An early version of this Weblog appears in the book “Observations at the Speed of Life” which is available online at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. As you are reading this, I am also in the middle of recording the stories to be released as an audio book sometime next month. 

Since I write like I talk, I thought I would be a natural to be the narrator. When this Weblog first appeared in September of 2020, not all the subscribers had the chance to see it, and it was prior to the Weblogs being posted on LinkedIn and other social media pages, so even though parts of it are recycled, it will still be ‘new’ for the majority of readers.

This year I have guested on several podcasts, sharing some of the motivation that led me to run a marathon at 70 years old and publish a book at 72 years old. 

On every guest appearance, I share the following quote from President Calvin Coolidge, another Massachusetts guy. I first saw this as a small poster in a restaurant after I finished college. 

The quote:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend an alumni event at my fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, at the University of Massachusetts. I thought of the quote because the fraternity was where any semblance I have of persistence was developed. 

I can’t say it was born there, because I was persistent before college. I say ‘developed’ because it was where I learned that "failure depends."

Let me start the explanation by sharing the results of a study I read several years ago detailing the differences between those who overcome obstacles or failures and those who do not.

It was an attitudinal survey that studied what happened when people failed: how they failed, what their reaction was to failure, and how they behaved after they failed.

I’m sure the nitty gritty data was boring, and this is not intended to be a scientific review of the paper. I don’t remember the source of the study or all the details, but I do remember that two simple conclusions were startling to me at the time (because I had never realized them before):

• Achievers don’t dwell on their failures: they acknowledge they didn’t hit the target, consider or determine reasons, realize that things could have been better, promise themselves to avoid the failure again, through better planning or adapting, and move on. Persistence.

• Others ran their failures through their minds over and over, dwelled on them, and in many cases beat themselves up for a prolonged period. They made their failures worse instead of pushing forward.

The first key time as an ‘adult’ where I think I came through with ‘persistence and determination’ was when I was a student.

I had joined the fraternity and developed a vision to become a leader.

Potential roles included President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, New Member Inductor as well as committee chairman for the Academic, Social, Athletic, and Recruitment committees. 

All leadership roles required developing skill at influencing peers and getting things done, in addition to generating confidence among the members that the job would get done.

I’m sure I was inspired by the leaders of the Chapter, because through my early fraternity experience, I had already learned some valuable lessons about getting along with others, working as a team in areas that weren’t sports, and about myself.

I also learned some un-sharable things as well, but those are not Weblog material.

I wasn’t sure at the time, but suspected that I had some leadership potential, although I had no idea how much I had or if it would ever be activated. I know that sounds strange to have a college age kid with self-doubt, but it used to happen.

So, I did what every self-doubting kid would do: I ran for Chapter President and received a single vote (out of 55 and it was my vote). One vote, my own. Humbling. This experience did not help my self-esteem. So much for that level of leadership. I remember wishing I had done better but moved on quickly after the election. I did win a subsequent position as the Inductor, the new member trainer, so I was still in the mix for something more.

I ran for President a second time, (persistence or stupidity?) and received several more votes, but the election was a landslide for my opponent, (still a good friend who was an usher at my wedding and who I still see on a regular basis 50+ years later). I remember thinking that I might never be an officer, I would have just have to be a gentleman, and I became the House Manager, focusing on assigned daily chores and making small repairs. 

Since I concentrated on other things until the next election my leadership goal was on life support, but secretly. Not dwelling on it but recognizing the reality that I hadn’t done enough for the fraternity to warrant success at the ballot box for my aspirations.

The third time I ran for the highest office in the fraternity was different, and it was after everyone realized that the fraternity was at high risk for folding because we had a group of seniors graduating, another group that had discovered marijuana and wasn’t interested in brotherhood anymore, and a third group that got tired of being around the group that discovered dope.

It looked like we would not have enough Brothers to fill the house the next Fall because so many were moving off campus.

We knew we needed to add a minimum of 15 new members to keep the Chapter House fully occupied to pay the bills, so we mobilized. Every night after dinner for a month I led a group of members fanning out on campus to different dorms to talk to freshmen and sophomores about joining the fraternity. This was something that wasn’t typically done then, and I’m not sure it is done now.

Yes, we had people give us some static, some were rude, some kicked us out, and some jerks were interested in joining for the wrong reasons. Not sure you are aware but some fraternities on some campuses did not, and do not, have the best reputation?

Over the course of the recruitment period, our determination paid off and more than 20 new men pledged Phi Sig, were initiated as Brothers at the end of the semester, and the house was filled (and saved) for the next year. Our persistence and determination paid off with some great future leaders who turned out to be some of my best friends.

At the end of the semester with elections coming up, of course I ran again for President. I was (finally) elected at last, since many of the men I was involved in recruiting to Phi Sig voted for me.

Being President of that fraternity at the age of 21, turned out to be one of the most beneficial learning experiences of my life, leading a group to accomplish objectives with some validation that I had the leadership gene. That’s when I personally confirmed that nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

An interesting follow up aspect of this experience took place 35 years later. One of the men we recruited that spring eventually became my little Brother in the fraternity (a mentor-mentee relationship). He had heard that the Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa at Umass was struggling and rounded up about 20 alumni from the early 70’s to visit the house and see what was going on. I had not been back to the house in decades. A group of us met and toured the house and were not impressed. 

With fewer than 20 undergraduate members, we could see another crisis coming for the financially struggling fraternity we owed so much of our personal development to. That night we went to dinner together to talk about it and to decide whether we’d get involved or just let the thing fail and start fresh at another time.

I made the mistake of going to the restroom after dinner. When I got back my little Brother shared with me that the group had decided to become involved and had also selected me to lead the effort. I guess memories of leadership last a long time.

I did get involved as Advisor and in some other roles, and along with dozens of other Alumni and some top notch undergraduate leaders, as a team we were able to help Phi Sigma Kappa at the University of Massachusetts achieve a decades-long legacy of excellence, validated with a couple of National Chapter of the Year Awards and with a membership base of undergraduates in the 80 to 120 man range. 

Oh, yeah to match the three times that I ran for President? I was also awarded the fraternity’s Advisor of the Year three times. Good balance.

To this day when I fail, and I fail regularly just like you, whether it is something big like missing out on a major opportunity, or something small, like forgetting to complete some paperwork, I sometimes think back to the time I got one vote in that first election. I didn’t let it ruin my perspective. Learning from that failure and taking action instead of wallowing in self pity helped me accomplish my objective and set me off on a career of leadership.

Remember, Thomas Edison failed hundreds of times before he patented the light bulb. Not everyone hits a home run on the first pitch.

News flash: you are going to fail at something in the next year. Bank on it. It isn’t the failing that will sink you; it is what you do after you fail. Failure happens; the impact of failure depends on how you react to it.

I hope that your failures are at a minimum this year, but I really hope that when you do fail, you bounce back quickly, get over it, and move on, because persistence and determination are omnipotent, nothing can take their place, whether you are a 21-year-old fraternity President or a 70-year-old fraternity Advisor.

Persistence and determination make a difference.

PS

In honor of the 150^th Anniversary of the Fraternity, the top 150 members since 1873 were selected. Although I didn’t make the list, I did make Honorable Mention, so I wanted to honorably mention it here.