Leadership Lessons

A couple days ago my Husband and I stumbled across the History channel and a fascinating lecture by Lee Ellis on the leadership principles he had learned as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, while living in what was infamously known as the Hanoi Hilton. The stories of survival that he shared were incredible and all of the leadership principles the POWs operated by were profound.

The Hanoi Hilton had unimaginable horrors and and most of us will never comprehend what Ellis and his comrades endured.  However, one short story has imbedded itself in my conscious mind and highlights the determined resolve that he and his fellow prisoners had to survive. The food that the prisoners were given was infested with insects, which Ellis jokingly referred to as protein.  One day for future reference, he counted 44 weevils in one cubic inch of bread.

Think Like a Victor

What is so compelling to me about this story is what profound and powerful things people can do in the most horrendous situations to separate themselves from their circumstances.  To be a survivor you must do unconventional things, you must think like a victor not a victim.  Ellis chose to think like a victor by bookmarking the simple event of eating bread.  He mentally recorded a fact (44 weevils in one cubic inch of bread) that he could one day look back on with pride.  He drew a line in the sand by doing this small action.  He determined to survive the war, be an honorable leader, and return to his family.

Ironically, a day later my Husband and I discovered our own insect problem.  As awful as this was to deal with Ellis’ story kept coming back to my mind and constantly gave me greater perspective on our situation.  No matter how bad it was for us, we weren’t eating them as Ellis had done.  Although we have dealt with our problem the greater problem we must constantly address in life is our perspective on the problems that we face and our attitude as we deal with them.  I am grateful to Ellis for sharing his story. It will always be a reminder for me that you don’t have a bug problem until you’re eating them.

What lines can you draw in the sand today? What action will you take to separate you from your circumstance? How will you think like a victor?