The Patience of Leadership: Why Endurance Matters More Than Speed

In this episode of the Leadership Vision Podcast, Nathan Freeburg is joined by Dr. Linda Schubring and Brian Schubring to explore the role of patience and endurance in leadership.

Together, they discuss:

•  Why leadership is better understood as an endurance challenge than a short-term sprint 
•  How patience shapes emotional regulation and decision-making 
•  The difference between being patient with growth and being impatient with misalignment 
•  Why leaders often overestimate their readiness—and how to recalibrate 
•  How endurance builds long-term leadership capacity 

This conversation offers a practical and reflective framework for leaders navigating slow-moving challenges, team development, and personal growth.

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Transcript

Patience Starts At Home

SPEAKER_02 0:00

You are listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Freeberg, and the other day I was telling one of my kids that they needed to be patient. And then they shot right back with, yeah, well you need to be patient too, Dad. And you know, kids are kind of mirrors sometime, and that that response has really stuck with me because I don't think that this idea of patience is talked about that much leadership. Now, we all like celebrating quick wins and rapid results, but perhaps most of the most meaningful transformations, building trust, developing leaders, navigating change, well, those things don't happen quickly. They take months and often even years. And that can be really difficult. Because along the way, progress isn't always obvious. What are we even being patient for? There are moments when the team feels uncertain, frustrated, or tempted to fall back into old patterns. Now, research shows that leaders who view challenges as opportunities to learn, rather than threats to their competence, tend to be more resilient, more adaptable, more patient, and even more effective with their team. But even with the right mindset, growth still requires something else. Endurance. Now, if you've ever trained for a race of any kind, you know the feeling. At first the distance feels out of reach, nearly impossible, but over time, with consistency, it becomes manageable, even familiar, and dare I say, easy, or at least easier than it did. Leadership can work the same way. It's not just about setting direction, it's about helping people stay committed long enough for growth to take hold. Sometimes the most important thing a leader can do is remind the team that they are in the middle of the process, not at the end. So today I want to explore the ideas of leadership endurance and patience with Dr. Linda and Brian Schubring as we all look into the next set of challenges that we face. Brian and Linda, hello. Hello. I understand that both of you are training for a marathon. No. I thought you told me you were, Linda. You're training helping to train the crew member.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

That that's almost the same. I am the crew member.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

True. Brian, at the phase that you're at right now for Boston, would you say you're in the easy part of the training or the hard part of the training? Where are you at right now?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

I'm at the apex of the most difficult part of the training. One more long run, two weeks of speed work, and we're done with it. He's killing it.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

He's ready.

Defining Leadership Endurance

SPEAKER_02 2:37

He's always killing it. Um I ran, we ran Boston almost exactly a year ago. I know together was the highlight of my running. Oh, I did. I don't want to call it a career, but it's a career. It was amazing. And I gotta tell you, 10 years trying to get into Boston, I I did give up a couple times. I'm like, I'm never doing this. And finally, I kind of gave it one more go. I qualified. We did it together. It was amazing. Oh, I just got goosebumps. That was fun. I'm looking at my my medal, it is right here. But I'm gonna turn a corner and talk about this idea of leadership endurance. So here's my question for the two of you. I don't care who answers it first. What does leadership endurance look like when a team is facing a challenge that won't be solved quickly?

SPEAKER_00 3:27

I think when it comes to leadership endurance, when a team is facing a challenge, it's important to remind us that the challenge that we're facing isn't the last one. There's probably three more long challenges beyond that before you experience them downhill. Leadership as endurance recognizes that the moments of challenge and the moments of joy, they're all part of a much longer part of the process. And I don't think I've ever met a leader that did not recognize that leadership is more of an endurance challenge, but oftentimes we forget that in the moment.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

And a lot of our leaders see the log game, they just want it done right away. Yeah. Thus the impatience, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:16

And whenever you're in the middle of it, of course you want the problem to be solved as quickly as possible. And sometimes that mentality that a problem ends or a challenge will be over is sometimes the more foolhardy way of looking at something, because we all know that problems and challenges are part of a larger equation that ends up teaching us that the more we endure, the more we prepare ourselves, the more we understand our true capacity as leaders, the more qualified we'll recognize we are for the long game of leadership. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

And patience trains our emotions to not control us. When we're controlled by our emotions, oftentimes it's the negative ones, right? Because we are frenetic and impatient, and oh, this all these things have to happen. And when there is the practice of patience and there is the reminder that you're playing the long game, even if your deadlines are shortened, there is a growth that we see in leaders, there is a calm presence that we see from leaders, and there's they're the ones to watch.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Yeah. And when it comes to this whole leadership endurance idea, patience plays a key role because we often know that we're patient in the process. As life is unfolding, as leadership opportunities are unfolding, we're patient in that process. We're also patient with a process that works for us. And I also know that many really, really good leaders, they all have their own unique process of how they take care of themselves, how they grow in relationship, how they find time for relaxation, how they rely on others. So for patience to be considered a critical role in this idea of leadership endurance, I think that's something we really need to pay attention to.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

We invite leaders to be patient with the process. We also invite leaders to be impatient with behaviors that go against people's values. That's really good. And when we are like pressing on leaders, it is oh yeah, you should be impatient about that. Don't don't try to quell that one. You need to move to invite that employee or to invite that leader, that people leader, to change some of who they are and demonstrate that you will be patient with the process, but you will not be patient with the toxic behaviors that will maybe steer the whole group in the wrong direction.

When To Apply Pressure

SPEAKER_00 6:54

So the intuitive leader or the well-practice leader will look at a challenge and discern whether patience is needed or impatience is needed or a little dose of both. Yeah. What would a dose of both look like? I think a dose of patience is understanding if there are some team members, including yourself, where we need to be patient with our leaning into whatever the challenge is. The same situation could also draw out an impatience for those that we know are truly skilled and capacity to face a challenge and they're not or they're hesitant for some reason. Sometimes impatience is an invitation for us to ask questions of why. Why is someone not stepping in? Because I think what Linda said earlier is true, is sometimes when our emotions may be inhibiting us, it could be a moment of impatience for someone to ask us to work with our emotions. And how can that emotional experience lean us into the challenge that we're facing?

SPEAKER_02 8:01

I recently heard Tom Hanks say, like one of his, I don't know, best pieces of advice to younger actors is just the idea that this too shall pass, that whatever good is happening to you or bad is happening to you, like this too shall pass. And I wonder if that idea for leaders is helpful when you think about this idea of endurance and longevity, that any issue, challenge, whatever, like good or bad, like it's not gonna stick around forever. So, how do you kind of be in the moment, like you're saying, present, knowing that it'll be gone and then it'll be the next thing and the next thing? It's like owning a home. There's always another issue around the corner, and just accepting that and knowing that it's gonna come, it helps you finish the proverbial endurance race to use the marathon metaphor.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Nathan, I agree with you on the this too shall pass, because for many situations, that is true. That momentary challenge when we're when we're working beyond our comfort zone, it's happening for a reason. We're learning and growing through it. And there's two sides to that coin. If the this too shall pass phrase proves to not be true, and something keeps coming up and coming up again and again, then it's time to get impatient. Why is this happening? Why am I continuing to run into the same mistake or the same challenge or the same thought pattern? Sure. If it that again could be a moment where we're learning something new or needing to pay attention to something different.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

A lot of leaders brace for that first wave, but in the midst of storms, it's wave after wave after wave. And I think that there is exhaustion that happens. I think that there is a uh they like an impatience with yourself of like I should have been able to figure this out, or why didn't I anticipate all of these waves of challenges or changes and the leaders that we know that that hold their ground that even name like this is why I'm impatient about this, this is why I am I am patient with this because it's gonna it part of this will pass and it's a part of life, right? Yeah, life lessons.

Waves Of Change And Leader Exhaustion

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Something that I'm just noticing here in the notes that we have that I didn't notice earlier, you wrote patience in assessment of capacity. We often overestimate our leadership readiness. I don't think we've touched on that. Do you want to expand on that a little bit? Yeah, right.

Capacity, Readiness, And Self-Preparation

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Yes, because oftentimes we overestimate our readiness for a challenge. And sometimes we need to be patient with how we need to learn and grow for the challenge that's in front of us. Sometimes I think that it's not our fault. We simply think that we're ready. And if you're an athlete or ever tried something new, you know the importance of warming up or getting ready or eating the right something before an event. That's being patient with yourself and knowing what it means to get yourself ready. And I think that it's a unique way of looking at a challenge, Nathan, is is for us or for anyone, I think that there is not only a need for leaders to be patient, but I think there's a need for all of us to be both patient and impatient with ourselves, patient in how it is that we get ready for something, patient in how we visualize our week unfolding, patient with our relationships. And I also think that the greater challenge is how can we ourselves be impatient with ourselves? Can we honestly and authentically recognize that some of our patterns of thought, patterns of emotion, patterns of thinking are needing to change? And can we be impatient with ourselves and realize, yep, it's time for me to move on from that way of doing things because I don't want the same result, I want something new. So, how can we be both patient and compassionate with ourselves? And how can we also be impatient and courageous with ourselves too?

SPEAKER_02 12:20

I was just gonna ask you, how does self-compassion fit into that idea of impatient with I don't know, your short your shortcomings?

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Are unique and distinct, Nathan, is that we don't just ask you to focus on what's happening around you. We're asking people to focus on what's happening in them.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

When someone chooses to be a growing person, there is a degree of patience that comes with that growth. Right. Because growth does not happen overnight. It doesn't happen with finding the right tool or the right path or making the right decisions. There is this gradual unfolding that happens and and then the journey is full of demonstrating patience and then not settling and not just getting comfortable. Oh, I'm just being patient, but then being radically impatient in order to drive to continued growth.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

I love that radical impatience. Say that again, Brian's whispering Saying. Say that again, or Brian rephrase that as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

I really enjoy the radical impatience because radical hints at a disruption, doing something new. And I think Linda's statement reflects what I was trying to say is how can we be courageously impatient to disrupt what isn't working so that new life can emerge?

Closing Question And How To Subscribe

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Well, Linda and Brian, thank you. Yes, thank you. Thank you. You've given us a lot to consider, and I want to encourage all you team leaders to think about this little question here. Where in your leadership right now might the real challenge be patience rather than strategy? Thank you for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture through patience and endurance. If you found value from this episode, we would love it if you could subscribe to Leadership Vision Consulting.com slash subscribe. Also, follow us on all the social channels and wherever you get your podcast. My name is Nathan Freeberg.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

I'm Linda Shubrink.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

And on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening and being patient.