Read Time: 5 min

The Idea: Navigating Adversity

Anecdote: The Las Vegas Aces

Last February, the Las Vegas Aces added Candace Parker, a WNBA All-Time great to their roster that had just won a championship. What was already a championship roster including the likes of A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young got even better.

Fast forward, the Las Vegas Aces became the first team in two decades to win back-to-back championships. They’ve been called one of the greatest basketball teams ever assembled. They won a record 34 games and set the all-time mark for the best offensive team in history.

But, it wasn’t a smooth ride to their 2nd championship. The team incurred injuries, fines, suspensions, and even a lawsuit.

What’s the point of this story? It’s that all teams, even good teams, even all-time great teams face adversity. It’s what we call the Pit of Despair. If you were looking closely, you might have noticed it in the tool we shared last week.

Here’s Becky Hammon, coach of the Aces, discussing how her team responded:

Here’s the point: every team, no matter how talented, no matter how great hits a point where their togetherness is questioned. It is inevitable. It cannot be avoided. Adversity is guaranteed.

The Pit of Despair usually happens, as you can see on the tool when we are turning the corner between Conscious Incompetence and Conscious Competence.

Why? Because you can now see clearly how long it’s going to take to move to being good at (insert skill). The vision of seeing yourself excel at the skill you are attempting to master is blurry. And there’s no end in sight.

Most people give up. They feel this despair. They give up because they’re made aware of the amount of work it will take. And it can be debilitating.

So, here’s the question: what do we do with this for ourselves? What do we do with this for those that we lead?

Research Insight: Self-Regulating Resilience

A group of researchers in Europe spent 3 months observing elite military personnel being trained. They wanted to examine how team resilience is formed.

Amongst the many findings of this study, individual self-regulatory skills were identified as foundational for maintaining performance, but the integration of these skills within the team context was the vehicle that fostered team resilience.

In other words, each soldier needed to learn how to self-regulate through adversity. But, teaching and using these skills within the context of the team is what allowed the team to navigate this process.

If we are going to foster a resilient team that rallies together in adversity instead of splintering apart, teaching our people to prepare and cope with that adversity is extremely important in maintaining performance.

Navigating the Pit of Despair:

The truth is - it’s all in the preparation. Let’s lead ourselves first and discuss how we can do this for ourselves before we attempt to do it for others.

What will you need when you get there? As you can see above, it consists of three things:

1. Time - You will need extra time with the right people, both formally and informally. Who are the people outside of work, coaching, and your leadership (informal) that can help you be objective about what’s going on? Who are the people on your team (formal) that you need extra time with? Prepare regular meetings with those people before you’re in the Pit so it’s already part of your rhythm when you get there.

2. Vision - You will need reminders of your vision, both short-term and long-term. A basic question to ask is “Have you established your vision for your work in the first place?” If not, it starts there. If you have, what will you build into your day, week, and month to remind yourself of your “why”.

3. Encouragement - You will need the encouragement of your core, who you are as a person, usually around things that others can’t see. Who can you go to that gets you? What do you need to support yourself and remind yourself of your purpose, your superpowers, and your heroic goals?

So, whether we are leading a younger employee who’s been promoted to a new level, or an athlete through their freshman year - we have to prepare our people for the Pit of Despair.

1. Make sure they know that the Pit of Despair is part of the process. It comes for everyone learning something or accomplishing something great.

2. Help them build a structure around their relationships so they don’t have to reach out when they get there. They can rely on already-established rhythms of their relationships.

3. Remind them of the vision of why they started this process of learning in the first place.

4. See them for the people they are and call that out in them.

Closing Thought: 

Success, whether in sports, business, or personally, often involves navigating the Pit of Despair. This journey demands resilience, a clear vision, and a supportive network. Leaders must recognize the inevitability of challenges and prepare themselves and their teams to face them. If individuals and teams are prepared well, potential setbacks become stepping stones toward greater achievements. The essence of this journey lies in understanding that the path to excellence is a collective effort, enriched by shared struggles and triumphs. In embracing these principles, leaders can cultivate teams that are not only successful but also resilient and cohesive in the face of adversity.

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