T.R.’s Last 10
President Teddy Roosevelt was known as the “Lion in the White House.”
Among many other things, Roosevelt’s legacy includes keeping the United States at peace during the entirety of his presidency (1901-1909). He even won the Nobel Peace Prize for facilitating an end to the war between Russia and Japan. According to many of Roosevelt’s biographers, he was known as an independent thinker and an avid proponent of conservation. He was not beholden to any one political party’s ideology.
Despite his many accomplishments as president, the last ten years of his life are considered less than successful by some historians.
In his final decade of life, Roosevelt had political failures, the press turned on him and his books were severely criticized. He lost many friendships. When asked the question in a public interview about why Teddy Roosevelt’s third act following his presidency derailed, Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said, “The train fell off the track because of sheer physical exhaustion from burning the candle at both ends.”
According to Brinkley, Teddy held two very strong convictions: “keep moving” and “never stop.” Brinkley believes that, among other things, Roosevelt was running from his grief. The death of his mother and first wife (on the same day, Valentine’s Day of 1884) took its toll on Teddy. He is known to have put a big “X” in his diary on that day, noting, “The light has gone out of my life.”
We’ll never really know if Teddy’s “never stop moving” mentality and burning the candle at both ends contributed to a less than ideal finish for the last 10 years of his life. Perhaps he was afraid to face his true state of being.
President Teddy Roosevelt’s approach to life provides a cautionary tale for contemporary leaders.
Most leaders are not experiencing the level of pressure and responsibility that President Roosevelt would have. Yet, all leaders deal with pressure and pain, inside and outside of their work responsibilities. If leaders don’t stop long enough to evaluate how they are doing, they, like Teddy, may risk not finishing strong.
At Milestone Leadership, we believe that one of the keys to a leader finishing strong involves intentionally stopping. Taking the time to stop and evaluate what is causing you to choose the way you are choosing is an important practice for longevity.
When a leader recognizes what is informing their choices, they are better positioned to either correct or maintain course.
Tackling course correction is never an easy task for the forward-moving leader. It takes time, commitment, and courage to stop and consider your true state of being. We recommend leaders set aside a regular time to reflect on how they are doing and feeling. This can look different for each leader. Some may benefit from outdoor nature walks, while others may need a night away in a hotel or retreat center. A time for daily self-reflection works well for many people. (Here is an excellent example from Forbes.com of how a daily self-reflection practice can improve leadership.) Regardless, we recommend leaders figure out what works best for them and put it into practice.
If you are looking for a structured, intentional space to stop and reflect on your leadership, we invite you to consider attending one of our Milestone Leadership Intensives. In this brief video, you’ll hear how this experience impacted some excellent leaders as we tackled common leadership challenges and opportunities—and helped each participant identify and activate their own unique strengths.
“Be ready for a life changing experience…”
“Hands down the best leadership training I’ve ever had…”
“It exceeded my expectations…I was settled and now I’m unsettled, in a good way.”
“You’ll get a lot out of it…be prepared to really make a change.”
Erik Dees, PhD is a partner with Milestone Leadership. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
