Cheerfulness in Adversity

Reinforce

“Cheerfulness in adversity is one of the core values of the Royal Marines,” says Damian McKinney. “If you became discouraged every time one of your teammates was killed, you would never accomplish the mission.”

There is an important difference between accepting and analyzing the harsh realities of a situation and becoming pessimistic.

Optimistic leaders are the ones who lead their organizations to success.

Deep Dive

Former military commanders like Damian McKinney possess an optimism that has been forged through years of leadership under the harshest conditions. It is the result of training to stay alive as leaders while accomplishing the mission with their teams. Even when soldiers are wounded or killed, they have learned to keep moving forward—often with a joke and a smile.

When I first met Damian, that attitude almost seemed inappropriate to me as a Japanese. Growing up, teachers would often scold us, saying, “Don't smile when you're supposed to be serious!”

Damian sees it very differently.

“When you're facing adversity, that's exactly when you should remain cheerful. Your people will follow you, and you'll make better decisions yourself. Nothing good comes from wearing a gloomy face.”

After years of working with him and other former military leaders, I've noticed the same pattern. The more difficult the situation becomes, the more relaxed they appear. They smile more, move more slowly, and never seem rushed.

Watching them taught me an important lesson. If a leader panics, rushes around, and looks frightened during difficult times, the team becomes anxious and hesitant as well.

Since then, whenever I organize a major event in Japan, I gather the staff beforehand and say:

“Unexpected problems will happen. No matter what happens, let's keep smiling and move calmly.”

I've found that this simple reminder contributes far more to a successful event than spending all our time worrying about every possible problem.

As Winston Churchill famously said:

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

One of my friends, Mr.H, has run an optional tour company in Guam for more than thirty years. Starting a business overseas, investing his own money in boats and equipment, and hiring local staff to operate dolphin cruises and parasailing tours required extraordinary courage from the beginning.

Over the years, however, the tourism industry has been repeatedly devastated by events beyond anyone's control: the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the SARS outbreak in 2003, the global financial crisis in 2008, and other major disruptions that seemed to occur every few years.

Whenever I invited him to dinner because I was worried about him, he would simply laugh and say,

“Well, I'm so worried that I can only sleep eight hours a night!”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, his business was virtually shut down for nearly three years. Yet his attitude never changed.

“We're surviving by organizing private charter parties for local island residents.”

With travel between Japan and Guam effectively suspended, he left much of the charter boat operation to his local staff and cheerfully announced,

“I might as well use this opportunity to travel around Japan.”

Instead of dwelling on the crisis, he spent the period exploring the country.

His greatest challenge came in May 2023, when Super Typhoon Mawar struck Guam directly. Winds exceeding 70 meters per second sank two of his boats and severely damaged another, despite having moved them into what was believed to be a sheltered bay.

Shortly afterward, he stayed at my home with his family.

“I wish this were all just a bad dream,” he admitted.

The following morning, he confessed,

“For the first time in my life, I hardly slept at all. Looking at the photos from Guam and seeing the damage with my own eyes is heartbreaking.”

But by that afternoon, he was already energetically discussing the next steps with his local staff over the phone.

“How can we recover the sunken boats?”

“How much will the repairs cost, and how much do we need to earn next month to survive?”

“How badly have our competitors been affected, and who is likely to go out of business?”

The next morning, he came downstairs smiling.

“Well, I ended up sleeping eight hours after all!”

Unlike Damian, Mr.H never attended a military academy or received formal leadership training about remaining cheerful under adversity.

I simply believe he is one of those rare people who was born with that disposition.

Yet watching how his natural optimism inspired his local employees, even when everything around them seemed to be falling apart, reminded me of an important truth.

Whether that optimism is learned or innate, cheerful leaders in times of adversity are the ones who give their teams the confidence to overcome it.