We all experience adversity and the need for change throughout our lives. Some days everything seems against us, other days maybe a few things disrupt our flow, rare days are those when everything we try works out.
To get through adverse situations, to make change transformational, we must show grit, be resilient, and strive to succeed.
The definition of grit when used in this context is:
Courage and resolve; strength of character
The definition of resilience used in the International Resilience Project is:
Resilience is a universal capacity which allows a person, group or community to prevent, minimize or overcome the damaging effects of adversity.
As a father of two young boys I consider helping them develop grit a key part of trying to be a good enough dad. I try to combine this with developing their moral compass and with those two things in their character I believe the rest (e.g. expertise, experience) will come.
As leaders it’s our responsibility to help others develop grit. There are some great resources out there to help (please comment if you know of others). This is important because, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said:
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters to what lies within us
Resource: Angela Lee Duckworth’s work on grit
Resource: Adam Sicinski work on never give up
Resource: Strava’s blog: Being an athlete is simple — all you have to do is strive.
Originally published at www.practicalacts.org.
PracticalActs.org 
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