“WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” - From The Declaration of Independence
On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted in favor of declaring independence. Two days later, on July 4, 1776, they adopted the text of the Declaration of Independence, turning a rebellion into a full-fledged war for independence that lasted until September 3, 1783.
Four years after the Revolutionary War ended, the United States Constitution was adopted and signed on September 17, 1787, with 13 States as one nation.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” – From The Constitution of the United States of America
250 years later, with 37 additional states, we are still working out this vision. That’s persistence. But it hasn’t always been pretty.
Declaring something to be philosophically, strategically, or legislatively true doesn’t make it experientially existent. Ideals must be worked for and worked out, which means it needs to be important, or you’ll quit.
The complexities of bringing hopes, ideas, and dreams into real-life experience preclude instantaneous. Not instant means later. Who liked hearing “later” as a kid? Noone. Well, we don’t like it as adults, either.
As we were always told, “later doesn’t mean never, so stop the meltdown.” It’s also true that "later" doesn’t necessarily mean "passive"; it translates to "persistent."
Persistence is an interesting idea with myriad expressions. Not all persistence is the same. For instance, the persistent Type A activator might never see or hear “no,” “wait,” “slow down,” or “have you thought about….” Bad persistence doesn’t listen or care what is being said. It doesn’t understand that trying to convince someone who has reached their limit is merely limit-testing, not progress-making.
Persistence can also be due to a paycheck. I get that. Eventually, that reason becomes stale, even moldy.
What do you want to change? That question has two readings. It implies both that you desire change, and that you want to bring that change about.
So, I ask again. What do you want to change? Think about your desired change and how you will stay the course through these three expressions of persistence.
Shared Persistence
Persisting alone is hard. It’s doable, but not always sustainable. Chances are, if the work you are doing is brand new and you started it, you may well be walking alone in the beginning. Find someone quickly who will take the journey with you.
A few years back, I was hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail with a group of guys. Toward the end of our hike, there was a lot of climbing. Not just ascent of a mountain trail, but climbing some areas of rocky precipice. All of this was with a backpack weighing about 25 pounds. It was also hot.
At one point, one of the men in our group went down, unable to continue with his pack, and certainly not at our pace. Someone took his pack, and another stayed with him as he made his way slowly to our destination that day. His pack was shared back and forth among a couple of guys along the way.
Finding a way to your desired destination is more likely when it’s not just you. This isn’t about introverts and extroverts. Community development must be done in community; otherwise, what’s the point? The desire is for it to happen as one, but not with you as the only one.
What I have learned over the years is that there is power in having one more. There is something about having one other person who believes right along with you. Their belief and energy may not match yours, but it’s enough to provide buoyancy. Think about someone you always seem to resonate with. Sometimes you motivate and vision-cast to them, and sometimes they motivate and vision-cast to you.
You will rarely start new ideas and have an immediate crowd. It usually takes time to cultivate a following. This is especially true if the vision is big. Starting alone happens. Just don’t walk alone for too long.
Patient Persistence
A persistence that is impatient can actually impede progress. When a person reaches the point of impatience, they tend to be frustrated, pushy, angry, anxious, or all of the above. Impatience about the journey leads to its expression during the journey. That means people see it, hear it, and feel it, which might keep them from joining you. So here are a couple of thoughts on being persistent with patience.
Be patient with the people. Get to know them. Meet them where they are. Cultivate their understanding, perceptions, and availability. It’s not fair to expect people to be where you are, seeing what you see, and knowing what you know. Those expectations will frustrate you and might run them off.
We often forget the journey we took to get to where we are and to become who we are. As you work with people, be patiently persistent in your listening. People will tell you what they need through their questions, but if they are silent, ask questions like:
“What do you see as your next step?”
Then, listen to the answers closely. You can learn a lot from these conversations. To learn more about the power of conversations, read my article “Art of Conversation.”
Be patient with the process. Enjoy the exploring, cultivating, planting, weaving, and building. See your time in the process not as spending or wasting, but investing. I’ll speak more to this strategic intent below. Patient persistence will stay the course when it’s understood that creating systems and structures, and cultivating relationships, is a process.
There is an ebb and flow to the collaboration-building and solution-creating in community development. The community facilitator must know when to press in and when to patiently pull back. It’s a bit like driving mountain roads, where constant break-neck speeds will likely end badly.
But driving on winding mountain roads isn’t only about when to accelerate, decelerate, and brake; it also requires good steering. That’s where we’ll go next.
Strategic Persistence
Movement doesn’t always mean progress. We use “busy bee” language about people who are always moving, but it’s not always a proper description of all busy people. A person can be persistent, but persistent in the wrong things. What’s true of a real bee as an insect is that its busyness is actually strategic; it’s on purpose.
Think about those words, “on purpose.” Doing something on purpose means it is aligned with a purpose. Do you know what that purpose is? It’s hard to be strategic if you don’t.
Measuring for continuation recognizes when the run is a marathon, and you need to adjust your expectations and pace. Unlike a race, you don’t want to far outrun those around you when you are engaged in community impact work. If you look around and no one is there, what good are you doing?
Investing for multiplication means ensuring there is a return on your persistent investment. For instance, vision casting for buy-in is very different from vision selling to get someone to buy. Driven persistence might get someone to buy, but will you get their buy-in? Buy-in fosters sustainability and the duplication of partnerships.
How do you do that? When you strategically connect your vision to a “why” that a person or organization holds, you move them into shared persistence with you. Investing for multiplication is strategic persistence that comes through constant awareness and observation. It’s like a highlighter on the words people speak, the actions they engage in, the meetings they frequent, the people with whom they walk. All of these are indicators of where they are going and with whom.
Are they your people, and is that your desired destination? Again, strategic persistence is on purpose.
When I think about the ongoing experiment called the United States of America, I do so with hope, and I live my days persistently pursuing a vision of neighbors, families, and communities of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Whether you are naturally persistent or you need to work at it, being effectively persistent requires certain qualities. So, what do you want your persistence to change? First, know what the desired change is, and then apply some shared, patient, and strategic persistence. One day you will experience the payoff.
Do you desire to strengthen your CharityTracker or OasisInsight network and achieve new levels of collaboration and impact? Reach out to Chuck today to schedule your conversation: chuck@simonsolutions.com.