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Editorial: The Paradox of Success

In my research for a new workshop on inspiring leadership, I came across the Stockdale Paradox, as quoted in Jim Collins' Good to Great.

I had read the book many years ago, but, personally, I prefer Built to Last.

However, the Stockdale Paradox had slipped past me.

Admiral James Stockdale was tortured over 20 times and survived more than seven years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. He went on to be Ross Perot's running mate in the 1992 US presidential election.

Collins went for lunch with Stockdale. Having read in detail about how Stockdale survived appalling conditions, repeated torture and the uncertainty of whether he would ever be freed, Collins asked him the secret.

"I never lost faith in the end of the story." he said. "I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade."

"Oh, that's easy," he said. "The optimists."

"The optimists? I don't understand." (Collins) said, now completely confused, given what he had said earlier.

"The optimists. Oh, they [MORE]

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