"Per aspera ad astra"

I recently finished reading two books written by two U.S. Navy SEALs, Andy Stumpf (Drownproof: Eight Life Lessons to Keep Your Head Above Water) and Rorke Denver (Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior).  While the two books were very different in terms of the writing and major themes, they did provide me with another reminder that the U.S. Navy SEALs are another prototypical example of a High Reliability Organization (HRO).  There is no doubt that Navy SEALs are highly trained - Denver perhaps said it best when he said, "Constant improvement is one of the hallmarks of being a SEAL."  However, both Stumpf and Denver wrote at length about the SEAL selection process, known as Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL or BUD/S, one of the most grueling and demanding training programs in the U.S. military, designed to prepare candidates for the rigors of Navy SEAL operations.  BUD/S is a six-month program that tests the physical, mental, and emotional fortitude of all the trainees.  Depending on the year, only about 15-30 percent of all trainees complete all three phases of the program to eventually become a U.S. Navy SEAL.  

The ancient Greek historian and general Thucydides said, "We should remember that one man is much the same as another and that he is best who is trained in the severest school."  To say that the process of becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL is the "severest school" is a vast understatement.  But I couldn't agree with Thucydides more - true excellence is often forged through extreme hardship and adversity.    They are what we call "Crucible Moments".  

Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas summarized the findings of a study they performed in a 2002 article in Harvard Business Review, entitled "Crucibles of Leadership" (see also their book, Geeks & Geezers: How Era, Values & Defining Moments Shape Leaders).  They interviewed more than 40 top executives from a variety of organizations from several different industries.  To their surprise, each and every leader was "able to point to intense, often traumatic, always unplanned experiences that transformed them and became the source of their distinctive leadership abilities."  They called these moments "the crucibles of leadership" and generalized further, "Everyone is tested by life, but only a few extract strength and wisdom from the most trying experiences.  They're the ones we call leaders."

A "crucible moment" is any severe test or transformative experience that challenges an individual's character and resilience.  The figurative meaning of a "crucible moment" is derived from the literal sense of a crucible as a place of intense heat, where impurities are burned away and the substance is refined.  Elite organizations, such as the U.S. Navy SEALs or the U.S. Marine Corp have even gone as far as designing their selection and training processes around "crucible moments" (see again, Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL or BUD/S).  For example (see also my post, "The Few and the Proud"), the Marine Corps Crucible is a 54-hour, grueling test that all recruits undergo before officially becoming Marines. It's designed to simulate the harsh conditions of combat, testing physical and mental endurance, and fostering teamwork and camaraderie. The Crucible includes physical challenges like hiking, obstacle courses, and simulated combat scenarios, as well as challenges that test moral development and leadership skills.

The health care leadership consultant Carson Dye wrote about "crucible moments" in an online post.  Dye admitted, "While I am a very active leadership teacher, lecturer, and author, I strongly believe in the power of experience in shaping the behavior of leaders."  He too called these experiences "crucible moments."  He wrote, "A crucible experience is one in which one is tested, stretched, challenged by something that is real...Crucible experiences can take place when leaders are put into very novel situations they have not confronted before."

There are a lot of famous quotes about "crucible moments," but here are two of my favorites:

In school, you get the lesson and then you take the test.  In life, you take the test and then you get the lesson.

Life will always test you.  Don't worry about passing the test.  Just learn the lesson.

I have always believed that leaders are made and not born.  And it is through these so-called "crucible moments" that leaders are truly made.  Very few leaders will ever graduate from BUD/S or the Marine Corps Crucible, but chances are that all of us have been through some "crucible moment" in either our personal or professional lives that helped shape us and define us and made us better leaders.  There is a Latin phrase, Per aspera ad astra, which translates to Through hardships to the stars.  By enduring and overcoming adversity, we often find that we achieve our highest goals.  It is through these crucible moments - our adversity - that we become leaders.