7 Inspiring Leaders and the Traits That Made Them Great

5. Tenacity. Winston Churchill famously said in the dark days of World War II, “Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” I believe too many people give up before they have a chance to succeed. When people say I’ve been successful in the media world, I remind them that I’m too stubborn to quit and that somehow I simply lasted longer than many competitors that went out of business.

One of the most tenacious men I’ve ever known is my good friend Scott Plakon. While others have had more adversity in their lives, Scott has survived more difficult challenges than most. I know because I’ve walked through some of them with him (as he’s walked through challenges with me). Years ago, he helped start a company and grew it so rapidly it went public. It also had enormous problems that resulted in lawsuits and the company finally failing. Before that happened, Scott was unjustly ousted. But did he give up? No, he simply started over and began from scratch what is now a very successful publishing company. He had to live off savings the first year because he couldn’t afford to pay himself a salary.

Then he realized a lifelong dream of serving in the Florida Legislature. He quickly earned a much-deserved reputation as the strongest advocate for conservative and moral values in the legislature. The Orlando Sentinel, no friend of conservatives, called him “the most conservative member of the Florida Legislature,” and they didn’t mean it as a compliment, but Scott took it that way. He was so effective in Tallahassee that when the liberals targeted him in the 2012 election, they spent more money on that legislative race than any other in order to narrowly defeat him. Did that make him quit? No way. He saw God’s hand in it, and he’s running again in the adjacent district, where he formerly served and is tenaciously pursuing re-election.