As captain of the company, Chief Executive Officers have many challenges to navigate, but which one do you think ranks among the most difficult?

Is it managing the budget?

Hiring and firing decisions?

Staying on top of public perception?

Predicting the future direction of the business?

Not quite.

It’s execution.

As a partner of a consulting firm that specializes in human performance, we have worked with more than 10,000 high ranking organizational leaders and they all say one thing- what keeps them up at night is having their executive team play nice. Why? Because team is everything and it can literally make or break the company. In plain terms, a high-performance team as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts and it’s the CEO’s job to make the team function as a one.

Aligning the executive team can be a real challenge and the crux of it is two-fold: CEOs need to facilitate an environment where executives can trust each other and they need to create an organizational future that all of their employees are inspired by, have buy-in to, and are motivated to drive towards. When these elements are driving the team collaboration, I’ve seen unpredictable results unfold, over and over again.

The Corporate Vice President of a large publicly traded technology company with over 130,000 employees shared this about the work we did together: “Our coach asked us to write down things that we thought were impossible to achieve in five years. At the time, we had a good-sized team, we had tens of millions of users, we were happy. When the coach asked that question many people said ‘Oh, it would be awesome to have 100 million engaged and happy users’ but the question really was ‘What was impossible?’ What was transformative for me to learn or realize was that in five years, we had actually achieved all the impossible statements that we put in that list and that is truly transformational.”

To accomplish this level of ultimate performance, it takes a strong commitment from core leadership and an investment of time and capital to develop the operational structure needed to authentically build a high-performance organization.

And there is a training series at Legacy Transformational Consulting that we work with clients on in order to authentically achieve this – and the clients that have gone through the program experience outsized results.

Being a CEO comes with a number of challenges – many of which are difficult to anticipate or navigate. But by working with a group of trusted consultants who have worked with leaders that have been where you are, you’re giving yourself an advantage for problem-solving and successful execution. And by specifically investing time, energy and resources into aligning the executive team, you’re expanding your impact. It won’t just be you sharing the vision – you’ll also have a team of senior leaders sharing the vision with you and driving the entire company towards it.

What do Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Winston Churchill, and Abraham Lincoln all have in common? Leadership, of course. Each of these men has been recognized for having risen to the heights of greatness through tenacious, savvy leadership skills.

But these great leaders also share another common trait—each of them made some serious blunders, miscalculations, or downright errors during their tenure. In reality, no great leader ever achieves their lofty position without having stumbled a bit along the way to the top.

The essence of leadership itself involves taking risks. Making bold decisions, staking out a course of action and truly believing in it, can yield amazing results that benefit the entire company. But what happens if the big, bold idea flops? What if a miscalculation or wrongheaded decision results in steep losses or disastrous publicity?

For someone in a leadership position, what matters more than the actual mistake is how the mistake is handled. Even profound mistakes can be overcome when the matter is managed with grace and transparency. Those who prevail following a blunder do not make excuses, blame others, become defensive, or avoid taking responsibility for the mistake.

Here are 8 tips for restoring trust following a misstep:

1.     Take responsibility. Just owning the mistake is a huge first step toward rebuilding trust and respect with coworkers. Acknowledge the wasted time and effort the team endured due to the wrongheaded decision, and apologize. There is no need to belabor the point, but make sure that the apology made is heartfelt. Own the blunder, apologize, and then pivot toward action.
2.     Learn from it. As was the case for the leaders mentioned above, or any leader who has made a serious misstep, the setback will eventually be seen, through the lens of hindsight, as a gift. Identify what went wrong, communicate that with the team, and then tweak, adjust, and modify until the desired outcome is realized. When important lessons are learned and positive changes are made, a mistake can become a blessing in disguise.
3.     Demonstrate resilience. These challenging situations can become powerful opportunities to lead by example, showing the team how to overcome obstacles and survive setbacks. All eyes will be on leadership, watching to see how he or she will manage the adversity and rebound from it. Exhibit courageous leadership while righting the ship, and set a memorable example.
4.     Take decisive action. When taking a wrong turn, do not wallow in inertia. Once corrective action is decided upon, then lead boldly. Respond proactively to get ahead of it, and recommit to the mission at hand. This decisive action will inspire confidence in leadership, mobilize the team, and garner renewed forward momentum.  
5.     Sow trust. The manner in which an unfortunate incident is handled will either destroy what trust remains or will result in a freshly cemented trust-centered workplace. Just like a personal relationship, a work culture based on trust and mutual respect will bloom and grow. Once the issue has been addressed and corrected, trust can be restored through open communication and transparency.

One thing I have learned about leadership is you don’t always need to have the answer or seem to have it together all the time. But what you do need is to have the ability to source the right people for the job, ask the right questions and guide your team forward. Employees are responsive to leaders they can relate to. When someone in a leadership position humbly admits they are wrong, they are seen as human and relatable. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and it is good to see that even the boss can err.

“Integrity is the essence of everything successful.”    

Buckminster Fuller

How many times have we witnessed a firebrand executive at the top of his or her game plummeted into obscurity, or into jail, due to a fundamental absence of integrity in their business practices. Can someone rise to the heights of their profession without integrity? Oh sure they can, but it is highly doubtful that this person will retain that status absent this important behavioral trait.

Many may claw and climb their way up the corporate ladder using whatever methods he or she may perceive as essential in order to grab that next rung. Regardless of whether their motives are morally sound or ethically correct, they may succeed in gaining stature because they could play the game. But there is no way they will ever experience maximum workability, in any aspect of life, without integrity. Indeed, integrity matters.

What Integrity Looks Like

Integrity is a term often associated with the top desirable traits for individuals in leadership and top-tier executive positions. In fact, a survey conducted by Robert Half Management Resources showed that integrity was the number one desired leadership attribute among 75% of respondents.

Mission statements drip with claims about the value placed on integrity within the organization, but when the rubber meets the road, how many actually practice integrity? The word integrity has been hijacked as a buzzword that invokes the warm fuzzy feelings of trust, yet how many can actually describe what is meant by practicing integrity?

Too often, in an effort to appease or please, people will promise the world to someone. This often well-intentioned reflex to satisfy someone’s expectations is prevalent across personal, financial, educational, and business realms. Whether promising to deliver an order, an essay, fidelity in a relationship, or a pizza, these assurances are usually made and received in good faith.

But along the way to actually delivering said promise a glaring distinction can be illuminated by the presence or absence of one simple condition: honoring one’s word. According to the Michael Jensen framework, integrity involves the honoring of a promise made. Without that follow through, optimal success or better said- workability- in any aspect of life is not compromised.

The dictionary defines the word integrity as the state of being whole and undivided. As an analogy of how integrity impacts workability, let’s take a tennis racket. Initially, the tennis racket is in perfect condition but over time, its structure begins to breakdown and your racket head has several damaged strings. What happens? How does this impact your ability to play? The compromised condition of the tennis will directly hurt your ability to play, hence your overall performance will decrease. How does this translate to your work? Well, although not visible, what makes your relationships work is your word. If you say things often enough and don’t deliver on it, you will lose credibility, trust and ultimately workability. This will directly impact your life- where you miss a promotion, your partner builds resentment, and your friends lose trust. This demonstrates the effect of integrity, from start to finish, as a whole and undivided commitment to honoring one’s word.

What happens should there be a chink in the armor and an unforeseen complication prevents one from keeping their word, a condition all too common in business and life? By reaching out to inform your boss, customer, friend or partner of the delay or inability to deliver on your promise, and propose a workaround or solution, you have managed to keep your integrity intact. In fact, this type of action will often engender trust, as they can see that the setback was handled with utmost integrity. By being informed as soon as the problem was identified, they were not left hanging, were able to inform others impacted by the delay, and able to make subsequent adjustments.

How Practicing Integrity Will Positively Impact Workability on Every Level

Practicing integrity by honoring one’s word is an asset that permeates the entire organization, top to bottom. A leader who has demonstrated their commitment to being whole and undivided, by practicing integrity on an ongoing basis, sets the tone for a workplace that is built on trust and confidence. When integrity is truly integrated into the workplace culture, all team members, regardless of rank, will be coached and managed using this principle. When someone knows with certainty that their superiors mean what they say and honor their word, productivity cannot help but increase.

People are inherently wired toward a behavior and reward pattern. Being motivated, inspired, or incentivized by a leader or executive who has a history of keeping their promises will result in enhanced workability on all levels. Like a trickle-down effect, each layer of an enterprise that is grounded in an integrity-based model will benefit. Productivity is sparked not by routine demands or quotas, but by a belief that hard work will truly be rewarded as promised.

Commitments that are honored in all relationships relationship will result in enhanced workability. Whether that is a manager promising to keep a meeting to twenty minutes and does it, a CEO that promises an incentive vacation to the top three producers, and sends them, or an employee who promises to finish a report by the end of the day, runs into an issue, is in communication about not being able to meet the promised deadline and commits to delivering mid-next day and does, practicing integrity by keeping one’s word keeps all spokes in the wheel functioning. This, in turn, improves morale, builds trust, and delivers maximum workability.

What business approach separates the absolute best companies from the average ones?

What mindset and behavior shift can transform a team of employees from people who just show up to people who actively strive for the best?

What are the differences between an inspiring and masterful leader who brings out the best in people and a leader who just manages a team?

To start, today’s best companies are horizontally integrated. These organizations are shifting away from the more traditional model of being focused purely on efficient production and working through fragmented teams and departments. Companies that are horizontally integrated are shifting their focus to delivering a brand experience by encouraging collaboration, innovation and working outside of comfort zones. These organizations are purpose-driven, value-driven, and mission-driven, seeking to build connections and are continuously focused on the “who” and “why” behind the work.

But in order to leverage horizontal integration in their business, leaders must be willing to step into a horizontal approach to leadership – and this one aspect that distinguishes a standard leader from a masterful leader.

Horizontal leadership is not focused on titles, hierarchy, and personal status – it’s focused on facilitating movement, collaboration, and activities around a shared vision.

Horizontal leaders are purpose-driven: they are connected to and aligned with the mission of the organization, and they infuse their organizations with meaning and purpose.  

They act with integrity – ensuring that when faced with difficult choices, they act in accordance with their own morality, and make the right choices.

They are trustworthy and allow themselves to be vulnerable and ask for help when they need it, deepening connections and relationships.

Horizontal leaders set an example and model the values of the organization and the behaviors that they’d want their employees to emulate. They are collaborative and interconnected – approaching teams in a manner that builds alliances and morale. They are empathetic and they bring their full selves to work, and therefore, they are able to see their team as full people, too.

This is in stark contrast to vertical leadership.

Vertical leadership is one of the ego. Vertical leaders need followers and status. They seek to be dominant and create a hierarchy instead of a web. They see leadership as an opportunity to be in control and make themselves look good, instead of seeing leadership as an opportunity to rally people around a positive mission.

This approach is obvious by their behavior – vertical leaders make demands, give orders, and see their employees as people to direct. They’re less likely to recognize their full needs as humans and more likely to only focus on their output and productivity.

Because of that, vertical leaders can alienate employees. When they feel that their leader is only invested in themselves, employees are going to be less likely to approach them with personal issues, show vulnerability or be loyal.

While horizontal leaders build morale, satisfaction, and overall engagement in an organization, vertical leaders build their employees resentment, frustration, and the perception of not being valued.

While horizontal leaders drive growth and productivity by recognizing the whole person and building interconnectedness, vertical leaders seek to drive growth and productivity by reprimanding, punishing or ordering.

While a horizontal leader wants to improve an organization to better serve the customers and be of value, vertical leaders want to improve an organization for their own power, prestige, and status.

A horizontal leader sees their team as thought partners and experts in their own domains and therefore elicits their feedback and values the contributions that they bring. A vertical leader sees their team as people that work beneath them whose opinions aren’t as important as theirs.

Unfortunately, horizontal leadership isn’t as widespread as it should be. For every leader that is purpose-driven and empathetic, there is another leader who is the opposite.  And in an increasingly horizontal workforce where employees are seeking deeper engagement, meaning, and fulfillment from their work, horizontal leaders will have the advantage when it comes to retaining top talent.

Does this sound familiar?

“I never should’ve done that.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

“I wish they would’ve said something different.”

“Why is this happening to me?”

“What did I do to deserve this?”

When hardship strikes, how often do we find ourselves thinking about what we could’ve or should’ve done? How much time do we spend lamenting the forces in the universe that caused this to happen to us and what we did to warrant it?

It’s normal to reflect on mistakes and it’s extremely common to think about what you would’ve liked to do instead. But after a certain point, “reflection” can become maladaptive – when it’s preventing you from moving forward, or becoming non-stop internal chatter, it starts to cross the line into rumination.

Rumination is the act of continuously replaying events or thoughts and can be one of the symptoms of depression and anxiety. When we spend too long thinking about a failure, a mistake or a negative event, it actually encourages our brain to think of similar connections. Dr. Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, a psychology, and researcher at Yale University found that “when people ruminate while they are in depressed mood, they remember more negative things that happened to them in the past, they interpret situations in their current lives more negatively, and they are more hopeless about the future.” Being in this state makes it more challenging for us to take action that will propel us forward.

In order not to get stuck in the endless negative feedback loop, the best thing that we can do when facing hardship is: surrendering and accepting your circumstances so that you can focus and think ahead.

Surrendering is choosing the difficult circumstance that is going on in your life so that you can completely remove the resistance to it. It is a conscious choice. Not only do you accept the adversity that you are facing, you also accept that this is your journey and that there is a specific reason why this is happening to you. If the reason is not clear in the moment, it will be one day.

Surrendering is powerful because it buffers us against, not only rumination but the negative impacts of stress on the body. When we’re under stress, our heart rate increases and our blood pressure rises. Being under chronic stress puts our body at risk – for anxiety, depression, digestive issues, heart disease and more. It produces all of these chemicals that impact the body’s chemistry – but by surrendering we can reduce stress by changing the way that we interpret our life. And by being able to not only accept things, but choose them -surrender to them-  we are literally changing how the brain is orchestrating our bodily functions.

And it’s not only the physical body that encourages surrendering  – There are several disciplines and philosophies that focus on surrendering, or acceptance, as a necessary component of growing from difficult circumstances.

One example is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a form of counseling that uses acceptance and behavior-change strategies to overcome difficult situations. The core idea behind it is to encourage clients to:

• Accept their reactions and be present
• Choose a valued direction
• Take action.

This is similar in premise to surrendering by accepting and acknowledging what can and can’t be controlled in order to redirect mental energy into planning for the future.

And psychology isn’t the only application of surrendering – acceptance and non-attachment in Buddhism encourages us to transcend suffering by reminding us not to hold on to things at the emotional level. It asks us to stop expending energy resisting the way things are, and focus on the present moment, whether we like it or dislike it.

Surrendering to a difficult circumstance doesn’t mean that you have to want it, that it’ll be permanent, or that you can’t change things – it means that by accepting it for what it is, you’re allowing yourself to shift your focus from victim to being centered. In this new found space of clarity, actions that were previously not on your radar will call you forth to powerfully deal with what’s in front of you.

Self-pity, rumination, and feeling like a victim aren’t helpful – it won’t change the events that occurred, it won’t make any positive impact on our present lives. At worst, it’ll actively impede us from being able to move forward and be resilient.  By accepting our circumstances, we can eliminate rumination, and focus exclusively on the events that are within our control.

To facilitate this process, we can engage in a deep process of reflection and ask ourselves these questions to begin to shift our way of thinking:

What are the facts of my situation? By objectively laying out the reality of the circumstance, we can get a better understanding of what’s in front of us. We don’t need to assign judgment or values or emotions to the facts; we don’t need to add any additional layers. We can simply write down the facts and practice accepting them.

What is out of my control? 
Write down all of the things that you can’t control or change – every single one, like people, their responses, their choices, and their reactions. By reviewing the list, you’ll have a clear view of what you need to let go.

What is in my power to control? 
This is where you can take action and make a difference. Begin writing down all of the things that are within your reach, and how you can improve the situation. This is where you should channel your energy.

By releasing the past, and the circumstances that are out of our control, and being clear about what is within our control – like our reactions and behaviors – we can save ourselves angst and create the best possible outcome in a difficult situation.

In business (and in life) we are all bound to experience challenges — disappointment, hardship, and even failure. Remember that time you didn’t close that deal. You didn’t get that raise. You didn’t secure that key partnership. You didn’t do as well as you had hoped on that presentation. You took a company decision and were wrong. Well, that’s life. Things happen and in fact, if you are playing a big game in life, you will make lots of mistakes. The bigger question is, who are you going to be in the face of adversity? Are you going to hide? Avoid confrontation? Take the easy way out? Or are you going to struggle and wrestle with it until you get it right? It’s not the presence or absence of challenges that determine our success; it’s how we recover and rebound in the face of those challenges that yields a positive or negative outcome. While some collapse under the weight of adversity, others emerge from their experiences happier and stronger than ever. When forced to overcome monumental personal and professional adversity, with our identical twins being born at 28 weeks gestation while we were in the midst of getting our eight-year-old company acquired, my husband and I leaned on everything we learned in business and self-development, in order to, not only survive but come out on top. Through our journey, we discovered five key activities that allowed us to remain mentally strong while navigating adversity.

1.) Surrender to your circumstances so that you can focus on the present and get your head in the game. There is a growing body of research — and ancient philosophies — that demonstrate the power of surrender and acceptance. Most of our suffering is caused not only by the difficult circumstance but by our refusal to accept what happened. By surrendering to that which we can’t control, we free up critical mental energy that can be channeled into focusing on what we can control, which allows us to take action even in the most trying of circumstances.

To start surrendering, we can ask ourselves three key questions:

What are the facts of my situation?

What is out of my control?

What is in my power to control?

Now, let go of everything that is out of your control, and double-down all of your efforts, thoughts, and actions in the areas that are within your control. Try it. Now, did you experience instant relief and feel empowered? You should.

2.) Manifest what you want by channeling your thoughts to reach desired outcomes and find the light at the end of their tunnel. There are several powerful benefits to manifestation: one is that by getting clear about what your end goal is, you can backwards-plan with the end in mind. Envisioning yourself in your perfect or ideal state is a significant step towards creating your future, and in many cases, seeing is believing: Visualization is a form of mental rehearsal, and research shows that it can be just as powerful as physical practice. You can begin manifesting and visualizing by spending ten minutes picturing yourself in an ideal future state. Make sure that it’s as detailed and specific as possible. Where are you? Who is with you? How far into the future is it? What are you doing? What’s your title? What are you wearing? What does it smell like? The more detailed your vision, the better, as it’s forcing you to direct cognitive energy into the mental rehearsal.

3.) Practice gratitude to shift your energy and bring the needed dose of positivity and centeredness to allow you to be more proactive and forward-thinking. Doing this will not only make you feel better, but your colleagues will enjoy being around you. They will feel safe, loved and uplifted in your presence, and that is guaranteed to boost your effectiveness at work. There are many documented benefits to gratitude: it improves your physical and mental health, it makes you happier and more empathetic, and it decreases some of your negative emotions. The key to gratitude is making a regular and consistent practice of it. We might be used to being grateful on occasion but we should shift to being grateful every day, and even verbalize it in the office — eventually our brain will begin scanning the environment for things to be grateful for. We can start practicing gratitude by spending fifteen minutes every day, journaling, or sharing with a partner, what we’re grateful for that day. Take your time with this, and truly picture and savor each person, place or event. And be creative: it’s easy to fall into the trap of listing the same five things, but doing that diminishes the impact of the practice.

4.) Lean on your community by identifying your key circle, allowing yourself to be vulnerable. Maintaining close social and professional relationships is important — it’s one of the leading quality of life indicators. Connection matters — and by being vulnerable and allowing our loved ones to help us, we not only recover better but build stronger relationships with them. If you’re struggling to reach out during a difficult time, try a reverse-thought exercise where you imagine that your close friend or colleague wanted to reach out to you, but was afraid to do so: what would you say to them? How would you react?

5.) Experience the art of forgiveness so that you can learn how to forgive others and how to forgive yourself for the mistakes made. Holding onto a grudge in the office, or at home, is sure to lead to toxicity, and you certainly do not want to be the source of that negativity. Research backs up the power of forgiveness– it decreases our anger, anxiety, and depression and improves our overall health. But while most of us may be fine with forgiving others, we might struggle to forgive ourselves, and both are important. We can practice forgiveness by writing a letter — maybe it’s to someone who hurt us in the past, or maybe it’s to ourselves for a mistake. Either way, we can use the letter to let our feelings out, extend some compassion, and then let it go, by either burning it or throwing it away.

These five principles aren’t an exhaustive list — in fact, there are several more principles that we’ve uncovered in our journey. But by learning these five habits, one at a time, you’ll be better equipped to battle any hardship that comes your way at work or at home, and you’ll be a happier and more resilient person because of it.

As humans, we tend to believe we are truly invincible. Focused and driven, we may work insanely hard to achieve a certain level of professional success, even notoriety — just enough to boost the ego up to a precarious perch. Alas, life has a way of humbling even the most accomplished of business leaders, hurling unforeseen curveballs that can have devastating effects if we allow it.

Nothing tests us like adversity. When faced with a major setback or calamity, we really have just two options. We can crumble under the weight of the crisis, or we can get out of our own way and muster up some courage. Facing our struggles head-on takes lots and lots of courage, in sharp contrast to the cowardly act of giving up. So which will it be when you face an unexpected crisis? Will you fold up your tent and go home or will you rise to the challenge that awaits you?

Resilience Under Pressure

We all have a given resilience threshold. Successful individuals tend to be very resourceful and resilient, traits that serve them well by helping them bounce back from setbacks or disappointments and allowing them to move forward. But even the most resilient among us may someday be confronted with a life-altering event or challenge that can test all reserves.

Personally, I have experienced just such an event in recent years. Faced with two intersecting, simultaneous events, one professional and one profoundly personal, I understand what the breaking point looks like. My husband, Alejandro, and I were on the cusp of making a critical decision regarding the future of our company, at a stressful and vexing professional juncture, when we learned that the identical twins I was carrying had developed a life-threatening condition called Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS).

When faced with challenges that, at first glance, appear to be beyond one’s ability to cope, we have to make a choice. Will we give in to fear and doubt or will we access previously unknown reserves of inner strength to overcome the obstacles before us? In our case, we chose to muster up and exercise resilience. But how? How do we pull ourselves out of the mire and envision a positive outcome when things look bleak?

Principles for Taking Control of Your Situation

While each person’s trial is unique, there are common features that are experienced by most when a serious setback occurs:

· Unpredictability. A sense that the problem swooped in out of nowhere, leaving one feeling utterly unprepared to manage it

· Fear. Feelings of fear and anxiety punctuate the initial emotional response to the problem

· Doubt. Feeling that one is over their head, possibly unqualified, and unsure how to navigate the problem

· Uncertainty. Feelings of uncertainty around the outcome, unable to see a resolution

Years of leadership and self-development training came into play during our own struggle as we grappled with these responses. The shock of possibly losing our babies and our business caused my husband and I to revisit insights acquired over the years in business and put them into practice.

Facing a serious business setback, versus the typical bump in the road, requires accessing the same types of principles needed to overcome a personal crisis. These include:

Acceptance. Sometimes it is okay, even beneficial, to wallow a little. Take a minute to feel the pain of the situation and then, when the dust settles, accept the circumstances, make a plan, and engage in seeking solutions.

Vision. The mind is a powerful instrument. Harness this power by envisioning the positive outcome, see the progress you will make, and sincerely believe that it will happen.

Positivity. By shifting from fear to action you create forward momentum and positivity, both necessary for correcting the course and overcoming the adverse event.

Teamwork. Identify a team that will work together in mutual support. Together plan actionable steps towards achieving the stated goals. Encourage each other, brainstorm, and learn from each other’s gifts.

Own it. The process of rebuilding never follows a straight upward path. There will be missteps, blunders, and miscalculations. Learn how to forgive each other, and yourself, for mistakes made in the process.

Reinvent. Use insights learned by the setback to rebrand and reinvent the business. Find a renewed sense of balance and control to forge ahead toward the new vision for the company.

Fearless. Harness the energy powered by that initial fear, and funnel it into constructive actions. Choose positivity and love over fear for amazing and tangible results.

How one responds to these defining moments can dictate whether you wither on the vine or soar to limitless new heights. By practicing these principles you can use an unfortunate business setback as a vehicle for stimulating both personal and professional growth.

So, while in the midst of a business upheaval, ask yourself:

1. What needs to happen first? Prioritize actions, assess options with pro and con lists, and step out of your comfort zone to find solutions.

2. Who are my people? Gather a team of doers and dreamers alike. Find strengths in each other, harness ideas, and treat each other with kindness as you pave a new road to success.

3. Am I an asset or a liability? Take an honest accounting of your actions and attitude. Are they fueling growth and change or thwarting it?

Surviving and thriving in the face of perceived disaster requires one to establish a proactive, positive mindset coupled with a genuine willingness to dig deep for the will to forge ahead. Only then can a serious setback be overcome, and overcome well.