Stand in the Arena

In his famed “Citizenship in a Republic” speech, Teddy Roosevelt said:

“It is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the person who is

actually in the arena...who spends themselves in a worthy cause; who at

the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the

worst, if they fail, at least they fail while daring greatly.”

ANY WORTHY CAUSE IS WORTH DOING WELL AND TAKES EFFORT...in all things, personal or professional. Embrace and take ownership of your mission. Know it, understand it, pursue it relentlessly. This sometimes means taking risks, making tough calls, trying something new, taking a leap of faith, doing something scary or uncomfortable.

And SOMETIMES IT MEANS FAILING. AND THAT IS OK. If we go through our lives constantly worried that we might fail at something, we’ll very likely not live up to our full potential. This doesn’t mean we should take uncalculated risks, make poor decisions, or repeatedly make the same mistakes. It does mean that we shouldn’t fear the prospect of failure, allowing that fear to paralyze us. We should recognize that mistakes are inevitable. It does mean that we shouldn’t fear the prospect of failure, allowing that fear to paralyze us.

What sets us apart is how we respond to them: TAKE OWNERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR YOUR MISTAKES AND VIEW THEM AS LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, A CHANCE TO GROW, LEARN, AND CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE. In many ways, recognizing and accounting for failure is at the very core of our mission - why we must plan for it, prepare for it, know how to STAND IN THE ARENA respond to it and recover from it - and again, perhaps most importantly, learn from it... together.