Leadership is a tough job. It requires a cool head and a firm commitment to your organization even through a crisis. That’s why perseverance is a critical skill for every leader. You have to be a consistent presence for employees and stakeholders alike, setting an example of calm and confidence.

Perseverance is a tough leadership skill to teach, though. It requires time and dedication that’s difficult to pack into a two-day seminar or eCourse. However, it’s what sets great leaders apart from others. In this article, we’ll teach you the key traits of a persevering leader and how to develop your personal attitude and skills to support perseverance in your career. 

The Importance of Perseverance

Perseverance is the quality of never giving up, no matter how many obstacles are in your way. As a leader, you will inevitably face challenging times in your organization. During those times, team members will look to you for guidance on how to react and overcome what stands in the way of success. 

Successful leaders know how to continue moving forward when it feels like their organization is at a standstill. They know how to proactively channel their team’s hard work into small steps that move the company forward despite adversity, instead of waiting to react to negative circumstances.

Without an attitude of perseverance, you and your organization could grow stagnant or face declines in difficult situations. Your level of perseverance often has a direct impact on your team’s chances of overcoming obstacles and coming out stronger on the other side.

Traits of a Persevering Leader

Persevering leaders need certain character traits to push their organizations, employees and themselves forward. We’ve identified five traits, in particular, that help good leaders become great role models by developing their ability to persevere.

1. Sense of purpose. As a leader, you need a sense of purpose. It should be something you feel connected to and passionate about that aligns with your personal values and beliefs. Your purpose will keep you motivated and drive you to press on even when times get tough.

2. Desire. This is a powerful leadership trait. If you want to achieve your goals, you have to want it. You have to feel driven by your desire to push your team and organization forward no matter what stands in your way. Many people think desire is an innate trait, but you can work on developing your desire through both professional and personal development programs.

3. Self-Confidence. Wanting it isn’t enough on its own. You also have to believe you can attain it. Leaders who aren’t sure of their abilities won’t make the impactful decisions their organization needs when it’s most important. Having the confidence to believe that you know what’s right for your company and your people, even if it’s a tough decision, puts any accomplishment within reach.

4. Sticks to a Plan. Persevering leaders know that sometimes slow and steady wins the race, and they’re not allowed to rely on others for help. Reach out to an executive coach or mentor to help you create a plan for your organization and stick to it. This will ensure you’re always moving your team forward, even if it means taking more time and smaller actions. When you stick with a strategic plan, you ensure that you’re always making progress in the right direction.

5. Positive Habits. Leading through a crisis can easily consume you. Persevering leaders need to have positive habits in place to maintain their own well-being even when things are hectic at the office. By doing this, they ensure they have enough energy to give to their organization and team members every time they step foot in the building.

With these five traits in mind, let’s look at a few different ways you can start developing your perseverance to become a great leader. 

How to Develop Your Perseverance

Some of the key traits of persevering leaders might seem like they need to be inborn, but that’s not the case. You can develop these skills by seeking out the right situations to test those different areas of your personality and professional acumen. 

Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

This is often easier said than done. The trick is to approach every situation with a growth mindset. You tackle small problems every day. Although it's good to carefully consider your options, you should never feel immobilized by fear. When you focus on growth, you’ll start to think of missteps not as failure but as an opportunity to learn something new and do better next time.

The less you worry about failing, the more confident you become. Remember that you decide how you react to situations. As you learn through your mistakes, you’ll start to develop better decision-making and problem-solving skills that will allow you to trust your judgment in tough situations. When you build confidence in those little moments, the bigger decisions won’t seem so daunting.

Understand Resistance

Great leadership requires emotional intelligence, especially in challenging times. Sometimes persevering means pushing through a big change in your organization, which often comes with resistance from some team members or even stakeholders. Understanding the cause of this resistance is key to bringing people back to the company vision and stopping negativity before it takes root.

There are a few questions you can ask yourself when assessing resistance in your organization:

• Do people have rational concerns about the health of the company?

• Are people reacting emotionally because they’re afraid or uncomfortable with the potential results of this action?

• Are people nervous because they don’t understand why this change or action is happening?

Understanding why people are resisting decisions or directives can help you better address the real problem and move forward with everyone on the same page.

Set Clear Benchmarks

Perhaps the easiest trait to develop is sticking to a plan, which you can do by creating a goal and setting clear benchmarks to help you achieve it. You can practice this in your professional career and your day-to-day life.

No matter your role in your organization, make an effort to set benchmarks for yourself and your team to measure progress and success on every project. You do this in a few ways:

• Break down the timeline for a project into smaller chunks so you can ensure you’re making meaningful progress toward completion.

• Keep track of applicable metrics throughout the project and set goals for growth in a specific timeframe.

• Assign each team member a different role and have regular meetings where everyone comes together to discuss their progress.

When you set benchmarks, you create a measuring stick for yourself to track progress and know if you’re sticking to your timeline. Plus, it gives you practice in coordinating teamwork toward a common goal.

Lead in Good Times and In Bad

Leaders must have the skills and traits required to persevere through any situation. You need to know how to lead well in good times and in bad and be an example of confidence to your teams. Your organization and employees will always look to you first in times of crisis, so you need to be ready to lead them to success.

If you’re ready to take the next step in your leadership journey, buy our eCourse. It will teach you how to become a coaching leader and lead your team to success, no matter the situation.