"Why your critics aren't the ones who count"

Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech - some would argue that it was his greatest speech - on April 23, 1910, called "Citizenship in a Republic" but more widely known as the "Man in the Arena" speech (see one of my old posts, "In the Arena" for more).  The most famous passage in the speech goes as follows:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Absolutely amazing words.  My wife recently sent me a link to a video by the American professor and author Brene Brown in which she talks about being "in the arena."  Brown claims that the passage above changed her life.  She goes on to say that after reading this passage for the first time, "three huge things hit me."  Here they are:

1. The speech is all about vulnerability.  Being a leader - being "in the arena" is all about being vulnerable.  But here is the important point, "It's not about winning.  It's not about losing.  I's about showing up and being seen."

2. "If you are going to show up and be seen, there is only one guarantee, and that is that you will get your ass kicked."  She goes on to say that if you are going to spend any amount of time "in the arena", you will get your ass kicked.  "If courage is a value that you hold, then this is the consequence.  You can't avoid it."

3. "If you're not in the arena also getting your ass kicked, I'm not interested in your feedback.  Period."  She goes on to say that if someone has constructive feedback or new information to offer, leaders in the arena should listen.  However, "if you are not putting yourself out there and standing in the arena, I don't want your criticism about how you could be doing a better job than me."

The video clip came from a speech Brown delivered at the Adobe 99U conference called "Why Your Critics Aren't the Ones Who Count".  It's only about 20 minutes, but it is really a great talk that I highly recommend.  Incidentally, Brene Brown rose to prominence following a 2011 TED talk entitled "The power of vulnerability", which is also excellent!