Entrepreneurs need to learn to grow grit

I I have had the privilege of working with entrepreneurs over the past two decades.

I have wondered why all appear to start well, but many falter during the process of incubation or acceleration.

Although there are many factors for high attrition, I suspect one of the main reasons is what the entrepreneur thinks about themselves and what degree of grit they display.

Here are two stories that may help clarify how to grow in grittiness and in the growth mindset.

First, when I was at school. From grade 8 to 12, I constantly and consistently received feedback on my reports that I shouldn’t be in the last third of the class, and failing one to two subjects, but rather, I should be in the top third and getting a first-class pass.

Like all the kids at school, I had been tested for IQ and tested out as quite high. I was just not achieving at the level of my IQ.

It went down to what I believed about myself and not having a clear “why”.

I created an artificial ceiling about my output as I couldn’t figure out how I would ever afford to go to university. So, why put in more effort? Let me just do enough to pass.

I believe I had embraced a fixed mindset about my “ability” and for five years, I lived within the confines of little effort and relatively mediocre results.

A fixed mindset is “believing your qualities are carved in stone,” while a growth mindset is “the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts”.

Fast forward to two to three years later, and the first exposure to tertiary education. I started studying for a higher diploma in forestry in George. Only this time, I came near the top of the class, received distinctions and had done well enough to be offered a bursary to university.

What changed? I didn’t get more intelligent, yet I think I unknowingly started to embrace some of the principles of the growth mindset and become a bit grittier!

When we demonstrate grit or are described as gritty, it is because we have had the resilience to push ourselves over, through, around, and sometimes under obstacles.

Grit is about sustained, consistent effort toward a goal even when we struggle, falter, or temporarily fail.

Resilience is our ability to bounce back after we have struggled, faltered, or failed. It is being able to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, take a moment or two to collect ourselves, and then get back to the business of pursuing our goal.

So the question is, are people born with grit? According to research from Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, and Kelly (2007), grit is a question of nature and nurture, not one or the other. For people to develop grit, they need to cultivate a growth mindset.

People who consistently develop and maintain a growth mindset share the following characteristics:

• They embrace challenges.

• They persist in the face of setbacks.

• They see effort as the path to mastery.

• They learn from criticism.

• They find lessons and inspiration in the success of others.

The second story of grit and the growth mindset that I would like to relate happened when I was lecturing at a college in East London.

I was taking over two classes whom I would be facilitating in sales and marketing.

The outgoing lecturer had informed me that the first class (let’s call them group A) were mostly diligent and engaging. This was apparently not the case with group B. I was told that they were unresponsive, unwilling and disengaged.

I had been reading a lot on the subject of attitude, (John Maxwell) and decided to see and respond to the two groups equally.

At first, group B did hold out a message of disengagement and indifference. I choose to start each day with a story/life lesson on attitude. (It became a standing joke!)

Yet at the end of the year, both groups scored equally well, with a 100% pass rate.

I believe it was because the students in the second group took the opportunity to grow in the growth mindset.

Both Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth started their incredible research within a school context, and so it is helpful to think of these seven ways of growing in the growth mindset and grit.

One of the most well-established programmes is from MindsetWorks. Their focus is on working with teachers, students, and parents to develop growth mindsets in kids.

These also are activities that adults can do.

• Find a purpose. When people identify their goals, this contributes to their sense of purpose and motivates them to act.

• Interview people who have experienced tough times and lived to tell the tale. This could be a grandparent, another family member, or a neighbour.

• There are lots of examples of famous people who have overcome obstacles. Watch a movie or read a book or article about them. (I think of the wonderful story of our own Springboks).

• Find examples of grit in nature; for example, corn stalks growing between road grates, or a tree growing from rubble.

• Read books together about perseverance.

• Help your child figure out the hard part of the problem they are experiencing. Breaking it down makes it easier to tackle. It also helps them determine which parts are within their control.

• Try “the hard thing” rule used by Duckworth. Everyone chooses a difficult task. They must finish whatever they start. No one can select the task for someone else.

Readers who want to test their own grit can do Angela Duckworth’s Grit Scale at the following link: https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/

• Steve Reid runs his own business in support of entrepreneurs, leaders and incubators.

You can contact him at steve@entreprenacity.com