Impy’s LeaderShop: Determination

Welcome back to Impy’s LeaderShop, a weekly column where I talk about the points of leadership that I find most important. I hope you learn something from this and I hope you succeed in whatever endeavors you attempt.

A key aspect of leading is staying determined.

Adversity will always strike. Whether your squads are taking hits or other leaders are being lazy and falling out of their positions, you have to have the determination to keep going.

Good leaders often times fall through the cracks and either never get discovered because of it or leave a crappy reputation for abandoning the challenges they agreed to take.

I’ve seen so many leaders not have the determination to keep going, and those failures don’t just affect them, but they affect the entire community.

A leader who doesn’t have a solid sense of determination requires more help to get ordinary things done. It diverts resources and attention that can go to areas that need the help and instead simply tries to nudge other areas forward.

It’s rude and it’s something you can always remind yourself of. Determination is often times a character trait, but all people are born with that innate ability. The key is finding something you feel so strongly about that it’s not work to you.

If you enjoy playing sports, you won’t stop at being good. If you love playing video games, you won’t settle for 95% completion.

And if you spend at few months in KSI to become a General or higher, you have dedicated yourself to this community. You have shown your determination to achieve whatever challenges present themselves.

You can ask any member of the Board of Directors. Heck, you can ask any General. Any leader who is currently in that spot has sacrifices and shown determination to succeed in the face of adversity.

Changing your name shows determination to be more than a face in the crowd. Playing and leading in game nights shows that you want to contribute to the betterment of your squad or division. Creating a forums account and joining departments shows a determination to continue to find new ways to contribute.

The examples are endless. But just because you change your name and you don’t immediately become a Lieutenant, or you host a game night that only gets 3 participants, or you don’t get accepted into a department the first time, you can’t give up.

I don’t know how many people have been passed up for promotions and quit, only to have that spot available just days later. I lost track of how many people have used that sense of rejection to fuel them and make them better too.

Every situation is exactly what you make of it. If you’re determined to go places, and if you’re determined to make your squad better, it will happen. There is little in KSI that can’t be solved by putting your mind to it.

When I was promoted to General, my squad immediately fell to just 25-30 people and I had only one active officer. I wanted to go back and start everything over. I wanted to be a Captain again.

I went and talked to my Director. He told me that I was promoted because everyone knew I could handle what came my way.

I got back to work, determined to make this work. A month and a half later, my squad split. A month after that, I was passed up for a promotion.

I wasn’t worried. I set out to prove that I deserved that promotion and I continued making my squad the best it could be. My time eventually came and I was better for it. I was a better leader for not having promotions handed to me so quickly.

It showed me the level of determination I had in myself and I passed that on to every leader I came across.

Brains are nice; you should use yours. But sometimes you just have to lower your head and charge head first through the problems you face.