Get Authentic Grit and Awe Those Around You

Got grit? 

According to the guest in this episode of the CUES Podcast, getting grit is about having passion and perseverance in pursuit of long-term goals. It’s about going outside of your comfort zone and taking risks to live your best life. As a bonus, the process of getting grit will likely inspire other people to want to behave that way as well. 

“Grit is really defined also by the fact that these are your goals, your unique goals that you want to accomplish,” explains Caroline Adams Miller, author of the books Getting Grit and Creating Your Best Life. “And why is that? Because it's this passion, this inner passion that keeps you going when the going gets tough. And if it's someone else's goal, you're not going to have that. So it has to be your why not someone else's why. 

“People have what I call authentic grit simply by virtue of how they live and how they do hard things,” continues Miller, who will present a keynote about grit at Directors Conference, slated for Dec. 4-7 in Las Vegas. On the other hand, it’s a good idea to try to avoid having what Miller dubs “stupid” grit. 

“Stupid grit is marked by arrogance and a lack of humility,” Miller explains in the show. “Stupid grit is when conditions have changed and you refuse to take in information or data from the environment or other people that would caution you to change course or think a little bit differently about how to behave.” 

Fortunately, authentic grit is contagious. Miller tells in the show about how West Point roomed cadets with somewhat lower grit scores with cadets with higher grit scores. Over time, the overall grit scores went up. 

It’s a great idea to embed people with the qualities of authentic grit “into your organization, on your team, in your school environment, in your family because we know that simply observing and being around it .. has that effect of elevating and uplifting other people's behaviors,” she says. 

The show also gets into: 

Selfie grit and faux grit The dangers of having raised a “self-esteem” generation Who does not need to develop more grit 

Links for this show:

TranscriptDirectors Conference Books by Caroline Adams Miller, including Getting Grit More content from Directors Conference speakersVideo: Five Things Boards Need to Know About Data Governance If You’re Not Thinking About Next-Generation Board Leadership, You Should Be