We live and work in a world of fear. Perhaps it has always been this way but from where I sit things have changed. I am old enough to remember 1969, watching neil armstrong walk on the moon and remember thinking what things would be like come year 2000.

I was all of 14 the year Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. In those times nothing seemed insurmountable and I dreamed of flying cars in the year 2000.

Since 1969 many things have changed and I still do not have my flying car. I realize that my view of the world at 14 was naive and idealistic. But I can tell you that there was hope in the air. Look at the vision that was set by John F. Kennedy:

..."We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

It is for these reasons that I regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in space from low to high gear as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the Presidency."

... "Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."

President John F. Kennedy, Houston, Texas, September 12, 1962 Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort

When I listened to the audio file at the John F. Kennedy Museum online it struck me that the undertone in his speech was one of fear, fear of Russia and the need to dominate space to protect it. Read it for yourself:

"Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. I do not say the we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours."

John F. Kennedy Set An Enduring Vision

What I admire about his leadership is the passion, faith, and hope his Presidency wrought.

I remember walking home from school upset at the news that this President, a man whose speeches captured the imagination of a 14 year-old Canadian boy - was assassinated.

I have no doubt that in his death part of our innocence died too. Yet, his vision sustained the space effort and five years later, a man named Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

Fear is the Foreshadow of Hope

Truth is that fear has been with man since the beginning of time and what we experienced on that fateful day of 9/11 was no different than what man has been coping with since the dawn of our appearance except the magnitude and the fact that it was witnessed around the world.

9/11 was a watershed and a shattering of innocence in a similar way that John F. Kennedy's assassination did. It is through adversity that we find out what we are made of and what we believe and so adversity shapes who we are by forcing us to face our own reality.

Regardless of our circumstances we always have a choice. We either choose to fear or hope. Life and business has a way of dousing our enthusiasm and draining our joy. It shouldn't be that way because we have more wealth, possessions, and prosperity than at any time in history.

I remember seeing a auction receipt from my grandfather's desk that reported he cleared $120 for a carload of cattle in the 1930's. Strikes me things were simpler in those days except I surmise that my grandfather felt his life was complex too.

The More Things Change the More They Stay The Same and the More They are Different

I started writing this post thinking that we live in more fear than in the past. But as I wrote, I discovered that my thinking was flawed because fear has always impacted man's outlook and ultimately our behavior.

My father and grandfather faced war and adversity. I too experienced the challenge of starting a business post 9/11 and witnessing war - albeit through my television - whereas, my father and grandfather experienced the real thing.

Coming out of the end of WWII my father used his war bonds to start an oil field trucking business and eventually faced bankruptcy. I learned that the factors that forced bankruptcy was because of road bans due to an unusually long spring thaw and trying to look after his drivers by keeping them on staff. In retrospect the company might have been saved had he laid-off his drivers. He always said that, "they have families to feed too."

What has changed is the way we experience life. For example, I am writing this post on my new iMac, which has as much power as the not so super-computer's. I do business around the world by phone, email, and Skype. Not my grandfather or fathers business experience.

How We Choose to Respond to Adversity Shapes Us

Fear and adversity are a common human experience and the 'meaning' we attribute to any event in our lives shapes our perspective, which shapes our values and beliefs. Which ultimately affects our behavior.

I have been asking myself, "Where have the inspiring and courageous leaders gone?" and then I looked in the mirror and realized that I am either going to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution. I choose to be part of the solution.

Customers Buy Hope and Certainty

The undercurrent of our customers needs is certainty. Like no other time your customers are looking for certainty, leadership, and ultimately hope and the expectation that something good is around the corner.

As business leaders we need to learn to balance idealism, expectations, faith, and hope. All while keeping a keen eye on our current reality and managing a business that inspires achievement and grows leaders.

• What do you do to create certainty for your customers and staff?


• What is your greatest challenge in balancing your ideals, reality of your current situation, while inspiring excellence?


• Who do you know (a business) that is creating certainty and hope well?