This post completes the “Chef Jeff” series of blog posts derived from Chef Jeff Henderson’s, Author of “Cooked”, opening address at the 2011 NACE Educational Conference. This series of posts has described 5 steps toward becoming the person (or company / organization) you were meant to be – – – the very best you that you can be.

Chef Jeff concluded his list of 5 key personal traits with the quality of Resilience. Resiliency is toughness . . . hardness . . . buoyancy . . . the trait that enables us to bounce back when we’re down – – – to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It also connotes flexibility and pliability . . . the ability to adapt and respond to the circumstances in which we find ourselves or the environment in which we operate.

I think resilience is a key element in achieving personal and professional success. The opposite of resilience is defeatism – the acceptance of adversity as failure or refusal to try unless success is assured. Success is rarely the guaranteed result of effort. There are so few certainties in life that we’d never do anything at all if we waited for the opportunity, job or relationship that “couldn’t” fail.

The one thing we know, with one-hundred percent assurance, is that we will not succeed if the effort is not made. Successful people learn as much or more from their failures (or setbacks) as they do from their successes. Resilience allows us to put “failure” in perspective and regard results that falls short of our goals as a bump in, not the end of, the road. The only time we truly fail is the LAST time we try.  Never give in ! Never give up !

That’s my personal philosophy . . . quitters never win and winners never quit. That’s also the “Premiere philosophy”. Building a career, or a company, in the events industry isn’t easy. It’s difficult, demanding and sometimes, even daunting. Only the most resilient can endure in this field of endeavor. Only the strong survive, and the most resilient thrive. In the famous words of Lance Armstrong, “LIVE STRONG”.

Delores Crum, CERP
President, Premiere Party Central