Advice from a Medal of Honor Recipient

A group of 350 aspiring Marines has just completed a grueling 13-week boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., but one in particular received some sage advice we could all benefit from.

The Marine is Cedar Ross, and his great-grandfather is 97-year-old Hershel “Woody” Williams, the last living Medal of Honor recipient from WWII.  

“The only advice I gave him was to do the very best that he could and then do a little bit more,” Williams told CBS’ David Martin.

Williams took out seven machine gunners at Iwo Jima more than 75 years ago, and Ross is determined to continue the family legacy of selflessness and sacrifice.

He didn’t make it a big point of bragging about who his great-grandfather was when he arrived at Parris Island. He didn’t seek preferential treatment or exhibit any entitlement.

In fact, it wasn’t until halfway through Boot Camp that a drill instructor realized he was the direct descendant of a Marine legend, according to the report.

Ross’ humility and Williams’ words on perseverance are vital lessons to us as leaders.

So often, we’re quick to throw out the cliché of “doing the best we can,” but settle for “good enough” instead. We work hard and claim we’ve pushed ourselves to the brink, but we know deep down that we could’ve extended ourselves just a little bit further.

An extra 25 minutes of scouting report prep. One more walk through before a major presentation. Just another hour of studying before the final exam.

We’re tired and dismiss this as unnecessary and reason that it might’ve pushed us beyond the point of diminishing return. But “the best we can do” in the moment often isn’t “the best we could’ve done” in hindsight.

When we’re feeling exhausted today, feeling like we’ve done everything we can, let’s take a moment and remember the advice of this courageous Medal of Honor recipient.

Then, let’s do a little bit more.