One of it Four Foundational Factors of Leadership: Being committed to Something bigger than oneself is also the source of persistence (joy in the labor of) when the path gets tough. Erhard et al (2022)
From the text book: “…on their way to greatness, every great leader faces times of being so massively thwarted that they are left with a sense of hopelessness – a profound sense that they are inadequate for the task at hand. At these times, the world occurs as immovable, impossible, and they are left with nothing to give, nothing to draw on.”
“You too will have these times on your way to greatness. In these times when giving up or quitting seems to be the only viable option. In order to generate the being and action required to get yourself through these tough times, you will need to have in place something bigger than yourself and your circumstances.”
“Don’t wait until you find yourself in this place to get the purpose of your life and your career or schooling and your relationships to be about something bigger than yourself. That will be too late.”
In the Being A Leader Course, and even afterwards, many people discover something that which is worth giving their lives.
Reference:
Erhard, Werner and Jensen, Michael C. and Zaffron, Steve and Echeverria, Jeronima, Course Materials for: ‘Being a Leader and the Effective Exercise of Leadership: An Ontological/Phenomenological Model’ (October 4, 2022). Harvard Business School NOM Working Paper No. 09-038, Simon School Working Paper No. 08-03, Barbados Group Working Paper No. 08-02, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1263835 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1263835