Consistency and Personality Honed Through Disruption

While I’m not sure where it originated, the phrase I’ve likely heard more than any other is: “You can only control two things, your attitude and your actions.” Depending on where you’re sitting, that could set you free or it could kick you square in the pants. Coming to terms with the idea that most everything we encounter on any given day is indeed outside of our control provides some with a sense of relief (and others with at least a slight dose of agony). Taking ownership of the two things we can accept complete responsibility for, though, carries a weight of its own. Truly controlling our own attitude and actions is far easier said than done.

The March 2020 decision to step away from W2 employment and focus solely on the work we were building our business around certainly had roots in the opportunities that had filled our calendar, but it was just as much about dialing in on a specific area of strength - one based in that clear purpose we had been chasing for so long to that point. Leading up to that, there was very little that I had experience in that I would shy away from. I had been involved in a wide array of initiatives: continuous improvement, safety, human resources, and even quality control. In the early stages of our business, I was willing to take on just about anything that generated revenue. That said, some of that had no ties whatsoever to that clear purpose. Just as importantly as that, everything that pulled us away from that purpose was also limiting the attention we could give to the things that fed our purpose. My dad had hunting dogs when I was growing up and I loved hearing a good bear chase. But even with the best dogs, a good chase turns bad when there’s more than one bear (or any other animal) to pull some of the dogs in another direction. I’ve often heard that when you chase multiple rabbits, you don’t catch any. The same is true for bears, and it’s just as true for chasing your purpose.

In late 2020 and through much of 2021, I had to intentionally chase more than one thing just to keep our lights on. When everything we had scheduled got postponed indefinitely, chasing whatever I could to generate revenue became my only real option. Through each adversity we had experienced leading up to that, and through each of Hill’s leadership attributes we were developing in the process, doing more than we were paid for and assuming complete responsibility were likely the two we modeled most. We were indeed controlling our actions and we had done that through extreme consistency for years. 

I won’t speak for Cindy here, but I can share that controlling my attitude - especially through the kind of disruption we experience in 2020 - was a much taller order. Global adversity forges the exact traits needed for values-driven leadership that works anywhere—chaos becomes a competitive advantage in trust and adaptability. Even then, though, controlling only my actions and not keeping my attitude in check would have pushed away many of the opportunities I needed to help keep our lights on, whether they were exactly what I was looking for or not. Consistency, which we had well in hand, and (a pleasing) personality honed through disruption allowed us to nurture the seeds we found along the way.

Those seeds led to influence that traveled to rooms we weren’t even in. We’ll look at how that unfolded next. Before we do, I’ll challenge you to think about a recent period of uncertainty you’ve fought through. Where did consistency or a pleasing approach lag? Let’s be honest, maintaining a good attitude (or pleasing approach) is tough when stuff hits the fan. What one thing can you do to strengthen your approach the next time you’re faced with a similar situation?

Influence That Traveled Without a Room

I’ll say it again for emphasis: I can get a ton of work done on any given day. That’s not me bragging; it’s one of the few things I’ve ever been any good at. People frequently ask about the team Cindy and I have supporting us, so much that it’s become a running joke for the two of us inside our business. The fact that Cindy is the other half of that team has long been a big reason anyone on the receiving end of that work has been able to actually enjoy it. Maintaining a pleasing personality, especially when the world seemed to stop and every plan we have in place evaporated, was no small task. But it was absolutely critical - and the juice was worth the squeeze!

Throughout this entire look at making the best of your bad situations, I’ve continued pointing back to one specific quote from Napoleon Hill: "Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." In doing this, I’ve continued to stress that we’ll never receive that equal or greater benefit without first working diligently to find that seed, then putting even more effort into nurturing it.

I was in a small group with John Maxwell more than a decade ago when he shared a similar analogy. He mentioned opportunity knocking, but said we’ll never see what that opportunity is if we don’t open the door. He went on to explain that, sometimes, we’ll open that door to find yet another door, and maybe even another door behind that. Unless we keep opening those doors - and going through them - we’re bound to miss the best opportunities.

Taking on the recruiting, human resources, and safety work again (that I was so excited to step away from earlier in 2020) not only helped keep our lights on, it opened doors to other doors that we would have never had access to any other way. Our (ongoing) consistency and the effort I put into maintaining a somewhat pleasing personality was key in earning influence in each business relationship, existing and new. As we pressed forward, opening each door we came to along the way, that influence traveled without ever being in the same room as some of the clients we met, providing us with small wins at first and far bigger ones in the years since. Pivoting through global disruption builds authentic relational power; consistency and a pleasing personality in chaos earn trust no title or venue can grant.

We’ll look at how the disruptions that caused chaos initially allowed us to turn our consistency into a competitive advantage next. Right now, though, think about just one small piece of your own disruption-to-adaption story and share that with someone you trust. And be sure to look closely at the ripple effect that’s followed.

Disruptions Turn Chaos into Adaptive Readiness

I don’t think anyone could have predicted all that unfolded globally from March 2020 through the end of 2021. To that end, I could make a strong case in saying we’re still experiencing many of the ripple effects from all that today. And as I’ve stressed so many other times to this point, I’m certainly not suggesting that what Cindy and I experienced was any better or worse than the hand you were dealt. I’ve detailed it from our perspective with hopes of challenging you to be sure you found every possible seed from each of those adversities.

We’ll tie this all together shortly by working through a simple list of questions geared at helping you do exactly that. Before that, I’ll stress that while disruptions are never what any of us are looking for, they provide us with opportunities for turning chaos into adaptive readiness. The conversation we had with DPOR in January 2020 pushed me to find a real platform for hosting the digital lessons we had been doing through a private Facebook group. When everything on our schedule was postponed (then cancelled), we found ourselves with time to build that platform in ways we likely never would have otherwise. Even those initial steps, and the systems we created through that process, have led to so much more since; more than 1,500 pages across our entire website that’s now built on the platform (which consistently gets 150k+ visitors each month), over 200 hours of digital curriculum we can tailor for each client we serve, and what’s becoming a library of our own published books.

The decision to take on safety and human resource work in late 2020 was not something I was excited about - I thought I had stepped away from that forever earlier that same year - but some of the people we met through that process have become amazing friends and business associates who provided a case study showing the importance of values-alignment in every relationship. Let me be very clear here, making the best of global disruptions isn’t about waiting for normal to return—it’s intentional preparation that transforms unforeseeable chaos into chains of resilient, values-driven readiness that works from anywhere.

Before we work through a set of questions geared at helping you mine the disruptions you’ve lived through for the seeds you can use to hone your own consistency and pleasing personality, I’ll challenge you to consider one final thing: from each piece I’ve asked you to think through to this point, which one can you lean on right away as having had the most impact for amplifying your current leadership influence?

Mining Disruptions for Consistency and Personality Seeds

Global disruptions and sudden, system-wide chaos often feel overwhelming or like the complete erasure of hard-won progress, but when rooted in prior lessons of consistency, responsibility, and values-driven service, they forge adaptive resilience and a pleasing personality that earns influence even when everything is remote or uncertain. Making the best of these situations isn’t about controlling the storm—it’s about using the disruption as soil for people-centered leadership that compounds beyond any single platform, location, or economic cycle.

For us, as much as anything we had experienced since starting our business, the pandemic shutdown reinforced that true leadership isn’t tied to in-person presence, stable revenue, or institutional platforms but to consistent, values-aligned service and a pleasing approach even when every gathering is canceled and every plan is rewritten. Quiet reliability, extra effort, and relational warmth during the chaos strengthened client trust, deepened family partnership, and earned respect across networks that no title or contract could have secured.

We will all face our own adversities. The premise of each personal one I’ve detailed to this point has been based on challenging you to identify then nurture the seeds that may still remain hidden in the ones you’ve experienced. For our purposes here, adversity’s seed grows strongest when we refuse to drift into bitterness or paralysis and instead choose a pleasing personality and self-control amid chaos we cannot control—turning global disruptions into preparation for resilient, values-based influence that travels further than any physical room.

Targeted reflection turns global and systemic disruptions into leadership gold, but only after we identify and nurture every possible seed we can pull from those disruptions. Consider these five questions as you work through that process:

1. What global or system-wide disruption still carries weight or residual uncertainty?
2. What blind spot or habit did it reveal, and what seed (e.g., self-control, pleasing personality, or consistency) was hidden?
3. How could a decisive adaptation strengthen your plans or relational approach under pressure?
4. In what ways might nurturing this seed improve your influence without title—especially in remote, hybrid, or uncertain settings?
5. What three small, immediate actions can you take this week to plant and nurture it?

Start adapting through your own uncertainties now and be sure to share the specific action steps you’ve nailed down with someone you’re willing to be accountable to.