The Gritty Leader
Here’s a thought!
Who is successful round here and why?
One of the biggest influences in my early site career was a general foreman called Harry Halvorsen. In October (1978) he said to me ‘we are going get sludge tank 4 roof poured by Christmas’. Few people on the job, including me, believed him though once Harry said he was going to do something that was that, end of discussion, he was unstoppable. In the event, against all the odds, the weather and stiff resistance from unions and Resident Engineer’s staff the concrete pour commenced at 05:00 hrs on Christmas Eve and was complete by lunch time.
Working with Harry on an off for ten years I learned about integrity and grit. When he said he was going to do something he did it and stuck at it refusing to be knocked off course. I often wondered if he had moments of self doubt though I never asked him, not the sort of conversations you had with Harry.
In her book “9 things successful people do differently” Heidi Grant Halvorsen (not sure if they are connected) defines grit as “the willingness to commit to long term goals and to persist in the face of difficulty” There is also a great TED Talk by Angela Lee Duckworth in which she draws on motivational and psychological research to insist that success is more to do with grit than IQ or talent. She goes on to say that talent is inversely proportional to grit – we have all seen incredibly talented people underachieve apparently because they don’t apply themselves, are too ‘laid back’ or lazy.
Since watching this TED Talk I have been spotting examples of grit everywhere I go: project managers and teams that stick at the task, tennis players fighting every single point towards Wimbledon success, Tour riders sprinting and climbing their way round France. I am inspired to be grittier and push on to my goals, particularly at this time, in this market when things are so tough.
So who is making the difference in your company or on your project, have a look round and see and then ask how come? My bet is they have got grit.
If you would like a copy of our book – 21st Century People Leadership please send your details to tracey@dsabuilding.co.uk and we will send to you by post, FOC.
Our next issue of ‘The Leader’ will be with you on Tuesday 3rd of September 2013.