Intellectual Perseverance: Willingness and consciousness of the need to pursue intellectual insights and truths in spite of difficulties, obstacles, and frustrations. It is also the firm adherence to rational principles despite the irrational opposition of others and having a sense of need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended period of time to achieve deeper understanding or insight. In a more simplistic sense, Intellectual perseverance can be defined as the disposition to work one's way through intellectual complexities despite the frustration inherent in the task!
Critical thinking does not entail merely intellectual skills such as intellectual perseverance. It is a way of connecting oneself and approaching problems that differ significantly from that which is typical in life. People may have critical thinking skills and abilities, and yet still be unable to enter viewpoints with which they disagree, analyze beliefs that guide their behavior, distinguish between what they know and don’t know, persevere through difficult problems, think fair-mindedly, or stand alone against the crowd. Thus, in developing as a thinker, and fostering critical thinking abilities in others, it is important to develop intellectual traits or virtues. In saying this, you can see how important critical thinking skills are not only in studies...but in life!
In considering how intellectual perseverance relates to my concept of a good leader, there are many parallels! For instance to be a good leader, you must posses the ability to think outside of yourself when making decisions, much of the same considered to be intellectual perseverance!.
The saying, “Attitude determines altitude.” is fitting here! Although this saying is a bit cliche, it is still true! Attitude almost always determines your success rate! Not only will attitude determine your personal success,it will also determine how successful you are at leading others. A truly good leader will have a positive attitude about everything he/she does regardless of the 'enjoyment level' of the task at hand!
In order to apply intellectual perseverance to leadership, I've compiled a list. (I love lists, don't hate!)
- Make sure the information used to make a decision is relevant to the issue.
- Make sure the information is accurate.
- Make sure you have sufficient information to solve the problem.
- Make sure you haven't distorted the information or ignored information you don't want to see.
- Don't give up!
- Don't get personal
- Be positive
- Don't forget your vision, or the reason you are doing what you are doing!
I love this quote by David Harold Fink, "People are more easily led than driven." It helps me remember that in the end, we lead people...not things!
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