Conclusion

Fortitude is courage under fire. You need the right kind of fortitude to make ongoing determinations about decisions you have already made so you know when to stick to a decision and when to revise or reverse it. When the environment is stable, smart leaders demonstrate fortitude in successfully executing on any decision that has been made before. But when the context becomes more complex and the decision itself has to be revisited often, functional smart leaders generally struggle to take responsibility for making a change. Business smart leaders are more willing to revisit prior decisions during their execution as long as they believe such a change would yield personal rewards or recognition.

Wise leaders demonstrate flexible fortitude: they know when to hold and when to fold—and they do so for the larger benefit. They stick to decisions when appropriate but revise or even reverse them willingly when a shift in the context requires it. They know how to inspire others within a team or organization to support their decisions—and foster and tap into the collective willpower to push through transformational decisions.

Here are some ways you can build up your flexible fortitude when you are dealing with previously made decisions as well as when you are engaged in projects in a shifting context:

• Stretch yourself. When you are given a challenging project, don’t balk or panic. Rather, stretch yourself to do the best job you can in that project and see what you can learn from it.
• Let your North Star guide you. When you get stuck in a project or struggle to see through a decision you made before, avoid giving up too easily or using “brute force” to complete your project or see through a decision. Rather, pay attention to any shift in its external context. If a shift did occur that requires you to discontinue a project or roll back a decision, consider whether doing so would best serve your North Star—and only then decide whether to hold on or to fold.
• Reframe failure. Fortitude isn’t about avoiding failures at all cost and being successful at all times. Rather, it is the ability to “fail successfully.” Indeed, Winston Churchill famously said, “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Hence, if you were to abandon a project or revise a decision for the right reason, step back and reflect on what you could learn from that setback.
• Cultivate psychological capital. According to Fred Luthans, an expert in organizational behavior, leaders can learn to demonstrate fortitude in the face of adversity by cultivating what he calls “psychological capital.” It is built on four attributes known as HERO:²⁷
  

Motivation, the fuel for fortitude, helps answer the question: “Why I am I doing what I am doing? What gives me the staying power?” Motivation is therefore the focus of the next chapter.