The hero of the legend is worn out, defeated in body and spirit. Inside a cave, he coils himself into a ball of pity. He is a Scottish king, Robert the Bruce, and he has been fighting to free his people from the English. He’s burned out. Then, in this dark time, in this dark cave, he spots a spider spinning its web. The spider tries, falls, tries, falls, tries again and again and finally finishes its web.

If a spider can be that tenacious, Robert the Bruce decides he can be, too. He shakes off the darkness, emerges from the cave and eventually defeats the English. The 14th-century story may be apocryphal, but its message has lasted for centuries. Scottish schoolchildren memorize the tale. The legend crossed the pond to the United States and to modern times and popular culture. Batman’s true identity, Bruce Wayne, is said to be named for Robert the Bruce.

This is the third installment of the Leadership Dialogues. The leadership characteristic in focus today is tenacity, defined as “cohesive, tough; not easily pulled in pieces or broken.” Tenacity weaves through the biographies of great leaders. They held on to their ideals and convictions, even when faced with loud criticism, even when it would have been easier to surrender.

Linda Sheridan coached volleyball and basketball at Shadle High School for 25 years. Her teams won more than 800 games. Sheridan is our third Leadership Dialogues profile, because she illustrates what happens when leaders hold on, year after year, to ideals that shape individuals and communities. Leaders have much to learn from the best coaches who lose games in every season, even during their winningest seasons, and yet hang on, stay with it, fight through it, go for it.

When feeling discouraged in our poll-driven election system, candidates and elected officials should remember history and the lessons of tenacity. For instance, John Quincy Adams found his true “voice” not as president, but afterward, when he won a seat in the House of Representatives. Abolitionists in the late 1830s petitioned Congress to end slavery. The House adopted gag rules to prevent these petitions from being read out loud on the House floor.

Adams protested year after year. He believed that slaves should be free, and he believed the gag rules violated constitutional rights to free speech. Finally, the gag rules were abolished in 1844.

When the best leaders retire from their leadership roles, others keep their vision alive and pass it on to the next generation of leaders. Linda Sheridan’s protégés now coach teams throughout the Inland Northwest, using tactics and wisdom garnered from their mentor. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation incorporated the arguments Adams voiced against slavery year after year.

Potential political leaders must be as tough as mythic heroes, and not easily broken by critics. Many women and men living among us in the Inland Northwest possess the tenacity to run for, and serve in, public office. Our hope is that this series will encourage these leaders to emerge from their private lives and go for it.