The unremarkable being pretty remarkable

I'm always proud of my kids. At the same time, I've never been one to over-sensationalize things. I wasn't claiming any of my awesome little humans was walking, talking, and potty trained by eight months. Now that they're older, celebrating the big moments — graduations, significant milestones — that's easy. It's the smaller stuff where I'm still a little resistant to bragging. Like... removing a dirt bike tire from a wheel.

To most, that probably seems insignificant. But as the dad, with context, especially knowing what he’s gone through over the last few years; I see it a little deeper — one good enough for the LinkedIn thread.

I didn't learn a lesson this week. I've long known the impact of persistence and grit. But on Sunday, in my home shop, I was reminded that some of our proudest memories come at the tail end of persistence and focused determination. Even in the small things. And small victories, added up time after time, end up having lifelong impacts on our confidence, our belief, our leadership, and our relationships. Small victories to us are large victories to others, and they matter.

What made it especially impressive: I don't have the right tools for that job in my shop. The easy button was to take it to a tire shop and let them handle it. If it were me, honestly, that's probably what I would have done. I certainly wouldn't have spent hours grinding it out, figuring out how to use a vice, crow bars, screwdrivers, soapy water, and anything else he could get his hands on.

And — a little embarrassingly — I offered him the out more than once. "Hey man, we can just take that in if you want." He said no. Every time. So outside of accepting me lending some old man muscle, he resisted every temptation to hand it off and fought all the way through until it slipped off. The hours-long struggle included moving box fans around to cool him off, Nirvana and Offspring blasting in the shop — and I mean blasting — and at some point, the shirt came off. The result came with a war cry that the Spartans would be proud of. Gonna admit, it came out of me too.

The last time I wrote a post about my kiddo, he had just completed a match with a bigger, stronger, older, and more experienced jiujitsu opponent. He got down early and while everyone was expecting a quick dispatch, he fought back and gave that opponent everything he wanted. His grit earned him some respect for sure…and had he simply not ran out of time; he probably would have won that match. I guess there is a common theme for him.

Here's what this has to do with business. A never-give-in attitude and the persistence to see it through are the traits I look for when I'm adding teammates. When things are smooth, not giving up is easy. But when you're in the struggle — when you don't have the right tools, the right resources, maybe not everything just perfect — and you stay in the fight anyway? The conditions aren’t all perfect or right, but you start anyway. That's where the magic happens in an organization. A full measure of commitment under pressure is the trait that separates teams.

My 15-year-old son reminded me of that on a Sunday in my garage. There are little pockets of inspiration everywhere if we choose to see them. That is absolutely the heart of business.

"Passion and persistence over the long haul is a better predictor of success than IQ. That's grit."

— Angela Duckworth

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

— Albert Einstein

"It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done."

— Rocky Balboa, to his son. Stallone wrote that for a fictional character. I saw it in real life in my garage.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

— Winston Churchill