Government_Leadership-12

=**Adversity Quotient (AQ)**=
 * Resolved: To Develop AQ**

Everyone gets knocked down, but winners get back up. Adversity Quotient is a combination of mental and emotional intelligence, used for one to have the ability to endure the challenges of life. A person with high AQ pushed towards excellence no matter what the obstacles are. High AQ people overcome adversity while those with low AQ are crushed by it. AQ predicts who gives up and who prevails. AQ is one of the biggest factors lacking today. Successful people have perseverance.

__The Formula AQ = IQ x EQ x WQ__: Adversity Quotient = Intelligence Quotient x Emotional Quotient x Will Quotient. Many people feel they are not smart enough to succeed, but typically, the most successful people are not the highest scorers on an IQ test. The key is to magnify one's strengths and guard against one's weaknesses. Getting information is more important than knowing a bunch of facts. Many with high IQ over estimate their abilities, leading them to believe they're experts in areas where they actually need help. Henry Ford was one who recognized that it was more important to know how to find information and use that information rather than be a garage for facts, but not know how to put those facts into action.

__EQ and Phineas Gage__: All pathways of the senses go to the brain, move into the center limbic system (where you feel) and finally to the rational system (where you think). This is why it's easy to act emotionally before rationally. It's important to allow time before acting. Phineas Gage, a railroad supervisor, understood EQ. An on-the-job accident happened when a 43-inch long tamping iron went through his frontal lobe. He survived, but others realized he wasn't the same. Instead of his normal EQ, he lost his temper quickly and became emotionally unstable. He would also curse like a sailor when he was under stress, creating tension and chaos among his confused crew. He quickly descended from the top supervisory position to unemployment because of his lack of EQ. He had an excuse - he literally lacked his frontal lobe where reasoning and emotions combine. For everyone else, EQ is a choice to think through issues before reacting. Leaders refuse to react on emotions alone. People with low EQ create tension since behaviors are unpredictable. Before reacting to stress emotionally, people should take a deep breath, forcing the mind to remain calm until one can reflect rationally.

__WQ (Will Quotient)__: This (WQ) is the ability to align the will to obey the laws of success, consistently doing what everyone else merely discusses. For most people, much more is said than done. AQ leaders plan (IQ) their work, do (WQ) the work consistently, and trust (EQ) that if they do it long enough, they will succeed. Exercising AQ in tough times separates winners from wannabes in life. Regretfully, many talented people remain nameless in history because they lacked the AQ needed to persist when the going got tough. Without applying AQ daily, one's dreams crumble into yesterday's fantasies.

__Learned Helplessness__: This is the belief that what a person does can't alter his outcomes, that somehow, life's cards are stacked against him. An experiment that took place with dogs shows this. The dogs were put into categories A, B, and C. Group A heard a bell then received a shock with the ability to stop the shock. Group B could not stop the shock. Group C didn't get a shock, but heard the bell. Then, all groups were enclosed and heard the bell. Both group A dogs and group C dogs jumped out (even though group C didn't learn to jump out after originally hearing the bell and getting shocked. However, group B dogs crouched and whimpered even though they didn't receive a shock. This is learned helplessness. When a person believes he cannot change his situation, he won't even try, becoming hopeless because he believes he is helpless. Learned helplessness destroys hope for change. In reality, people can change nearly anything with the right knowledge applied consistently and persistently. One must learn that change is possible when a person believes that it is.

__Improper Response to Pain__: There are two types of pain: (1) one from the inside due to the change process and (2) one from the outside due to criticisms from those unwilling to make the same changes. Hope is the only fuel that can burn through both types. Without hope, one of the pains will trump one's willingness to endure, which causes quitting. Pain is overcome by continuous focus on one's purpose. Non-achievers often mock and ridicule those pursuing excellence especially in the Internet age. Why? It's easier.

__Colonel Harland Sanders__: Everyone has heard of Colonel Sanders. If not, then certainly KFC! Was he born wealthy? Did he have a rich family? Did he attend a major university like Harvard? Did he start his business when he was really young? The answer to each of these questions is no. At age 65, Sanders was broke and alone. His first Social Security check was for $105. He got mad, but didn't blame society. He asked himself what he could do that would be valuable to other people. He knew he had a good chicken recipe and thought he could sell it to restaurants. He realized that wouldn't bring him a lot of money. Then, he thought he could not only sell his recipe, but also show how it could be cooked properly. It could be so good that it could increase business for who he showed and he thought he could get a percentage. He started to go around pitching his idea. However, he was not seeing success. He was told no 1,009 times! He spent two years driving around America in his old, beat-up car, sleeping in the back, getting up each day eager to share his idea with someone new. How many people could keep going after just 10 no's? Not many. That's why there's only one Colonel Sanders. He had off-the-chart AQ and applied PDCA over and over till he got it right. AQ is what keeps someone in life's game going when he is doing everything right but still hasn't achieved the success he deserves. If he compromises at any time, success will never reveal its secrets.

William Durant grew up in Flint, Michigan. His story represents the "can do" spirit of free enterprise inspired by dreams, humbled by setbacks, and educated by his entrepreneurship. He started out with nothing but vision and drive. His career began in the horse carriage business. He recognized the potential of the automobile when it was being experimented with. He said the future would see roads connecting cities. Many thought he was crazy, but he looked to get into the automobile business. He teamed up with David Buick and built the Buick business. He sold more cars than any other manufacturer at that time. Durant wanted to be bigger. He put together a trust to hold multiple car manufacturers in one holding company. Thus, he began General Motors (GM) by offering either stocks or cash to purchase other companies. He purchased Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac to name just a few. He nearly bought out Henry Ford. He offered stock to Ford, but Ford wanted cash. Twice Ford agreed on a price, but Durant missed the deadline both times. Ford went on to produce the Model T, but it was Durant who was the true visionary who saw the future in the automobile.
 * William Durant - Adversity Quotient:**

In the 1910s, there was an economic downturn and the automobile market stalled and tightened cash flow throughout GM's divisions. Durant ran out of money and had to sell his stocks to a banking syndicate. The bankers were all too happy to take GM from Durant at low prices on his stock. For most people, this would've been a knockout, but Durant was a visionary with a high AQ. Durant moved quietly and partnered with a little-known racer and mechanic named Louis Chevrolet. With Durant's business sense, Chevrolet sold cars so quickly, the company moved to be one of the top manufacturers, even surpassing most GM brands. The bankers running GM were a non-visionary group against risk with little or no innovation occurring.

GM stock was plummeting as Chevrolet's stock was rising. Durant started swapping single shares of high-value Chevrolet stock for multiple shares of low-value GM stock. In 1916, Durant became majority shareholder of GM due to constantly trading one share of Chevrolet stock for several shares of GM stock. As majority owner, he told the board he intended to merge Chevrolet and GM. It was actually Chevrolet that bought GM (most think it was the opposite). Durant didn't fear failure. The bankers were deathly afraid to risk their precious capital. Durant wanted talented people and got some of the top names like Walter Chrysler, Charles Kettering, and Alfred Sloan.

The Wall Street bankers were not happy with how Durant was able to come in and retake GM. Durant was an upstart businessman who outfoxed them. They waited for an opportunity to settle the score. John Raskob and his Du Pont family friends purchased large chunks of GM stock as Durant was looking for money to expand. Knowing Durant's loyalty to his business partners, the Eastern Establishment, the same partners who helped him fund Chevrolet and the GM takeover, began an operation to reduce the GM stock price by selling shares. Even though GM was profitable, the stock price began to tumble as the market was manipulated against GM shares. Durant, always loyal to his friends and stockholders, purchased millions of dollars of GM stock with his own money. He didn't need any more stocks but invested and invested to stabilize the stock price to protect his friends who invested their life savings.

The Wall Street crowd calmly continued to drive down the stock prices. On the brink of bankruptcy, Durant had to sell GM again. He sold to J.P. Morgan, the Du Pont family, and John Raskob, and other Wall Street bankers for nickels on the dollar. He lost GM for the second time. This failure was not due to business efforts, but was a failure of Durant to realize the animosity against him. His vision and desire to win caused envy and jealousy among the Eastern Establishment. Most people would've surrendered their dreams and become bitter. But, not William Durant and his high AQ.

Durant worked on a third automobile manufacturing company - Durant Motors. Again, he achieved success. However, he would also see yet another setback as he lost his remaining millions in the 1929 stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression. He was penniless and company-less, but not hopeless - remember he had a very high AQ. Durant wasn't perfect and certainly would have benefited from a financial man to help him with reality checks at times (like Bud Walton for Sam Walton). Durant could've played it safe after his first million, but that's not how he played. In his late 70s, with his high AQ still intact, he began two new fields. He saw a bright future in fast-food restaurants and bowling alleys (he foresaw this during WWII). He saw the automobile growing along with suburbs. He also envisioned intersections and highways being dotted with restaurants.

There are two major lessons to learn. First, he knew for his dreams to become reality, it was all on him. His father left when he was young so, he was raised by his mother on a minimal budget. He understood that it's not where a person starts in life, but how far he goes. AQ determines how far one can go. AQ is what matters. Second, vision is important. Earlier than others, he dropped his carriage business to focus on cars. As early as 1910, before everyone had an automobile, he envisioned everyone having one. He also envisioned roads crisscrossing America. If there's a person with vision and a person with wealth, stick with the one with the vision!

__Thinking Questions__: 1. AQ = IQ x EQ x WQ (the quotients are: adversity, intelligence, emotional, and will). In this equation, all parts are working together. Which quotient do you think is more important than the others? Why? 2. Most people have eaten at KFC. Few people realize that Colonel Harland Sanders has quite the story. He faced over 1,000 rejections. It's easy to see the finished product and take it for granted. It's only when we know the dream, struggle, victory story that we can appreciate the Adversity Quotient required to bring about that famous chicken franchise. What lessons can you take away from Colonel Sanders's inspiring story? 3. Winston Churchill said that success is going from failure to failure, and it's not how far you fall but how high you bounce when you hit bottom. What do you think Churchill meant by this statement? How do you think this can be applied to our own lives? 4. The AQ is one of the biggest factors lacking, and one that is sorely needed in our progressively complacent, faithless, and purposeless generation. In your opinion, why do we lack, as a generation, the ability persevere? What do you think are some good sources to go for perspective and inspiration to build your AQ? 5. AQ is the KEY to success. Many people have all the other skills to win, but lack AQ and therefore quit too early. In every endeavor, AQ will be required. What can you take away from this lesson and begin applying in your own life to be certain your AQ is stong enough to last until success is accomplished?

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