an American flag above the Red Cross flag to deter anyone from taking the supplies.
“No precedent exists for such action,” the secretary of state’s office cabled back.
When the vice consul received the message, he climbed up and personally nailed the American flag to the pole. He then cabled the State Department: “As of this date, I have established precedent.”
Leaders have to be willing to do things others are unwilling to do. They have to put themselves on the line. Larry Osborne observed, “The most striking thing about highly effective leaders is how little they have in common. What one swears by, another warns against. But one trait stands out: Effective leaders are willing to take a risk.” If you are not willing to take a risk, then you really have no business being a leader. You can’t play everything safe and expect to take people forward at the same time. Progress always requires risk.

2. A Tough Call Brings with It an Inward Battle
Psychotherapist Sheldon Koop asserts, “All the significant battles are waged within self.” When I think about the difficult times I have faced as a leader, I recognize that every one of them began within me—not with oth er. If the path were clear and smooth, it wouldn’t be a tough call. And anyone could make it! In addition, any tough call you make will be ques tioned. It will be criticized. It will carry with it certain consequences. That’s why it’s a tough call.
Often that internal battle occurs far from the spotlight of leadership, and casual observers aren’t even aware that it’s happening. Pastor, author, and academician Chuck Swindoll writes, “Courage it not limited to the battle field or the Indianapolis 500 or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much quieter They are the inner test, like remain ing faithful when nobody’s looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty; like standing alone when you’re misunderstood.” Doing the right thing isn’t always easy; but it is always necessary if a leader wants to have integrity and be effective.
Because most tough calls also result in an outward battle, a leader must win the first victory on the inside. If you are unsettled internally on an issue, you will not have the security you need for the external battle. That’s why I spend time making sure I am convinced about a course of action before I try to convince others. Once I am convinced of the right course of action, I have the courage to see the decision through, no matter how tough the call was or how difficult the aftermath becomes.

3. A Tough Call Will Distinguish You as a Leader
Every now and then I hear leaders complain about the difficult times they are facing in leading their organization. It makes me want to say, “Thank God for the tough times. They are the reason you are there—to be the leader. If everything was going well, the people wouldn’t need you!”
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani says, “When the right person is the leader, he does even better during tough times.” I think that’s true. When an organization has momentum, nearly anyone can lead. All the person has to do is find out the direction the people are going and get in front of them! When there is no momentum, a good leader will give direction and encourage forward progress. But when an organization has not only lost momentum but is moving in the wrong direction, that’s when leaders really earn their pay! Only the very best leaders can lead effectively in such situations. It is during those tough times that they make the toughest decisions and really distinguish themselves as leaders.

Rising to the Occasion

As a leader, you need to be aware that the tough times will either make or break you. Britain’s great former prime minister Winston Churchill noted, “To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitting their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.” One of the keys to being prepared for your finest hour is to make the tough calls in the smaller minutes that precede it. You have to be willing to do the small things, the difficult things, the unseen things. They prepare you for the major difficulties. If you aren’t willing to take care of the little difficulties, don’t expect to be able to rise up to meet the big ones. But if you do well with the small ones, you will be able to distinguish yourself during the big ones. That is where you will earn your reputation.
A few years ago, I received a letter from my friend Kent Millard, who told me a story about a different kind of leader. He wrote:

In August 1999, my wife, Minnietta, and I vacationed with some friends who live in a remote part of Alaska near Denali Park. One day they took us to visit their neighbor, Jeff King, who lives a few miles away. Jeff is a sled dog racer who has won the lditarod 1,100 mile race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, three times (1993, 1996, 1998). It was a joy to experience Jeff’s love and passion for his seventy huskies and his admiration for their maturity, strength, and courage.
Jeff told us that when he starts the iditarod race he starts with sixteen dogs and rotates the lead dog frequently to give all the dogs a chance to lead since every one of them wants to be the lead dog. Eventually he finds the dog that is the real leader because it is a dog that is energetic and per sistent in leading, and that dog becomes the leader of the pack. It is cho sen as the leader because it leads; it is able to motivate the other dogs to follow by its own energy and enthusiasm.
Jeff told us that in 1996, the lead dog was a two-and-a-half-year-old female, which was very unusual since there were only two females in the pack and she was so young and smaller than the other male dogs. But, he said with emotion in his voice, “She was our leader: when a blizzard came, she didn’t give up. She kept barking and running even when the snow was over her head and inspired us all to keep going. Even at her young age, she has the mental maturity of a leader.”
When Jeff was congratulated for winning the 1998 Iditarod, he lifted up his lead dog and said, “Here is the leader who won the race for us.”
No matter how tough it gets. a real leader will keep on leading and never give up. It doesn’t matter what kind of storm comes. It doesn’t mat ter how far she is in over her head.
If you haven’t already had the chance to distinguish yourself by mak ing tough calls for the sake of your people and the betterment of the organi zation, don’t lose hope. Your opportunity will come. If you keep doing the right thing, you will continue to — greater responsibility; And the more responsibility you have, the more tough calls you will have to make. Meanwhile, keep learning and growing as a leader. Right now you are getting ready. When the tough times come, you will get a chance to distinguish yourself as a leader. And when you do finally meet some great challenge, it can be your finest hour!

Application Exercises

1. Have you made the tough calls in the past? Your track record related to tough calls has a lot to do with your current credibility and reputation as a leader. Make a list of the tough call you made-—along with the year you made them—ones that were strongly questioned and heavily criticized. What kind of pattern do you see? If you have been in leadership a long time, you should see many tough decisions. If not, you are not doing the hard work a leader should. Do you see a decline in the number of tough decisions over time? If so, you may be losing your edge as a leader.

2. Are you prepared to win the battle within? What do you do to win the internal battles required of every leader facing tough times? Do you have a list of values or a set of standards by which to make decisions? Do you engage in any kinds of daily disciplines that keep you mentally, emotion ally, spiritually, and physically strong? When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare. Do today what you can so that you will be ready to do tomorrow what you should.

3. Are you playing it too safe as a leader? Every tough call includes an ele ment of risk. Are you willing to put yourself on the line if needed when making tough decisions? Are you willing to quietly make right decisions for the sake of your people or the good of the organization, even knowing you will be criticized for them? Would you be willing to sacrifice your posi tion if that was required to maintain your values or to guard the well-being of your people?