23 Apr Patience & Fortitude
Here at Tandem Partners HQ, we’re entering week six of our new work-from-home, stay-at-home life, as are many of you. People are still sick, stores are still closed, and business is still taking place inside four walls and our computer screens. But also, people are recovering, nature is open, and we all have important contributions to make. As we were reminded in a recent message from the New York Public Library, Patience and Fortitude will help us get through this challenging moment and beyond.
During the Great Depression, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia named the marble lions flanking the entrance to the NYPL, “Patience” and “Fortitude.” He felt these were the qualities needed to get the city and its citizens through an extremely difficult time. That outlook is certainly fitting now in this time, for us as individuals and as leaders.
When the stakes are high, Patience is critical. Patience is quiet, but it isn’t passive. Patience can be counted on. It places trust in other people. It asks us to exercise restraint, when our first instinct would be to take action, any action, if only to reduce our own anxieties and fears.
Fortitude is Patience’s partner. Fortitude is determined and courageous. It’s strong in stressful situations. It keeps trying when others give up. Fortitude doesn’t waste time wishing things were different. It keeps moving forward and brings others along with it.
With Patience, we invest. With Fortitude, we make progress. These strengths go hand in hand, and together they stand guard to the passage through this crisis.
P.S. It’s National Library Week this week. Books inform, inspire and comfort us, especially at a time like this. Be sure to show your appreciation by visiting your local library online or by saying #ThankYouLibraries on social media.
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