You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
– Admiral James Stockdale, United States Navy (Retired)
Admiral James Stockdale was a United States Navy vice admiral and aviator awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War, during which he was an American prisoner of war for over seven years. Admiral Stockdale is a true American hero and a tremendous leader. I encourage any leader to read more about his amazing story.
In Collin’s classic book Good to Great, Collins writes about a conversation he had with Stockdale regarding his coping strategy during his period in the Vietnamese POW camp.
“I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”*
When Collins asked who didn’t make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale replied:
“Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”*
Stockdale then added:
“This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”*
Witnessing this philosophy of duality, Collins went on to describe it as the “Stockdale Paradox”.
This is indeed a paradox. If a leader ignores the challenges, the leader will appear naïve and out of touch. If the leader mires in the challenges, they’ll create a culture of pessimism which will demoralize, demotivate, and undermine the effectiveness of the team.
How does a leader offer a practical approach to this paradox?
One of my most challenging tours of duty during my career was when I was placed in charge of a relatively large Navy hospital pharmacy operation. The morale in the department, as well as overall performance, were both extremely low. I had to turn things around quickly.
The morale amongst the 20 or so Registered Pharmacists who worked for me was especially low. Within the first week of the job I met with all pharmacists to learn more.
The good news is that they were not shy on sharing their complaints! It was one of the wilder meetings I’ve ever assembled! Their behavior was boisterous and rowdy. I patiently listened and let them have their day in court.
As the smoke lifted from the clash it appeared that the primary issue was one of a distinct difference in pay and benefits among the 20 pharmacists. While all 20 had essentially the same day to day job functions, their pay and benefits varied significantly. It was a legitimate complaint. It was indeed unfair.
I adjourned the meeting when it appeared the last salvo was shot. I stated that the pay disparity was a legitimate concern and that we’d have a follow up meeting to discuss it further.
I drove home that night with more questions than answers.
Identify what is within your span of control.
The truth was that I had minimal control over the situation. Without going into detail to explain the nuances of government compensation packages, while I could help give small pay raises to some of those who warranted it, I could not make the necessary changes needed to make things fair.
A few days later I had a follow-on meeting with the group. I started the meeting by reaffirming that the pay and benefits situation was indeed unfair. I went on to explain that while I truly wished I could make the necessary changes, the truth was that I could not. Going into some detail, I explained the nuances of why. However, I would certainly do what was within my limited span of control to help improve the pay and benefits mismatches.
More importantly, I told them that we needed to put this issue behind us. I highlighted all the improvements that would be forthcoming to help us do our jobs better (we were refurbishing the entire workflow process). If after a period of time any of them could not let this issue go…it was simply too difficult for them to accept…I would understand. However, instead of bringing your misery to work, I told them that I would ask them to consider moving on. In my opinion, life is too short to work in misery.
The good news is that in the end we didn’t lose any pharmacists and things eventually turned around for the better.
What Collins coins the “Stockdale Paradox” – appropriately addressing legitimate challenges without demoralizing the team – were always the most difficult trials I had as a leader. I failed addressing them appropriately as many times as I succeeded. When I succeeded, I was able to clearly identify what was within my span of control and what was not. I was able to hit the sweet spot of addressing the issue without miring in it.
Be a great leader and lead with optimism…while also appropriately addressing the challenges.
Enjoy the journey!
Mark
* Collins, Jim (date unknown). The Stockdale Paradox. JimCollins.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-02 from http://www.jimcollins.com/lab/brutalFacts/.