Persistence Vs. Stubbornness

It’s Tuesday morning, and Susan is eager to meet with her supervisor to discuss how this year’s marketing strategy isn’t panning out.

But when she details the exorbitant costs of the company’s campaign and argues the business should pull the plug on its current idea after nearly five months of data, the boss pushes back.  

“We haven’t worked nearly hard enough,” he says. “We’ve got to double down and get way more focused. The market’s slow, and we just need more time. Trust me — this will work.”

Recently, best-selling author and organizational psychologist Adam Grant shared an important leadership thought:

“Sticking with a bad decision is not a triumph of commitment. It's a failure of courage,” he wrote on X.

“The quicker you are to admit you were wrong, the sooner you can start making it right. Persistence is not about staying on a path. It's about finding a better path to your goal.”

The supervisor’s perspective isn’t one about resolve or fortitude but rather about shortsightedness and disillusionment — and is a key snapshot into the difference between persistence and stubbornness.

Persistence:  

• Anticipating potential challenges and sticking with the plan for an allotted period of time
• Navigating difficult but manageable obstacles
• Being open-minded to team member feedback and ideas
• Maintaining the objective but discovering a more efficient way to achieve it

Stubbornness:

• Refusing to acknowledge something isn’t working
• Blaming external factors for poor performance
• Allowing ego and pride to interfere with practicality
• Refusing to change course despite an abundance of data

The truth is that no one in a meaningful leadership capacity will get it right 100 percent of the time. 

But in the instances where our ideas and efforts simply aren’t panning out, the wise leader adapts and find another means of pursuing the larger goal.

Doing so doesn’t make us lazy or indicate that we lack resolve.

Ultimately, it makes us the best kind of persistent.

If you’re a coach, a leader, a parent, or personal growth driven, you’ll want to know about these upcoming webinars with Michael Bungay Stanier aka MBS, author of bestselling book The Coaching Habit. Deemed “a classic” by author Brené Brown. 

Michael’s going to reveal two powerful “permissions” to help you be braver and kinder (with others and with yourself), and also two of his favorite tools for understanding quickly and more deeply what’s really going on. 

His training is always fun, engaging, and above all practical. Buy a print copy of The Coaching Habit and register before Monday, May 20th to gain access to three outstanding live webinars with MBS.

You can learn more and register at TCHLive.com.

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