Misfortunes in Business Can Contribute to Success

On June 3, 2017, the Chief Justice of the United States, John G. Roberts, Jr., gave a commencement address at Cardigan Mountain School.  The audience was a graduating class of middle schoolers heading off to what’s next, many who may have expected a different speech than the one delivered.On June 3, 2017, the Chief Justice of the United States, John G. Roberts, Jr., gave a commencement address at Cardigan Mountain School.  The audience was a graduating class of middle schoolers heading off to what’s next, many who may have expected a different speech than the one delivered.

Chief Justice Roberts, didn’t extend good wishes or tell the graduates they are now ready for what’s ahead.  Instead, he simply said, “I will not do that and I’ll tell you why.”  What he brought these graduates was a “wish for misfortune.”

Sounds crazy, but this may have been the best message a young adult could hear.

Remember when you started your business?  The excitement, the confidence, the fear buried by both?  You were to be unstoppable and there was nothing in the way.  Your vision (like mine) was one of kittens, rainbows, and a never-ending supply of success.

But is that how it went?

Years ago, when I developed the very first draft of what I now call my Vision/Traction Organizer™ (strategic plan), it painted nothing less than wild success in a very short period of time.  It communicated my ability to create relationships that work 100% of the time, profitability that grew year over year, and just general good luck all around.

Although a path to success is what a strategic plan should communicate, looking back, I could have been better prepared to buckle up and ride out the bumps along the way.

How? With the simple gifts of wisdom, humility, and vision — obtained from the eight wishes Chief Justice Roberts had for those graduates:

A wish you’ll:

• Be treated unfairly, so you better understand the value of justice
• Suffer betrayal, so you better understand the value of loyalty
• Be lonely at times, so you better understand the value of friendship
• Encounter bad luck, so you understand the role of chance
• Believe the success of others is undeserved, so you’ll understand yours is as well
• Have an opponent who gloats, so you better understand the value of sportsmanship
• Be ignored, so you better understand the importance of listening to others
• Encounter pain, so you better understand the power of compassion

Hands down, the misfortunes along the way can directly contribute to making your business one of great success. So can putting in place the right relationships, ideas, plans, and actions.