The Strength of the Chain
Summary: The verbatim LinkedIn post behind the wiki concept of the same name — reproduced word for word as it was published.
Sources: LinkedIn Posts.md (“The Strength of the Chain,” posted 2025-11-25, Part 3 of “When I Was in the Navy”), verbatim
Last updated: 2026-07-11
Originally posted November 25, 2025.
(Part 3 of When I Was in the Navy)
“On the strength of one link in the cable Dependeth the might of the chain Who knows when thou mayest be tested So live that thou bearest the strain”
– The Laws of the Navy, stanza 5
In August 1990, I was in Haifa, Israel, when Iraq invaded Kuwait and what became Operation Desert Shield began. What followed for me and my shipmates were months of invisible pressure and constant uncertainty—long stretches of waiting punctuated by the awareness that everything could change in an instant. The poem above captured the mindset we aspired to: be strong enough as individuals that the team could bear whatever strain came next.
Today’s pressures look different, but the internal experience can feel very similar. Economic volatility, geopolitical conflict, and the dizzying pace of AI-driven change have created a persistent background hum of anxiety for many people and organizations. Leaders and teams are being asked to absorb more ambiguity, more information, and more change than ever before—and to do it while still showing up as stable partners for colleagues, customers, friends, and family.
One of the hardest truths from that deployment, and from later corporate roles, is this: you cannot be a strong link in the chain if you routinely break the promises you make to yourself. Skipping “just this once” becomes a pattern. Boundaries erode. The workout, the walk, the quiet time, the call to a friend—these are the first commitments to go when the pressure rises, even though they are exactly what keep us capable of carrying the load.
Keeping promises to ourselves is not self-indulgence; it is operational readiness for being in relationships with others. A few practices that have served well over the years:
- Protect simple routines that sustain vitality: consistent sleep, movement, and decent nutrition are non-negotiable infrastructure, not “nice to haves.”
- Create a clear rhythm to the day, with a real “end of watch” where work stops and something restorative begins.
- Build intentional “otherness” into your life—reading, art, music, a hobby that has nothing to do with the news cycle, markets, or technology—so your mind regularly visits a space not defined by the current crisis. (Blacksmithing anyone? 😊)
- Make room for joy and humor, even when the headlines are heavy; these are not a denial of reality, but a way of staying human in the middle of it.
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Finally, it helps to accept that there is no going “back to normal” in an era defined by compounding shocks and rapid technological disruption. The goal is not to preserve an old version of ourselves, but to grow into people who can live with integrity, generosity, and resilience in this new reality. Keeping our promises to ourselves—our health, our values, our boundaries—is how we strengthen the individual links, so that the chains we are part of at home, at work, and in our communities can bear the strain of whatever comes next.