leadership mindset – Doug Dickerson on Leadership

The Power of Resistance in Leadership

Posted May 8, 2022May 11, 2022
by admin

Only a mediocre person is always at his best.- W. Somerset Maugham

I came across an interesting story not long ago about how our muscles grow and develop. According to medical research, “muscle size increases when a person continually challenges the muscles to deal with higher levels of resistance or weight. This process is known as hypertrophy. Muscle hypertrophy occurs when fibers sustain damage or injury. The body repairs damaged fibers by fusing them, which increases the mass and size of the muscles.”

Did you catch that? Muscles build when there is resistance. The process actually includes the tearing of muscle fibers. It sounds like a painful process but it is necessary for the bigger picture; gaining muscle strength and growth.

When it comes to our personal growth and our growth as leaders, we tend to stay away from things (or people) that cause us pain. And often, the very thing that will move us in the direction of more growth and development, is the very thing we try to avoid. Why? Because it’s painful or because we are unwilling to pay the price for that growth. It’s the ultimate catch-22.

In The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, here’s how John Maxwell defines the Law of the Rubber Band, “Growth stops when you lose the tension between where you are and where you could be.” There are many uses for a rubber band, but it’s of no use or value until it’s stretched.

As a leader, how willing and open are you to being stretched for the sake of growth? What sacrifices are you willing to make to become a better leader tomorrow? Unless you are stretched you will never reach your full leadership potential.

Your physical muscles grow as they are challenged to deal with higher levels of resistance. What does that look like in leadership? Let’s consider these two ways.

You grow in your leadership as you resist your comfort zones

When you begin moving out of your comfort zones – those familiar places where you routinely operate with a great degree of predictability, then you will begin to feel resistance. It’s akin to the feeling you had when the training wheels came off when learning how to ride a bike, or when learning to swim and you took the plunge into the deep end of the pool. All of your training and learning up to that point have prepared you for the next step. In order to grow, you must be willing to move in the direction of the things you’ve resisted the most up to this point. Click To Tweet

In the book Originals – How Non-Conformists Move the World, Adam Grant quotes John Kotter who sheds additional light here stating, “Without a sense of urgency, people…won’t make sacrifices. Instead, they cling to the status quo and resist.” Perhaps in your leadership, this is where you find yourself – with no sense of urgency. Here’s what you need to know – without embracing resistance that will develop you as a leader, you will stay right where you are. Without a sense of urgency, you will be at the same place a year from now as you find yourself today. Click To TweetYour personal growth and development will only happen when you are willing and prepared to make the sacrifices to get there.

You grow in your leadership when you embrace the tension of growth

Developing your leadership mettle happens when you embrace the tensions of growth. I’m not talking about the tension that arises due to strained relationships or conflict in the office. The tension that I am referring to is the tension that’s created when you recognize that your comfort zone is no longer serving you well and it’s time to get out of it. It’s the tension that takes place when you move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset and from a negative attitude to a positive attitude. It’s the tension that takes place as John Maxwell says when you are willing to give up security for significance and addition for multiplication.

Ultimately, by embracing the tension of growth you will develop a new set of leadership muscles and fortitude you didn’t have before.

Simon Sinek remarked, “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.” And passion is the ultimate difference-maker when it comes to how you lead. It emboldens you with confidence and confidence is contagious.

Final Thoughts

Your personal growth and development and that of your leadership occur when you embrace the tension and put resistance to work. As you embrace the tension, you will grow as a leader. This is how you put resistance to good work.

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Becoming A Generous Leader

Posted March 6, 2022
by admin

Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure; where your treasure is, there is your heart; where your heart is, there is your happiness. – Augustine

A story is told of a mother who wanted to teach her young daughter a lesson on giving. So she gave her daughter a quarter and a dollar just before going into church. “Put whichever one you want into the collection plate and keep the other for yourself,” she said.

When they were coming out of the church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she put into the collection plate. “Well,” said the little girl, “I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection, the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I would be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did.”

At the heart of the lesson is a reminder all leaders need to hear. That the little girl might hold onto the dollar and only give the quarter might not be all that surprising considering her young age. But the expectation ought to be higher for leaders.

As a leader starting out, I’m thankful that I had mentors and other leaders who generously spoke into my life. I’m grateful for their influence and the wisdom that they shared. I’m where I am today because of their generosity.

If there’s ever been in a time in our world for cheerful and generous leaders it’s now. Our world is troubled and broken and in great need of leaders who can make significant contributions to those around them. But where do we start? Here are three simple ways to be a generous leader.

Be a generous encourager

It’s been said that everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. You may not know the battles, the struggles, the stress, the family situations, etc., of those around you. Your one word of encouragement can go a long way in making someone else’s day. It may not seem all that significant to you but it can make their day. Be an encourager.

Be a generous listener

Over the years I’ve come to the realization that I’ve helped more people not by what I ever had to say, but simply by listening. I’ve also learned that I don’t have to “fix” everyone’s problems and more times than not it’s not what people are after. People today want to be heard and have leaders in their life who will listen. Be a generous listener. It can a world of difference.

Be a generous resource

One of the great joys in life is giving. Living a generous lifestyle pays dividends in many ways. I challenge myself daily with this one question – what one generous act can I do for someone today that will add value to them or brighten their day? I do this for people that I know – I love resourcing people – especially with books and find other ways to add value to those around me. I do this for strangers – I like to pay it forward by picking up a check for someone’s dinner in a restaurant or for their beverage at the drive-thru. I don’t mention these things to boast but simply to illustrate that when generosity becomes a lifestyle it becomes contagious and makes the world just a little nicer place.

Final Thoughts

What generous things are you doing to add value to those around you? How might you become a more encouraging leader or a better listener? Our world could use a little more cheer. Let’s learn the joy of being generous leaders.

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Embrace The Interruptions

Posted May 28, 2020May 28, 2020
by admin

The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life–the life God is sending one day by day. – C.S. Lewis

I have a small collection of autographed baseballs. Aside from being a fan of baseball, I’m not exactly sure how I got started on the collection. But several autographed baseballs from Hall of Famers are set atop one of my office bookshelves.

The most prized baseball I have was given to me by my father. It was a birthday present. Growing up a St. Louis Cardinal fan, the autograph ball is from none other than Stan “The Man” Musial.

Musial broke into the Major Leagues at the age of 20. His 22-year stint with the Cardinals, the only team he played for, earned him a spot in Cooperstown. Musial ended his career with a .331 batting average, 3,630 hits, 475 home runs, and 1,951 runs batted in.

Unfortunately, I never got to see Stan Musial play. His days in the game preceded my birth, but as a Cardinals fan, his legacy is still sacred.

Musial was off to a fast start in his career. In 1943 he won the first of seven batting titles. His career was on a fast track–until it wasn’t.

Like many of his teammates in that era, duty called and in 1945, Musial joined the Navy. While that season was lost. He rejoined the Cardinals in 1946 and went on to play a stellar career.

Life, like Musial’s and countless thousands of others, is filled with curveballs that are thrown our way. Things that we didn’t see coming. Interruptions, if you will.

The past few months may seem like one colossal interruption that you’d soon rather forget. I get it. Yet, here we are.

As a leader, how you handle interruptions is important. Consider this the next time you are faced with interruptions.

Interruptions give you time to regroup

It’s easy to see interruptions as a nuisance and get frustrated. But it’s how you react during this time that will cause it to be beneficial or a waste of time. As a leader, it’s up to you to make it happen.

Interruptions give you time to rethink

What you learn and the lessons you apply during times of interruption can be invaluable going forward. It’s exactly what many have had to do during this pandemic. Learning how to pivot and make adjustments have caused many to get out of ruts and old ways of doing things that they may not have been comfortable doing prior. Click To Tweet Not all interruptions are setbacks if you use them to your advantage.

Interruptions give you a chance to re-emerge stronger

While your interruptions may have been seen as delay and loss, maybe now you can see it as a part of a greater plan to position you to be stronger than before. How you use your time of interruption can be beneficial only as you change your attitude towards it. Click To Tweet

Final Thoughts

What have you learned during these past few months? How have you learned to pivot and what other lessons have you learned? Permit me to encourage you to embrace the interruptions that come your way. What you can learn and how you re-engage will make all the difference.

For Musial, his interruption was a call to duty. When his service ended, he returned as strong as ever and finished a Hall of Fame career. Your interruption is not the end, it’s just a pause. Embrace it and learn from it.

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How Leaders Keep Calm in Crisis

Posted April 13, 2020
by admin

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. – C.S. Lewis

We are living in unprecedented times. We are living during a moment of history that will be read about in the history books a hundred years from now. These are trying times for sure!

How we handle this crisis will be debated for years to come. As leaders, how we step up right now is as important as ever.

As a leader, you might be able to identify with Tom Welling who said, “I have so much chaos in my life, it’s become normal.” Can you relate?

Being a leader does not exempt you from chaos, stress, pressures, and such. If anything, it might add to it.

But as a leader, your style and approach at such times are important. Others are looking to you to see how you react which in many ways determines how they will react.

Your leadership when times are tough will either cause people to lose hope and succumb to despair or it will instill hope and confidence. Click To Tweet In these times, your people need an example of the calming effect that your leadership can have. Here are four ways that happen.

Calm leaders see the big picture

Calm leaders are not rocked by every disruption that comes along. Short-sightedness tends to fuel the insecurities in people. A calm leader can exude confidence because they see the big picture and it’s with that understanding they can lead with a steady hand.

Calm leaders understand timing

One of the hardest things to learn as a leader is timing. We are people of action. Waiting is not necessarily a finer quality. But calm leaders have an intuition for timing. They know when it’s time to wait and when it’s time to act. The calming effect of timing within your organization and with your people can make a world of difference. Calm leaders can help avert a multitude of troubles just by understanding how timing impacts every decision they make. Click To Tweet

Calm leaders challenge norms

Calm leaders tend to challenge norms and stretch others to grow in ways they are not often comfortable with. Call it what you will – human nature, gut reactions, etc., but many people react to things happening to them or around them in ways that only make matters worse. But a calm leader is processing. A calm leader brings peace to the storm, level-headed thinking, and challenges the norms that define the way things have always been done.

Calm leaders bring stability

Calm leaders bring a level of maturity and stability that is often lacking during turbulent times. Calm leaders know that their actions, attitudes, reactions, and thinking go a long way in determining successful outcomes.

Calm leaders are not passive leaders, nor are they passionless. Calm leaders are simply those who know how to harness the power of their intuition, experience, maturity, and wisdom to be a more effective leader. Click To Tweet

Strive to be a leader who, when everything around them seems to be in chaos, brings a calming presence to the situation. We could surely use more calm leaders.

It was Robert Schuller who once said, “Know that tough times don’t last but tough people do.” And we are certainly in the midst of tough times. Be encouraged today and know that we will get through this together!

*This post was adapted from Four Attitudes of Calm Leaders that was originally published to my blog in April 2019.

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Lead Up Leadership

Posted January 5, 2020
by admin

Your rewards in life will be in direct proportion to the value of your service to others – Brian Tracy

It is said that Napoleon once lost control of his horse and a private jumping into the path of the horse took control of it. Napoleon then said, “Thank you, Captain.” With that one word, Napoleon promoted the soldier from the rank of private to captain, but it was because that soldier put his general first.

Leading up – not to be mistaken for kissing up, is a leadership mindset that is lost on many today. While kissing up may be practiced among the ranks by a few and for obvious reasons, leading up is a different ball game altogether.

Leading up is a leadership mindset that looks different, feels different, and in fact, runs counter to the way most people go about their daily lives in the marketplace.

But why?

For starters, it runs counter to the mindset of looking out for yourself above everything and everyone else.

For others, it could be a pride or ego problem. The idea of serving is lost on them because they have a misplaced understanding of what lead up leadership is all about.

What does a lead-up leader look like? What makes them different? Here are a few lead up principles that I have learned over the years. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means but I trust will give you some insights as to what lead up leadership is all about.

Lead up leaders never stop learning

Your capacity to contribute to your organization is connected to your willingness to learn and grow as a leader. John Maxwell put it this way, “No matter how much it costs you to keep growing and learning, the cost of doing nothing is greater.”

You can’t give what you don’t have. Leading up is about keeping up and learning all that you can so that your contributions are greater. Click To Tweet

Lead Up Tip – Be proactive. Read new books, seek out a mentor or coach who can help you put a plan in place and help you take ownership for your continued growth.

Lead up leaders support their leaders

Leading up is all about adding value and making contributions that make the organization better. As you support and promote the vision of your leader you are demonstrating what a lead-up leader looks like.

This is not about shelving your ideas but earning the right and having the credibility to present yours when the time is right. Zig Ziglar put it this way, “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want.” It’s a lead-up principle that feels awkward at first but pays great dividends in the future.

Lead Up Tip – Do all that you can to get to know your leader. Find ways to lighten his load help him reach his goals. When the leader wins, everyone wins.

Lead up leaders have a servant’s heart

Lead up leaders have a servant’s heart. They make things happen not just for themselves but for others as well. They are not driven by ego and self-centeredness but have a genuine interest in seeing others succeed.

Jim George said, “Serving others prepares you for leading others,” and this is the golden (and often missed) nugget of leadership. As you learn how to lead-up, you will grow your capacity and potential as a future leader.

Lead Up Tip – There’s no greater calling than servant leadership. When you lift others, everyone is better for it. Look for ways to add value to those around you.

Final Thoughts:

Your end game in leadership is not to be served but to serve. Lead up leadership is simply the refining process of learning and understanding that it’s not all about you.

If you can’t learn to set aside your ego and serve others in the place where you are now, you will not be a leader worth following in the future. Click To Tweet

In order to go up, you have to learn how to lead up.

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Help Wanted: Good Followers

Posted August 11, 2019
by admin

You have the blood of a great warrior. To lead, you must also learn to follow. – E.Y. Laster, Of Captivity & Kings

I once read the story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application that asked, “Are you a leader?” Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, “No,” and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: “Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower.”

That story serves as a good reminder that while the calling and desire for leadership are as great as ever, there is also a need for good followers.

A misconception that I have observed over the years is that the two – leaders and followers have mutually exclusive roles. Either you are a leader or you are a follower. I don’t believe this to be true.

We tend to assign titles of a follower or a leader along hierarchical lines. The higher you are in the organizational structure the more one might look upon you as a leader. If you are lower on the ladder you may be labeled as a follower.

Here’s the truth of the matter: The person labeled or looked upon as the follower may be more of a leader than the one with the title. It’s a common misconception. In some situations, the follower can wield more influence as a follower than the leader with the title or higher position. At the end of the day, the one with the influence is the leader.

Organizations are successful because of the collaborative efforts of good leaders and good followers who set aside their egos, pecking orders, and turf wars to create what they couldn’t do by themselves.Organizations are successful because of the collaborative efforts of good leaders and good followers who set aside their egos, pecking orders, and turf wars to create what they couldn’t do by themselves. Click To Tweet

So what are some characteristics of good followers? Here are five worth considering.

A good follower puts the mission first

A good follower is all about advancing the mission of the organization. His focus is on how to achieve common goals and move the team forward. Their work ethic is unparalleled. Never take them for granted.

Good followers make good leaders because they are selfless. They understand that it’s not about them.

A good follower is highly loyal

Loyalty runs through the veins of good followers. They tend to be some of the most reliable and faithful people in your organization. It’s their work ethic and front-line presence that makes all the difference.

Good followers make good leaders because they know that without a culture built upon loyalty nothing else matters.

A good follower is service-minded

Good followers are valuable because they are also the ones who will go above and beyond the call of duty to serve their organization and people. These good followers are assets to your organization because they don’t wait around to be told something needs to be done – they do it.

Good followers make good leaders because they lead by example.

A good follower is an ideal team player

Ultimately, good followers are consummate team players. They are not driven by selfish ambitions. They fully embrace their role and desire to see others succeed. They don’t worry about who gets the credit. They know that every win moves the team forward.

Good followers make good leaders because they understand the power of teamwork.

Leaders and followers need each other. They need to embrace their interdependence because it’s how organizations work best. Leaders and followers need each other. They need to embrace their interdependence because it’s how organizations work best. Click To Tweet

If you are a follower in your organization you need to wholeheartedly embrace that role. You also need to own the dynamic leadership qualities you have that contribute to its success. We need good followers now more than ever.

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Embracing The Hard Things in Leadership

Posted July 22, 2019July 22, 2019
by admin

Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn’t be done. – Amelia Earhart

This past week our nation and the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first moonwalk by Neil Armstrong.

Years before that historic moonwalk, President John F. Kennedy in a rousing speech at Rice University declared:

“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.”

Kennedy’s speech at Rice on September 12, 1962, was not the first time he referenced going to the moon or rallying the nation around this ambitious goal. He had done so the year before in a speech to Congress and was a driving force behind its realization even though he would not live to see it.

But for me, the most inspiring part of the speech was not the articulation of the goal of going to the moon. It was embracing that goal and others, “not because they are easy but because they are hard”. That, to me, was the inspiring challenge of a past generation, and is one we need to rediscover in ours. Embracing the hard.

The quest for many is the easy route – it’s the path of least resistance. Embracing the hard is, well, hard. It demands more of us – more than at times we feel we are capable of giving. Shakespeare put it this way, “ We know what we are, but know not what we may be”. Embracing who we may be means letting go of the easy and embracing the hard.

This is true in our personal lives and in our leadership. Embracing the seemingly impossible challenges and willfully opting for the hard paths flies in the face of conventional thinking. Consider these three perspectives:

The hard things in leadership: What it’s not

-Embracing the hard things in leadership is not about embracing hard things as if you have some martyr syndrome.

-It’s not blind ambition without regard to risks and sacrifices that will need to be made.

-It’s not making things hard, it’s doing hard things in a smart way.

The hard things in leadership: What it is

Ralph Martson said it this way, “Don’t lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations”. This is the secret to doing the hard things in leadership.

-It’s about raising expectations to such a high level that your people become passionate about wanting to do the hard things.

-It’s about redefining what success looks like. And it will never look the same again when you embrace the hard things.

-It’s about bringing out the best in ourselves and in others. Knowing what you are truly capable of achieving is not found in doing the easy things. Your leadership is not forged in the valley, but in the fire.

The hard things in leadership: The cost

Many Americans during the 60’s opposed the idea of sending a man to the moon. They argued that the money could be better spent on other things.

-The toll was great for those who worked on the Apollo mission. The divorce rate, in particular, was very high.

-When you choose to do the hard things in leadership versus the easy – it will come at a cost. Not everyone will take the journey with you.

-Some are comfortable being “settlers” – let them be.

-Some are just not willing to pay the price. Don’t let them dissuade you. You must do as Ben Horowitz suggested and “embrace the struggle”. When you do then a whole new world of possibilities opens up before you.

While it may go against the grain of the current way you think about leadership – embrace the hard things. You will be a better leader for it.

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Four Attributes of Calm Leaders

Posted April 29, 2019
by admin

I’ve always had a duck personality. Calm above water, feet going crazy below. – K. Flay

A man in the supermarket was pushing a cart which contained, among other things, a screaming baby. As the man proceeded along the aisles, he kept repeating softly, “Keep calm, George. Don’t get excited, George. Don’t get excited, George. Don’t yell, George.”

A lady watching with admiration said to the man, “You are certainly to be commended for your patience in trying to quiet little George.”

“Lady,” he declared, “I’m George.”

As a leader, I’m sure you’ve had your moments when you felt like the man in the supermarket pushing the cart.

As a leader, you might be able to identify with Tom Welling who said, “I have so much chaos in my life, it’s become normal.” Can you relate?

Being a leader does not exempt you from chaos, stress, pressures, and the such. If anything, it might add to it.

But as a leader, your style and approach at such times are important. Others are looking to you to see how you react which in many ways determines how they will react.

Calm leaders see the big picture

Calm leaders understand timing

Calm leaders challenge norms

Calm leaders bring stability

Strive to be a leader who, when everything around them seems to be in chaos, brings a calming presence to the situation. We could sure use more calm leaders.

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Choose One Chair: Three Questions Every Leader Must Answer

Posted March 25, 2019
by admin

Credit: Google Images

“Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they’re here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday.”- “Yesterday”, by Paul McCartney and John Lennon

In Guidepost Magazine, Luciano Pavarotti relates a story from when he was a boy and his father introduced him to the wonders of song. He recounts:

“He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, I asked my father, ‘Shall I be a teacher or a singer?’ “‘Luciano,’ my father replied, ‘if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.’ “I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it’s laying bricks, writing a book–whatever we choose–we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that’s the key. Choose one chair.”

At some point, every leader has that moment of awakening when one chair wins over another. The process of getting there will vary from person to person, but that day will ultimately come.

Your growth and development as a leader is a fluid process. Foundational character principles that guide you on your journey will not change, but for the sake of future growth and development as a leader, you must be open to change and new ideas.

As leaders, we also know that the only constant is change. What worked for you in years past may not be sufficient today. If you are content to just “phone it in” and coast as a leader on how it was done in years gone by then you may like have lost your edge. So what is a leader to do? Here are three basic questions you need to answer. Reaching your destiny as a leader may very well depend on it.

Is yesterday’s passion enough?

Passion is the fuel of your leadership. With it, the sky’s the limit in terms of your potential and destiny. It’s what keeps you up late at night and gets you up early in the morning. It’s the “why” that gives your life meaning and purpose.

Yet perhaps the wear and tear of the daily grind have taken its toll on you. Perhaps your dreams haven’t been realized and you feel there is no use in going forward. Let me encourage you today to buy-in to the words of Joel Osteen when he said, “If you’re alive and breathing, you can still become everything God has created you to be.” Becoming a leader of destiny requires a new passion for going forward. While the passion you started out with may have been sufficient at the time; today’s goals, dreams, and destiny will require more. Click To Tweet

Is yesterday’s attitude adequate?

If passion is the fuel of your leadership then your attitude determines your mileage. How far you go is about possessing the right attitude. Your attitude in years gone by may have served you well up to a point, but to get to the next level you may have to step it up a notch. Click To Tweet

Zig Ziglar said, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” And that is the secret to achieving your leadership destiny. Leaders who have stood the test of time understand the importance of a positive attitude. Every leader has also dealt with the challenges-both internally and externally, of right thinking. Your attitude will cause you to reach your destiny as a leader or it will prevent it. Be sure it’s a good one.

Is yesterday’s mindset working?

One of the greatest threats to your leadership today is holding on to a “this is the way we’ve always done it” approach of years gone by. Evolving as a leader is not about disrespecting the past but has everything to do with letting it go for the sake of your future. Click To Tweet

While values are timeless your methods must be current and relevant to today’s world. Are you still open to new ideas? Do you still have the attitude of a student who is humble enough to learn? Don’t forfeit the destiny that could be yours because of limited thinking. Stay current, be relevant, and keep growing.

When Pavarotti chose his one chair it changed the course of his life. It was that singular decision that put his destiny in motion. In like fashion you must choose your one chair and make sure that you have the right levels of passion, attitude, and mindset to take you to the top.

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Comebacks: Inspiration From Tiger Woods

Posted September 30, 2018October 4, 2018
by dougdickerson

The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it. – Vince Lombardi

The golf world had one of its most magical moments in recent years when Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia on September 24. He led the tournament from start to finish and it marked his first win in five years.

Tiger’s stroll up the 18th fairway to the green is nothing short of“instant classic” status. It was in a word – stunning.

Tiger’s comeback has been a long time in the making. You know his story and you are aware of the headlines, no need to rehash it all here. His public fall from grace was just as iconic as his comeback. His was a messy humanity on display for the world to see. Add to that four back surgeries and his comeback defied the odds of many who thought it was not possible.

We live in times when creating and building up our heroes only to tear them down is done for the sport. It’s a time in which the voices of redemption and grace are drowned out by the screams of the mob.

“What you see and what you hear,” wrote C.S. Lewis, “depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” Maybe this is the introspection we need in times like these.

Maybe Tiger’s triumphant walk up the 18th fairway in some small way gave inspiration to those facing their own setbacks and defeats and gave encouragement to never give up. Maybe in him they caught a glimpse of themselves as they wish to be – knocked down, battered, broken, but back. Could this be you?

As you read this you may be dealing with your own set of struggles and private battles and you may be wondering if the struggle is worth it. Here are a few simple takeaways from Tiger’s return. It could be a blueprint for yours.

Never give up

Tiger’s winless drought lasted five years. While four back surgeries kept him sidelined and not playing at a level he was accustomed to, he found his way back. Not by listening to the voices of those who said he’d never return, but by listening to his heart and never giving up. Your comeback begins with your mindset. Click To TweetIt begins by determining that your present location is not your final stop.

Fight through the pain

Even by his own admission, Tiger thought he would not return to golf. Back in 2015, he said, “There’s really nothing I can look forward to, nothing I can build toward.” The pain Tiger endured on his way back was at times unbearable and debilitating. But he pressed on through the pain. Your comeback may be painful as well, but nothing worth fighting will always come easy. You may be experiencing growing pains right now, but find your strength for today and fight through the pain one day at a time.

Tighten your circle

As C.S. Lewis said, you have to know what you see and what you hear. When making your comeback, you must tighten your circle and be mindful of the voices you are listening to. Woods acknowledged this saying, “You know, the people who are close to me saw the struggles and what I was going through, and some of the players I’m pretty close to, they’ve really helped me throughout this process and the last few years”. On your comeback journey, you have to know who’s in your corner and who’s not.

Making a comeback will require more than what has been addressed here. These are just starting points. But you must never give up, you will have to fight through the pain, and you will need to tighten your circle. Not everyone who speaks into your life belongs in your life. Click To TweetBe open, be receptive, but by all means be wise. Your comeback depends on it.

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