🏁 Axios Finish Line: Be Zelensky

Ask us anything | Monday, March 14, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Emergent BioSolutions   Axios Finish Line By Mike Allen, Erica Pandey and Jim VandeHei ·Mar 14, 2022 Mar 14, 2022 Good evening, and welcome to Week 2 of Finish Line. Thanks for all your questions, suggestions and critiques — it's the most reader response we've gotten to any newsletter ever. Keep 'em comin': finishline@axios.com. Smart Brevity™ count: 438 words ... 1½ mins.     1 big thing: The Zelensky model What leadership looks like: A Ukrainian at a refugee shelter in Hungary listens to Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: Bernadett Szabo/Reuters   One of our favorite mantras at Axios (pardon the language): When shit happens, shine. Why it matters: The idea is simple. Anyone can be — or do — good when it's easy. Real character is carved in terrible or tumultuous times, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei writes. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky is showing in real time how to dig deep into places you didn't know existed to find a better, more courageous version of yourself: Seize the moment. There's that memorable line in "Miracle," the movie about the 1980 U.S. hockey team upsetting, ironically, the Russians: "Great moments are born from great opportunity." Zelensky has risen to the moment as an eloquent wartime leader. All of us confront lesser moments. Take risks. Zelensky could flee or hide, but instead he has plunged fully into leading his people. Too often, we duck from the tough stuff or hide in our own fears. But courage is contagious — and lurks inside even the most timid. Watch your words. Words stick. Words move people. Think hard about how to explain to others what needs to be done. Do it with grace but directness. There's a reason this Zelensky statement echoed worldwide: "I need ammunition, not a ride." Ya never know. Zelensky was a reality TV star — a joke of a politician to many before Vladimir Putin invaded. There was little in Zelensky's past to suggest heroism. That's the great lesson of my life: The most unlikely people rise in the most unlikely of moments. You could be one of them. Get the big things right. Before this crisis, there were real questions about Zelensky's preparedness and judgment. We all carry baggage. But nailing the moments that matter most is a worthy legacy. Share this story.     A message from Emergent BioSolutions We Go to create a world that's prepared and protected     Emergent maintains a critical role in the ongoing opioid crisis. We're developing emergency rescue medications that can help reverse an opioid overdose. It's just one of the ways we defend people from things we hope will never happen. Learn more about Emergent's protections.     🎬 A quote with pop Jonathan Swan interviews Zelensky. Photo: "Axios on HBO"   Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with Jonathan Swan for "Axios on HBO," in Kyiv in January 2021: I really want the people of the United States of America to understand that Ukraine is having a difficult time, to understand that Ukraine is strong ... I know Ukraine is changing every day. And frankly, if we did not spend so much time and money on the war in the East, Ukraine would make big leaps forward. 🎧 Listen to Swan talk about Zelensky on our "How It Happened" podcast about the Ukraine-Russia crisis.   📬 Invite your friends to join the conversation: Sign up here. Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: