Stockdale and Asking When

A client recently wrote an article about James Stockdale and the Stockdale Paradox. Stockdale was a POW for seven years in Vietnam, mostly in solitary confinement. His story is particularly relevant to our situation today. His view was that the idealists were the ones who had the toughest time and did not make it through their ordeal. “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

The key point of this article was about the endurance we will all need to get through this, and not ask ourselves the when will this be over question, but to confront the reality of the situation and know that we will make it through with discipline. For us at DLK that means communication, concrete daily habits, and having a plan to serve our clients.

Client Centered, Quality Focused. We are an independent, employee owned investment advisory firm with institutional quality practices that are applied to all aspects of our business. Our disciplined and balanced approach allows us to focus on the most important aspect of our job: creating long-term value for our clients. DLK is a diverse team of professionals who have experience in multiple areas of investment management, on both the advisor and client side.