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Listen to this week’s podcast episode, Ep.223: Weathering the Storms of Business, Leadership and Life; Resilience, Faith & Deeper Meaning, with Bill Derrick, click here to hear it now.

This week I spoke with Bill Derrick, business leader, author, public speaker, and President of Derrick Companies. With more than 50 years of experience in construction, Bill brings a perspective shaped by decades of navigating uncertainty, setbacks, and personal challenge.

What made this conversation stand out was the way Bill speaks openly about resilience and the difficulties he’s faced during his career. We explored what it means to keep going when things don’t go to plan, how faith and perspective influence decision-making and the will to keep going, and why leadership often becomes clearer (although not necessarily easier) in the middle of adversity.

One of the clearest themes from the conversation is that resilience isn’t something you declare, it’s something that develops over time, often through experiences you wouldn’t choose. Bill reflected on the challenges he has faced across his career. Economic downturns, business pressures and moments where the future felt uncertain.

What stood out was how he framed those experiences as part of the process of building both the business and the person leading it. There’s a tendency to view resilience as a kind of toughness… pushing through, staying strong, not showing weakness. But Bill’s perspective was more grounded (and dare I say, more realistic!) than that.

Resilience, in his view, is about staying steady. It’s about continuing to make thoughtful decisions even when circumstances are difficult. It’s about not allowing short-term pressure to dictate long-term direction.

Another important thread in the discussion was the role of perspective.

When things are going well, it’s easy to feel in control. Plans are working, progress is visible and decisions feel validated. But when challenges arise, like for example the 2008 Financial Crisis that Bill and his company had to find a way through, that sense of control can quickly disappear.

Bill spoke about the importance of stepping back in those moments. Not ignoring the problem, but also refusing to let it become the only thing you see. This is where many leaders struggle, under pressure focus narrows and attention can naturally shift to immediate issues at the expense of the broader view. And pretty soon all your decisions become reactive rather than considered.

Maintaining perspective doesn’t mean downplaying difficulty but holding it in context. Bill described how, over time, he has learned to approach challenges with that crucial longer view, to ask not just: “How do we fix this now?” but also, “What does this mean in the bigger picture?”

A defining part of Bill’s life, perspective and leadership approach is his faith. Throughout the conversation, he spoke about how his beliefs have shaped the way he handles both business and life challenges. Not in a performative or abstract way, but as a consistent source of guidance and stability.

For Bill, faith provides a reference point. Something that remains steady when external conditions are not. This has practical implications, it influences how he approaches uncertainty, how he processes setbacks and how he thinks about responsibility.

Rather than trying to control every outcome there is a sense of trust combined with a commitment to do the work in front of him. It doesn’t remove difficulty or guarantee outcomes, but it does change how he carries those experiences.

For leaders, this raises an important point too; whether it’s faith, values, or a clearly defined sense of purpose, having something stable to anchor to can make a significant difference when pressure builds.

There’s an assumption that good leadership avoids problems, or at least minimises them. Bill’s experiences suggest something different: because quite often these challenges are not something leaders can sidestep. They’re part of the role, so the real question is how those challenges are handled.

Throughout his career, Bill has had to make difficult decisions, some with significant consequences. What comes through clearly from listening to his story is that leadership in those moments is less about having perfect answers and more about taking responsibility.

Which includes being honest about what’s happening, making decisions with the best information available and accepting that not everything will work out as planned.

It also involves staying present.

When things become difficult, there can be a tendency to disengage slightly… to step back emotionally as a way of coping. But effective, meaningful leadership requires the opposite. It requires staying engaged, even when it’s uncomfortable. Bill’s approach reflects a willingness to face issues directly, rather than delay or avoid them. Over time, that builds trust not just within the business, but within the leader themselves.

While much of the conversation focused on resilience and leadership under pressure, there was also a deeper theme running throughout: meaning.

After decades in business, Bill’s perspective is not limited to performance or growth. Those things matter, but they are not the full picture. He spoke about the importance of understanding why you do what you do not just at a surface level, but in a way that shapes your decisions and priorities.

This becomes particularly relevant during difficult periods, when results are under pressure, and progress feels slow, having a clear sense of purpose can help sustain effort and focus; it also influences how success is defined.

Rather than being measured purely by financial outcomes or business milestones, success becomes broader. It includes how people are treated, how challenges are handled, and the kind of example that is set.

This conversation with Bill Derrick offers a grounded view of real leadership shaped by experience over time, not just theories and ideas. It highlights that resilience in leadership and in life are not a single act, but a pattern of responses. It’s a perspective that matters most when it’s hardest to maintain. And that leadership is often defined in moments where there are no easy answers.

There’s also a quiet reminder running through it all that beyond the day-to-day pressures of business, there is a deeper layer to leadership. One that involves values, belief, and a sense of purpose that goes beyond immediate outcomes.

For leaders, the takeaway is not about avoiding storms. The storms are inevitable.

The question is how you meet them…. With clarity. With steadiness. And with a sense of what really matters when conditions are at their most uncertain.

And if there’s one phrase from Bill’s story I think you should always remember, but especially in the midst of a storm? It would be this:

The. Storm. Will. End.

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Listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast platform, find the links here: https://smartlink.ausha.co/leading-with-integrity/ep-223-weathering-the-storms-of-business-leadership-and-life-resilience-faith-deeper-meaning-with-bill-derrick

Or, if prefer video then you can watch on YouTube too: https://youtu.be/VDy8OsmnORk

Next week’s episode will be dropping on April Fool’s day, but my next guest is certainly no fool, because I’ll be joined by Mickey Anderson, co-founder of LoyaltyOps, to talk about culture, loyalty, workplace norms, and leadership. Hope you’ll join us!

Thanks for reading, thanks for listening, watching, supporting, liking, following, subscribing, and all the other things: you’re awesome.

Be a Leader Not a Boss,

- David

In case you don’t know me that well, I’m David Hatch and I’m here to help new managers and first-time founders with their leadership skills, so they can become leaders not bosses, lead with integrity, and build happier, higher performing teams, more effective organisations, and, ultimately: successful teams.

Turn away from the dark side of management! If you’re a new manager or first-time leader and you’re feeling lonely, stuck, overwhelmed, or simply ready for your next chapter in leadership, the Integrity Leaders Community offers conversations, courses, resources and support to help you grow one step at a time. If you have a healthy love of sci-fi and want to learn more about leadership, then this is the community for you! Solopreneurs also welcome. 😉

Embrace the Light Side of Leadership today, at: Integrity Leaders: Community membership and learning, for new leaders or first-time founders.