The Art of Leveraging Adversity: A Tale of Grit and Tenacity

Ever faced a major setback that felt like an insurmountable mountain? Let me take you through my journey of bouncing back after a major financial crisis. This episode throws light on the power of grit - guts, resilience, intensity, and tenacity. We explore its role in tackling obstacles and inching closer to your goals, with insights from Angela Duckworth's transformative TED talk on the same.

But it's not just about me. We also turn the spotlight on you and your team. How can you identify the traits of grit and nourish them? Businesses today grapple with multiple challenges, especially around supply chain issues. We discuss leveraging these tough times to demonstrate and build grit. Hear about a client who used adversity as a launchpad for personal and professional growth. Engage with us in this conversation about grit's transformative power, and learn how to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones for success.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:37

Do you have grit? Do you even know what grit is? You know there is a woman from Stanford who does a great YouTube video and a TED talk on grit, angela Duckworth. And when you think about grit, it's the ability to overcome adversity. Grit stands for guts, resilience, intensity, tenacity. Do you have grit? Grit is the passion and perseverance to pursue things over a period of time, working through change, challenge, obstacles, interruptions, disruptions, never losing sight of what you want and never wavering in your pursuit of what you want. In her TED talk she talks about in her research. It is the number one determinant of people's success. Think about that. Think about a boardroom from a humorous standpoint right now, talking about future leaders saying you know we need to promote John. He complains a lot, he always wants more money, he leaves by five. We should promote him and, by the way, he kind of struggles with stress and overcoming change and challenge. Grit, do you have the guts? Are you resilient? Can you bounce back? Are you intense? Are you tenacious in your pursuit?

Speaker 1: 2:13

Let me share with you a very quick story. Years ago I had a different company than the one I have now and I'll never forget it. I sold my company and part of the sale of my company was the relief of debt, and I had a person who literally falsified some things, did some things that were pretty unethical and I ended up losing about $235,000. My friend at the time, and now my investor, said now you're gonna find out how good you are. I said what does that mean? He said you have a choice. You can give that guy your due attention and complain and justify why you're angry, and that will be a waste of your energy. You do not have time. You have got to be tenacious, absolutely intense, to get out of this hole that you've created. And yes, you've created the hole and it was the best advice, the best coach and I ever got.

Speaker 1: 3:07

The funny thing was the bank at the time had called us and said here's your relief of debt, here's your release of liability. I could have grabbed that paper, walked out of that bank and never worried about it financially because legally I'd done nothing wrong. Here was the funny thing. I went to my wife and I said I can't do this. I can't take that piece of paper knowing they're gonna get screwed. So we sat down at the bank. We were very transparent. We told them what was happening. They said yes, something felt funny about it and we ended up working through an opportunity to stretch the debt out over a period of time and we never missed a payment and we paid it off $235,000.

Speaker 1: 3:47

That ability really relates to grit. And the funny thing was the friend at the time offered to give me some money and I said no, I created the problem, I'm gonna get out of it. And what he said to me later I'll never forget this. He said I invested in you based on what I saw. He said you were incredibly tenacious To overcome that adversity. Most people would have found papers to file for bankruptcy and absolve themselves of the responsibility. We never missed a payment.

Speaker 1: 4:18

Now, I don't think that deserves accolades or a pat on the back. Yet later on I realized you know what I've got? Grit, I've got guts, I'm resilient, I'm tenacious. Are there times I could be more sure? Sure there are. Think about yourself, think about your employees right now. And let's dissect it a little bit. Think about guts Do you have courage, determination, toughness of character, fortitude Do you overcome fear or do you give in to fear? Resilience Can you bounce back? Can you recover and reinvigorate yourself? Intensity Do you drive or you determined? Do you have passion, not weekly, hourly Tenacious? Do you persevere and persist over time, no matter the challenges in front of you?

Speaker 1: 5:08

I think about one of our clients actually a couple of our clients right now who have gone through some very tough times due to supply chain. And I once said to somebody I said this time is going to serve you so well. Yet nobody wants this time. If everything were equal, you and your competition always had sunny blue days and everybody was making money, how would you differentiate yourself from the competition? She looked at me and she said I've never thought of it that way. I said look, it's a stressful time. I totally get it. I don't understand what you're going through, because it's different from what I've been through.

Speaker 1: 5:44

Yet think about it. How has it served you well? She said it's made me tougher. I said what else has it done for you? And we kept talking and no matter what's going on in the business world, sometimes we need to be gritty, if you will, with ourselves. She ended up really working through this very difficult time. Meanwhile she lost 125 pounds. She's now doing triathlons. I said that's toughness of character. I said as you come out of it, she said I'm going to be so much better off with this. Nobody wants to go through the tough times, yet the tough times, specifically the experience of the tough times, are what builds our fortitude, our grit, our character, our ability to withstand anything.