"Grittiness"

In a recent TED talk, psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth shared useful insights for leaders from her studies attempting to isolate what quality is the best predictor of success.

She studied participants in these varied performance-based settings:

• West Point military academy
• Students in a national spelling bee
• First-year teachers
• New salespeople

The one characteristic common to all top achievers was “grittiness” – defined as:

• Passion and perseverance to long-term goals
• Stamina
• Sticking with your future for years and working hard to make that future a reality
• Living life like a marathon, not a sprint

This is certainly not surprising for anyone who has experienced some success in life.  However, what is rather startling is that, in all our research of achievement and success, we still know very little about how to foster grittiness/persistence/commitment in people.

One encouraging strategy for improving “grittiness” for at-risk students comes from decades of research by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck.  She calls it “growth mindset” – the belief that one’s ability to learn is not fixed – it can improve through effort.

Ms. Dweck has found that students become “grittier” when they understand that our brains can improve in response to challenge. This knowledge – that their current “failure” (inability to understand a subject) is not permanent – makes them more likely to persist.

Putting the Ideas into Action

So here’s a message any leader can use to improve performance in her/his people – backed by decades of research:

1. Grittiness is far more important than talent
2. Everyone has the capacity to improve
3. Each of us is responsible for making the effort to improve
4. Success takes time
5. Don’t quit