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Got Grit? Part II: A perspective on practice.

by delucaw1 in Industry News

I’m reading the book Grit by Angela Duckworth.  I find this topic interesting.  What does grit mean to you? Before reading the book, the notion of grit conjured words like resilience, gravitas and tenacity.  According to Angela Duckworth, these are all correct and it turns out that grit is more than just stick-to-it-ness. This week, let’s we’ll continue to explore grit and how you can foster it, through practice.

What is Grit?

Grit, according to Angela Duckworth’s research, is where passion and perseverance meet.

People who score high on the grit scale, (the test can be found here: Grit Scale ) have both determination and direction.  They have a deep knowing of what it is that they want and where they are going. Frequently, they have the tendency keep going after setbacks and failure.  Gritty, hard working, people are constantly driven to improve. As a result, they are the opposite of complacent. And, they sincerely enjoy the process. The chase is as gratifying as winning or succeeding. Grit-sters, along with perseverance, have a passion that is enduring. Passion that stands the test of time.  

Grit is fostered in three ways:  passion, practice and purpose. Last week, we looked at passion (Insert link to last week’s blog).  This week, we’ll talk about practice.

Part II:  How can you foster Grit through Practice?

Practice goes beyond ‘time on task’.  For example, we all know those people who have been at their career or in their roles for a long time.  Their skill level is ‘ok’ and yet not ‘bad’ enough to fire. In hi-tech, corporate speak, we sometimes say they are ‘resting and vesting’.  Or we look at someone in a certain position and wonder how they got there, assessing skill alone. These people tend to stagnate at the middle level of competence.  People who score higher on the Grit scale, want to excel beyond their current level of expertise. There is a learner’s mindset and the strong sense of “I want to develop.”  There is ‘better’ time spent on task. More quality of time and focus vs quantity of hours. This concept is called deliberate practice.

What is deliberate Practice?

Deliberate practice includes setting a stretch goal.  The intent is to narrow in a one aspect of your performance.  Typically, it’s meant to improve on weaknesses, or in HR-speak:  address developmental opportunities. The person, with their coach, set challenges that cannot yet be met. Deliberate practice also involves a tremendous amount of feedback.  Mostly on what was done wrong in order to address it to get it right! Needless to say, a coach is an integral part of this process.

Making growth a priority

I learned recently that the top, national Keller Williams agents spend an average of 92 days a year doing developmental work.  According to Grit, Kevin Durant, of the Golden State Warriors basketball team spends 70% of his time, alone and focused on his game.   Consequently, the goal is to get from struggling in a certain area to fluent and flawless. To move from conscious incompetence to unconscious competence.

The importance of always having stretch goals

Another trait experts have is they always have a stretch goal.  They set and start over again when a previous goal is met. They see that a set of refinements over time leads to mastery.   Therefore, grittier people do more deliberate practice and experience more flow, that state of ‘doing’ that feels effortless and joyous.

What can I do to ‘practice’

• Take an honest look at your time.  Do you prioritize learning and development?  How much time have you spent honing your craft?
• Set at stretch goal. See my blog series on AIM and SMART Goals starting with this post:  HERE
• Get comfortable with feedback, all forms of it.   Here’s a slightly older HBR article: Negative Feedback.  And, here’s another way to view feedback: Feedback mindset
• Make time for reflection and refinement.  We move so fast through life.  We often don’t create the time and space to assess and think.  Just do it!  The rewards far outweigh the perceived inconvenience of taking the time, daily or weekly!
• Repetition.  This goes without much explanation.  Try, learn, try again, grow.. repeat.
• Full concentration and effort.  This is key!  Often we are ‘training’ and multi-tasking at the same time.  As you are learning or improving on a new skill, ditch listening to that new Audible book, jamming out to your favorite playlist, adding to your mental to do list, or calling your best friend.

I hope you found this Part II discussion on practice and grit helpful.   Working with a coach can help build new skills and new strategies, including grit.  It undoubtedly is an investment in yourself and aren’t you worth it?

Are you ready?:  Press HERE for Success

As adults we spend the bulk of our waking hours ‘at work’.  We only have a finite amount of time on this planet, and you can choose how to spend that time.  I wish you much success on your career quest. Yours in balance, learning, growth and harmony. – Melissa DeLuca, CEO