The Idea in Brief
What enables one leader to inspire confidence, loyalty, and hard work, while others—with equal vision and intelligence—stumble? How individuals deal with adversity provides a clue.
Extraordinary leaders find meaning in—and learn from—the most negative events. Like phoenixes rising from the ashes, they emerge from adversity stronger, more confident in themselves and their purpose, and more committed to their work.
Such transformative events are called crucibles—a severe test or trial. Crucibles are intense, often traumatic—and always unplanned.
The Idea in Practice
The Crucible Experience
Crucibles force leaders into deep self-reflection, where they examine their values, question their assumptions, and hone their judgment. Example:
Sidney Harman—co-founder of audio components company Harman Kardon and president of an experimental college encouraging student-driven education—encountered his crucible when “all hell broke loose” in one of his factories. After managers postponed a scheduled break because the buzzer didn’t sound, workers rebelled. “I don’t work for no buzzer,” one proclaimed.
To Harman, this refusal to bow to management’s senseless rule suggested a surprising link between student-driven education and business. Pioneering participative management, Harman transformed his plant into a kind of campus, offering classes and encouraging dissent. He considers the rebellion the formative event in his career—the moment he became a true leader.
The Many Shapes of Crucibles
Some crucibles are violent and life-threatening (encounters with prejudice, illness); others are more positive, yet profoundly challenging (such as demanding bosses or mentors). Whatever the shape, leaders create a narrative telling how they met the challenge and became better for it. Example:
While working for former Atlanta mayor Robert F. Maddox, Vernon Jordan endured repeated racial heckling from Maddox. Rather than letting Maddox’s sadism destroy him, Jordan interpreted the behavior as a desperate lashing out by someone who knew the era of the Old South was ending. Jordan’s response empowered him to become an esteemed lawyer and presidential advisor.
Essential Leadership Skills
Four skills enable leaders to learn from adversity:
1. Engage others in shared meaning. For example, Sidney Harman mobilized employees around a radical new management approach—amid a factory crisis.
2. A distinctive, compelling voice. With words alone, college president Jack Coleman preempted a violent clash between the football team and anti-Vietnam War demonstrators threatening to burn the American flag. Coleman’s suggestion to the protestors? Lower the flag, wash it, then put it back up.
3. Integrity. Coleman’s values prevailed during the emotionally charged face-off between antiwar demonstrators and irate football players.
4. Adaptive capacity. This most critical skill includes the ability to grasp context, and hardiness. Grasping context requires weighing many factors (e.g., how different people will interpret a gesture). Without this quality, leaders can’t connect with constituents.
Hardiness provides the perseverance and toughness needed to remain hopeful despite disaster. For instance, Michael Klein made millions in real estate during his teens, lost it all by age 20—then built several more businesses, including transforming a tiny software company into a Hewlett-Packard acquisition.
As lifelong students of leadership, we are fascinated with the notion of what makes a leader. Why is it that certain people seem to naturally inspire confidence, loyalty, and hard work, while others (who may have just as much vision and smarts) stumble, again and again? It’s a timeless question, and there’s no simple answer. But we have come to believe it has something to do with the different ways that people deal with adversity. Indeed, our recent research has led us to conclude that one of the most reliable indicators and predictors of true leadership is an individual’s ability to find meaning in negative events and to learn from even the most trying circumstances. Put another way, the skills required to conquer adversity and emerge stronger and more committed than ever are the same ones that make for extraordinary leaders.
