Grit has become a very popular topic in recent years as a result of Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth's book title (not surprisingly), 'Grit'. The research she presents is that grit is the number one factor in determining achievement in young people. Grit defined is the ability to move forward towards a goal in spite of obstacles, failures, and setbacks. I like this positive take on the idea: grit is passion and persistence for the big picture. No matter what the definition, I'm sure you get the point. After studying it for a while both in literature and experience, I'll share in the next four posts what I've learned about the 'do's and dont's' of grit. Here's the first....
The picture above is the catastrophic moment for a soccer player known as the 'own goal'. Every so often, a player accidentally scores on their own goal. At the highest levels of soccer, this almost guarantees your team will lose because goals are so hard to come by. I love the reaction of the teammates. No blaming, no freaking out, no cold shoulders. Instead, they rally around their teammate and this is an important group dynamic to being gritty...
Don't blame yourself or others for the failures and challenges at hand.
Do build others up by allowing the stress of failure and challenge to force you to lean on each other
Too often, when things go wrong and stress elevates, people miss a perfect opportunity to deepen relationships and make the group dynamic stronger. All of the blaming, attacking, sulking, and fretting is a poison to what could be a strong group.
The next time a big failure hits you or your group right in the face take a deep breath, and rally together. You'll be surprised how gritty you and you group can be...together.
The picture above is the catastrophic moment for a soccer player known as the 'own goal'. Every so often, a player accidentally scores on their own goal. At the highest levels of soccer, this almost guarantees your team will lose because goals are so hard to come by. I love the reaction of the teammates. No blaming, no freaking out, no cold shoulders. Instead, they rally around their teammate and this is an important group dynamic to being gritty...
Don't blame yourself or others for the failures and challenges at hand.
Do build others up by allowing the stress of failure and challenge to force you to lean on each other
Too often, when things go wrong and stress elevates, people miss a perfect opportunity to deepen relationships and make the group dynamic stronger. All of the blaming, attacking, sulking, and fretting is a poison to what could be a strong group.
The next time a big failure hits you or your group right in the face take a deep breath, and rally together. You'll be surprised how gritty you and you group can be...together.
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on
being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read
about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director
of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few degrees
and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart and
they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated most of the
time. You can follow him on Twitter
for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
Comments
Post a Comment