Real leadership isn’t about the applause – it’s about showing up when nobody else wants the job.

I’ve been thinking about what defines true leadership, and I always come back to historical figures like Winston Churchill.

He had the odds stacked against him for years and faced impossible decisions during wartime, yet when the moment came for the greatest leadership of all, he delivered.

Churchill essentially won the war, brought America in as an ally, and kept England from being overrun by the Nazis. In fact, without Churchill, the world today would likely look very different.

And what happened after all of these great accomplishments? He lost his next election. So much for applause.

But I digress. The point is that he was positioned to lead when it mattered most because he never quit marching forward.

Churchill and other leaders cut from the same cloth have surely impacted how I see others (and approach situations myself). When an obstacle comes along, will you pivot or stay the course?

I’ve noticed that I don’t take people seriously in business unless I know they’ve navigated real challenges, because there will inevitably be more.

There’s a generation of professionals that came of age when interest rates were 2.5%, Silicon Valley was charging ahead, and you could bring your dog to work.

Fast forward to a time of economic uncertainty, scarce jobs, and failing companies, and you see who’s really made of what.

The learning occurs in difficult moments…not comfortable ones.

I remain fascinated by how people navigate impossible situations, because that’s where you discover their fortitude. Resilience will get you everything, but it has to be earned through experience.

In the words of Mr. Churchill, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Mark Lester, Principal, LANDCO NEXA