One of the first steps that successful leaders will almost always take when assuming a new position is to get rid of everyone who spends more time talking about problems than about solutions.
When General Grant took over the Union Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, it had already suffered many defeats at the hands of General Lee and his Confederate Army. The officers and men had become conditioned by these defeats. When Grant first marched against Lee even his commanders warned him repeatedly of impending doom. In his first engagement with Lee, at the Battle of the Wilderness, reports came in from every division that they were beaten. All day long Grant’s officers begged him to flee to the safety of Washington before Lee cut them off from their path of retreat. Finally, when it was obvious even to Grant that they had been soundly beaten, as his officers waited for the orders to retreat, Grant astonished them all by giving orders to turn South and advance on to Richmond!
When his generals begged him to reconsider, assuring him they were doomed if they did not flee immediately, Grant dismissed them and retreated to the solitude of his own tent. He confided to a reporter that he had never been in a battle where at some point it did not look like they would be defeated, but he believed that in every crisis there was some opportunity for victory. This belief enabled him to see that if Lee tried to cut off his retreat to Washington, it would actually enable him to do something that every other Union general had tried to do and failed – to get his army between Lee and Richmond so that he could advance on the Southern capitol. His “defeat” at the Battle of the Wilderness actually opened the door for his greatest opportunity.
When Lee heard that Grant was not retreating after such a sound defeat, but was marching South, he confided to his generals that the end of the Confederacy was near. When the Union troops started marching South, a great cheer went up from their ranks. For the first time they had a general who would fight. Lee would paste several more defeats on Grant, but never once did Grant consider retreating. Never once did he pay attention to the doomsayers. He probably never did win an outright battle against Lee, but he held his course until he won the war.
At the Battle of the Wilderness, Grant dismissed the doomsayers on his staff so that those who were left got a loud and clear message – they were there to look for ways to win, not ways to avoid defeat. The ones who were left were optimistic, solution-oriented leaders who understood that faith equaled risk. One of the basic principles for every successful leader to understand is that to win and accomplish your goals, you must get rid of the people on your team who are more focused on the problems than the solutions.
In the biblical account of the Israelites journey to the Promised Land, they sent spies to check it out before beginning their conquest. Two of the spies came back and said, “No problem, we can take it.” Ten of the spies returned with frightening stories about how big the people were, and how well their cities were fortified. This report was true, but they added that it would be impossible for them to conquer the land. The people listened to the ten who were fearful, and spent forty years wandering in circles in the wilderness until that whole generation perished. Most people today likewise spend their lives going in circles, never fulfilling their potential, and never reaching their promised land because they listen more to the fearful than to those who are faithful. Faithful means “full of faith.” If you are going to fulfill your destiny, it will take courage. Surround yourself with courageous people.
