The popular movie “Darkest Hour” has brought a lot of attention to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It’s also brought a lot of attention to Gary Oldman, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Churchill.

According to biographers, Churchill did not have the happiest of childhoods. Neglected by his uninterested parents, he was sent to boarding school at a young age where he would write letter after letter pleading for his parents to visit him. Most of his requests went unanswered, and he ended up spending a succession of holidays alone at school without even the company of classmates.

Churchill would go on to suffer many failures both at school and in his political life, failures that would have defeated most people. But Churchill kept persevering, overcoming great odds and eventually leading his country through its most difficult times.

How did a man with such a difficult upbringing and spotty professional record achieve such greatness?

The answer may lie in the following story: Churchill was asked to deliver a speech at Harrow, the boarding school he attended as a boy. “Never give up! Never give up!! Never, never, never-never-never-never!” he roared.

What a tremendous lesson in perseverance!

Perseverance separates the winners from the losers. Those who persevere understand that luck is something only failures believe in. Perseverance has other names -- persistence, determination, a can-do attitude. Success in life depends on your willingness to never give up, even when the reward is delayed.

One of my guilty pleasures is that I occasionally stop at McDonald’s for a hamburger and a caramel sundae. The phenomenal success of the Golden Arches franchise is evident throughout the world. How was such a dynasty built? Why is Ronald McDonald a household name? The answer rests in the motto adopted by its founder, Ray Kroc. It simply reads, “Press On.”

As U.S. President Calvin Coolidge said: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

In my line of work -- sales -- persistence takes on a special meaning. Somewhere between throwing in the towel and being a pest, you might find wisdom in this Code of Persistence for salespeople, developed by Herman Sherman. Resolve to:

Never give up so long as you know you are right.

Believe all things will work out if you hang on until the end.

Remain courageous and confident when the odds turn against you.

Never permit anyone to intimidate you or shake your belief in yourself.

Fight to overcome any physical handicaps and setbacks.

Try again and again, and yet again, to reach your dreams.

Take new faith and resolve from the knowledge that many successful men and women have had to fight defeat and adversity to achieve their greatness.

A few generations ago, Susan B. Anthony was both a revered and despised political figure. In the late 1800s, she tirelessly fought for a woman’s right to vote, a law that was not enacted until several years after her death. American women have been able to vote only since 1920.

At that time, the majority opinion was that women need not vote or be equal to men, and that anyone trying to change the status quo was simply a troublemaker. Still, Anthony soldiered on, and eventually earned a tremendous following. At a reception given in honor of her work, she was inundated with bouquets of flowers. Recalling her early years in politics, she commented, “They threw things at me then -- and they were not roses.”

Shortly before her death, she was asked if she was happy about how her life had played out. She said yes, she would do it all over again. “The spirit is willing yet; I feel the same desire to do the work, but the flesh is weak. It’s too bad that our bodies wear out while our interests are just as strong as ever.”

Susan B. Anthony serves as an inspiration that one person can accomplish greatness through perseverance.

Mackay’s Moral: Triumph is just the “ump” beyond “try.”

Other ministers told funnier jokes than Billy Graham, did a better job of illustrating Bible passages and organizing sermons, but no one was more effective than Graham in getting people to step forward in front of the congregation and make a commitment.

Translated from evangelism, that is what I call closing the sale. It’s no wonder, since he started his career as a Fuller Brush salesman.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), which was headquartered in Minneapolis, was instrumental in helping me get started in the envelope manufacturing business in the 1960s. No one I’ve ever done business with has cared about me the way the Billy Graham organization did. And I’m Jewish. They were one of the largest envelope users in the country and one of my biggest customers until they moved their headquarters to North Carolina 40 years later.

The BGEA earned loyalty that no amount of money could buy. They recognized a bedrock business principle: If you expect the other person to care about you, show that you care about them. It’s the Golden Rule of business. Because of this relationship, the BGEA got the best quality, the best delivery and the best prices. They paid promptly, many times before I even shipped the product -- absolutely unheard of in the envelope business.

No wonder I was proud to call Billy Graham a friend. Billy even honored me by providing an endorsement for my first book, “Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.”

Graham’s personal qualities set him far apart from other evangelists. He was a man of utmost integrity and concern for people. He was always quick to point out that he was just one member of a team.

How true! Billy was the quintessential Mr. Outside. He embodied the image of the organization, both to the outside world and to the people who work at BGEA. The late George Wilson was Mr. Inside at the organization. George passed away in 1999, and I was privileged to be asked to eulogize George, along with Billy. While Billy provided the inspiration for the BGEA, George kept the place humming. As Mr. Inside, George was low-profile, low-key and tireless, with an eye for talent and detail.

Most organizations need both these talents -- the salesperson who brings in the business and the manager who knows what to do with it. Surprisingly, many businesses don’t understand this -- and they also fail to realize those two talents seldom are found in the same person.

Selling is not a function of grandiose personalities and paraphernalia.

For decades, Billy Graham was on a list of the 10 most respected Americans. He maintained his status and high visibility by sticking to the qualities that got him there -- sincerity and moral integrity. While others in his profession succumbed to the “holy wars,” Graham kept getting stronger because he was a class act.

One of the stories that I think illustrates the real Billy Graham involved an incident that occurred while he was at a dinner with some staff members. When the server recognized Billy, she dropped her tray, scattering dishes all over the place. Graham immediately leaped up and helped her clean up the mess.

This was a perfect example of the humanity for which he was so famous. How many of us would reach out to another person and help her through such an embarrassing moment? Billy Graham’s act defined good manners and consideration for the feelings of others.

Networking is one of my passions, and there were few better at networking than Billy Graham. Networking is not necessarily a numbers game. The idea is not to see how many people you can meet; the idea is to compile a list of people you can count on.

When you encountered Billy at a function, he made you feel like you were the most important person in the room. He made eye contact and kept it. He smiled. He listened. He asked questions or made comments that showed he was interested in what you had to say.

Whether or not you agreed with his message, there was no question that Billy Graham was an icon for all that is good and right in this world.

Mackay’s Moral: Billy Graham was a master communicator, but more than that, a master of humanity.

Joe paced back and forth in his sister’s kitchen one Sunday before dinner. His sister, Carol, recognized the worried look on his face and called him over to where she stood next to the sink.

“Hey, Joe, can you hold on to this for me?” She handed him a can of vegetable scraps.

Joe took the can and walked outside where he threw the scraps in the compost bin before returning to the kitchen.

“Why did you toss my scraps? I asked you to hold on to them.”

“Why would you ask me to hold on to garbage?” Joe asked.

“I thought you liked holding on to useless things,” she replied.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been wearing a path on my kitchen floor, preoccupied with whatever is on your mind. I doubt if you heard anything I said to you before now, yet you instinctively tossed the compost scraps without giving them a second thought.”

He had to admit that Carol was right. “But is there a point to this?” he asked.

Carol offered him a simple suggestion: “Why don’t you apply that same logic to whatever is bothering you? If it’s something you can change, change it. If it’s something you can’t change, let it go.”

Holding on to things that are eating at you is not just unproductive; it’s a recipe for disaster. In other words, throw out those scraps before they start to smell.

Carol’s advice is golden. Her words are especially appropriate for managers who have so little confidence in their staffs that it affects their job performance.

Are you a micromanager? A second-guesser? If you are, you need to stop. This is not a healthy way to manage people -- for yourself or for other employees.

As a manager, you need to look at your need to control. Are you trying to get your employees to do things the way you do them because you think your way is superior? This is a dangerous mindset for a manager because you are not looking ahead to the outcome, but are getting caught up in controlling the process, according to Johanna Rothman on the Rothman Consulting website. Is that what you really want to do? Is it productive?

Many managers micromanage as a form of quality control. These managers often find themselves working unbelievably long hours in order to redo the work of others. If you’re always swamped with work and you just can’t seem to let others take a piece of the responsibility pie, then you’ve got a problem.

Not trusting your staff is essentially the same as not trusting yourself to manage them effectively.

Learning to trust your staff and allowing them to make mistakes is part of being a mature manager. Many managers believe that it is a virtue to make every decision along the way -- to control every detail of, well, everything. But the truth is, a good manager helps make sure that her direct reports keep the flow of work going. A good manager is more interested in the growth of his direct reports and the eventual positive and freeing workplace that can be developed when employees are operating as autonomously as possible.

To improve your ability to manage, you will need to let go of your need to control quality at every stop. This does not mean you sacrifice quality. It simply means you are not the quality control traffic cop. You are a manager, and that means you assist people in being able to do their jobs. You don’t block their ability to do it by second-guessing, redoing work and spending long hours in the office. You give them the tools to do their jobs correctly and with the best possible results.

Letting go is not always simple. But don’t let worrying about what you might lose when you let go change your resolve. Consider the lesson the following little fellow learned.

A young boy was playing one day with a very valuable vase. When he put his hand inside it and couldn’t pull it back out, he called for his mother. His mother tried gently to slide his hand free, but it remained stuck.

She was ready to break the vase when she said, “OK, let’s try one more time. Open your hand and hold your fingers straight out and then pull.”

“Oh, no, mommy!” the boy cried. “If I do that, I’ll drop my quarter!”

Mackay’s Moral: Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.