Are you in the Arena… or on the Sidelines?
Theodore Roosevelt’s speech, “Citizenship in a Republic”, has lived on long after it was initially given on April 23, 1910 in Paris. Brené Brown refers to it in her book, Daring Greatly. It has been used as motivation for sports teams and players around the world. It made an appearance in a car commercial, Richard Nixon quoted it in his resignation speech, and it’s even sparked inspiration for tattoos on the likes of Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth. The speech has also been dubbed, “The Man in the Arena” and for as much as it has been highlighted, I believe it’s something our world needs to hear even more often.
There are far too many critics out there and their “hot takes” seem to be celebrated as entertainment in our society. We shine a spotlight on them as if their ability to capture people’s attention makes them an authority on a given subject or the gold standard of judgement. The rest of us either laugh and agree or roll our eyes and argue, but the constant noise seems to inspire another wave of critics, eager to one up their predecessors.
In his speech, Roosevelt implores us to risk failure in pursuit of greatness. He suggests that it is much more honorable to come up short while fighting for a worthy cause than to sit on the sidelines and critique those that are actually taking action. Despite the prominence of the critics, there are many men and women who go into the “arena” every day. Especially in the catering and hospitality industry, where we get one chance to deliver on executing some of life’s most important celebrations. I continue to be so proud of our team for taking on challenges, being inspired to do things that we’ve never done before and being willing to work through the curveballs that come our way.
Great leaders are not critics. They are the people that are willing to take on hard things. Great leaders go to battle alongside their teams and risk failure while trying to push the boundaries on the perceived limits that have been set by others. They don’t crush their team members when they fail, they lift them up and encourage them to get back in the ring and try again. Great leaders don’t expect themselves or others to be perfect, nor do they fear looking foolish. Instead, they are in constant pursuit of improvement and growth through every experience they have and know that regardless of the outcome, it will make them stronger than before.
If you’d like to be inspired by the entire speech, you can find it here.
If you’re short on time, here is the most popular excerpt that is most commonly referenced:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
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