Resilience in the face of adversity
Jeremy Snape
Sporting Edge Founder > Former England Cricketer > Keynote Speaker > Senior Leadership Coach > Apple top 10 Podcast > Inspiring Webinars
Returning to our normal lives still feels like a long way off for many of us. The global pandemic has called for new levels of personal, professional and organisational resilience. As we look for for inspirational insights to help us navigate this crisis, I've found myself returning to two interviews which focus on the central theme of resilience in the face of adversity. I hope you enjoy the stories from two very special men.
The importance of commitment
In 2008, after retiring as a professional cricketer and obtaining my Master’s degree in sports psychology, I began to work with the South African cricket team. Coaches are always looking for new ways to bring the principle of resilience to life and the team management had access to a very special man called Ahmed Kathrada who came to share his story with the players in one of our camps.
Ahmed Kathrada, who sadly passed away in 2016, aged 87, was a South African politician, former political prisoner and anti-apartheid activist. He talked to us about his 26-year sentence in prison with Nelson Mandela and six other men, sentenced when was a student activist working in the ANC (African National Congress – then a revolutionary movement, now the ruling political party since 1994). After the group was banned, the group of eight senior leaders were captured during a secret meeting and sent to trial. Kathrada was told by his lawyers that that there was little or no evidence of any of the major misdemeanours and they could probably walk free. However, fearing Nelson Mandela would be killed by his captors if left alone, he stood by his beliefs and fellow protesters, spending 26 years in prison on Robben Island in Cape Town.
After initially meeting Ahmed Kathrada, I had the chance to meet him again in 2015 to hear his story: “I was part of a team…you have the responsibility to stick with your team… The 90-day detention act, Robben Island… was meant to destroy our spirit. They set out to do that under the 90-day act…no visitors, no lawyers, no newspapers, no book…it sounds very brave now. But it was a basic thing of breaking rank… I don't want to break ranks…It is expected that you are committing yourselves, knowing what the consequences are going to be…and with that in mind, it helps a great deal to keep up your spirit because you know what you have committed to.”
Ahmed Kathrada had the chance to walk free but chose to walk alongside his ‘team’ into prison, seemingly for the rest of his life. It was a decision made with burning conviction and purpose in his heart; this unshakeable belief helped him to overcome the adversity that followed.
Finding your purpose
Denis Goldberg, one of Kathrada’s and Mandela’s comrades, also imprisoned, shared some incredible stories with me when I met him in London. The ANC leadership group was quite culturally diverse – Kathrada was of India heritage, Goldberg was white and born to Jewish parents from England, Mandela and the others were Xhosa. In his 2016 book, A Life for Freedom[1], he explained that the night before the trial, their lawyers said that their fate was looking particularly bad, with death by hanging as the most likely verdict. Denis Goldberg offered to take complete blame, but the others refused his offer. The next day, the judge declined the death sentence and gave all eight ANC leaders four life sentences each. Denis Goldberg was 31 at the time.
His motivation, which drove him through years of missing major life events, including the death of his parents, is explained here: “I've lived my life in the belief that life has meaning through service to others…I got involved in politics in South Africa, which led me to four life sentences and ultimately 22 years in prison, because I did not want to be one of those responsible for the brutality of the apartheid system. The purpose in life is to make life better for other people, not my people, or your people, but all people.”
Denis Goldberg (who sadly died in April 2020 aged 87) talked to me about “Ubuntu”, a Nguni Bantu term which means humanity or as he puts it, “I am who I am only through others.” He noted, “We live in a wolf, all alone society, where our media promote bling and celebrity status… not what you do…which is the opposite of everything I believed in.” He talked of celebrated psychiatrist, psychotherapist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, explaining how his book Man’s Search for Meaning[2] was so crucial:
“His experience in a concentration camp, which led him to his theory, was that those who felt their lives were useless…that survival was meaningless, died very quickly. Those who felt they had a purpose in life seemed to be strong and survive. I can't replicate it, but that was my experience in prison…All of us went through periods of depression, of exhaustion and being buoyed up by the others. You don't do it on your own. You can do if you have to. But…you're in a team. How do I best contribute to the team? It's not about me being the virtuoso…it's how do you encourage other players?... The team is more important than oneself.”
Establishing coping mechanisms
While having a guiding dream or goal is clearly critical to resilience, we also need a more tangible and immediate coping mechanism. Denis Goldman had the following to say about his experience of trying “live your life to the fullest”. He explained that, “as time goes by, the passage of depression gets deeper…But you have to persist because you’re not going to let them defeat you…You have to triumph over yourself and your circumstances and you have to help others. Me, I made the Christmas tree every year in prison. I made sure that everybody got birthday cards and Christmas cards from everybody else because you had to build unity. You're not just on your own. Your birthday, your wife's, your wedding anniversary. Somebody has to remember it and be there for you. It was about solidarity. It was about serving others. “
It was this daily grit and determination to stay on track which he measured himself by; his ability to do the right thing on a difficult day. Those days added up to deliver his dream of freedom and a future of liberation from the apartheid regime for his beloved South Africa.
Leading by example
The role of leadership will be crucial as we go forward into this new time. We don’t know what next month or year will look like but as leaders, whether within our home, our community or work, we have a responsibility to help others. Ahmed Kathrada said of Nelson Mandela that although he had a health condition, he refused to exempt himself from hunger strikes, “leading by example”, showing selflessness in the face of adversity. Denis Goldberg recalls similar behaviour from Mandela when he nursed a comrade with a sickness bug, washing him and cleaning his clothes: “He always led from the front. He never said, take up arms and I will order you.”
Whilst we can’t compare our current situation to being imprisoned in Robben Island, we could reflect on how we use our authority in virtual meetings; there’s less power dressing and dominant body language and maybe the hierarchy has been flattened because we’re all in this together. This is a useful message for our most alpha leaders: leading with the need to be respected for our sacrifice and commitment rather, than our influence or dominance.
The power of optimism
When the prisoners were taken to Robben Island, Ahmed Kathrada told me how when they arrived at the prison, austere blocks of concrete surrounded by shark-infested waters, that one of the prisoners jumped off the boat and inscribed into the concrete, “We are sure to win.”
Twenty odd years later, they walked past that same block of concrete, this time with no handcuffs as free men, to see that same message had endured the rain and the wind. It's this optimism for a brighter future which lies at the heart of resilience.
We will get through this, whatever it takes.
Listen back to discover more
Simply click the link below to get access to the podcast —Inside The Mind of Champions, episode 8: Lessons from Isolation
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References & Citations
Finance Director - Canway Group
4 年Thanks for sharing Jeremy. 2 very inspirational individuals who faced and overcame challenges much bigger than covid-19. We will get through this!
Director of Sport
4 年Powerful! Great read, thanks for sharing Jeremy!