It Was Never Easy
One of the things that fades over the course of time is how much struggle was involved to get something accomplished.There is a great reminder of this in Washington's Crossing, by David Hackett Fisher. A great book that I highly recommend.
I think people have this glorious picture of George Washington marching triumphantly to victory and walking right into Trenton after a romantic crossing of the Delaware. In fact, on this and other occasions, Washington was taking big risks that could have meant the complete destruction of his army. He crossed the river because his men's enlistments were almost up, he was nearly out of supplies, and no new recruits were signing up to join after the recent disaster in and around New York. The famed Continental Congress had run for their lives, evacuating Philadelphia and going to Baltimore. The British thought the revolution was done, and George Washington was desperate and discouraged.
The day of the crossing, Washington received many pieces of bad news. Two parts of his army could not get across the river, a general he was counting on did not show up and wasn't going to, and a rogue unit attacked Trenton early in order to get revenge for the death of one of their soldiers, thus possibly ruining the element of surprise. Many would have just quit. Washington, though, was focused on crossing the Delaware, and making his attack on Trenton.
The book "Good to Great," discusses common characteristics of the handful of exceptional companies of the last fifty years. One characteristic is that they have a leader who does not easily quit. This does not mean he or she cannot be driven to throw in the towel, but they do not do so quickly or without an extended fight.
