A Piece of Grit
Introduction
“Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” by Angela Duckworth, has been rated 4.6/5.0 stars on amazon.com and 4.1/5 stars on 4.1/5 stars on Goodreads. Is it a good read? The reviews I watched on YouTube agreed on the fact that it is a very practical book, and it is useful for self-improvement.
Angela Duckworth, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, got her undergraduate degree in Advanced Studies Neurobiology – Harvard, Master of Science in Neuroscience – Oxford University, and got her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to research, she works as consultant, and a teacher.[1] There might be more that I failed to mention, but still impressive!
What is Grit
Webster define grit as, “firmness of mind or spirit: unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger.”[2] Duckworth in her example of resilient, hard-working, determination and goal-oriented, or directed, defined grit as, “this combination of passion and perseverance that made high achievers.”[3] Psychology Today expand on it as, “Grit is a construct that is said to summon both passion and perseverance in service of a long-term goal. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, as they say. In other words, gritty people put in sustained effort over time to achieve a high level of success in their chosen domain.” [4]
Growing Grit
Duckworth listed four essential ingredients to grit, which are interests, practice, purpose and hope. To be gritty, one should follow his/her interest, practice to improve, have a reason for that interest, and not to lose hope but keep getting up after each fall.[5] Having a growth mindset is essential to growing grit. As Dweck put it, “This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through efforts, your strategies, and help from others. Although people may differ in every which way – in their talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperament – everyone can change through application and experience.”[6]
Micronesian Grit.
When I personalize ‘grit’ and try to imagine or think about how it applies to me, I think of how webster dictionary defines it, and uses it in a sentence, which is ‘gritted his/her teeth and faced the challenge.’ In my culture, there probably more words for grit, one of them is, ‘kutunaw,’ which literally means gritting of one’s teeth. It is an expression when one is giving all and focus on the objective.
Back in the island, the routine was going to church early morning, going to the farm before noon, and in the afternoon, going out fishing. Not everyone was doing it, but those who strive to get their family fed. These few that devoted to take care of their family are ones that showed some resemblance to what grit is. It may be a simple routine, but it is working against limited resources.
Biblical Grit.
“The Bible’s term for grit are steadfastness (1 Corinthians 15:58) and endurance (Luke 21:19). Steadfastness is the determination to remain at your post come what may. Endurance is the determination to keep moving toward your desired goal despite external challenges and internal weariness.” [7]
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).” [8]
“By your endurance you will gain your lives (Luke 21:19).” [9]
While viewing Duckworth’s grit in light of this, there’s the resembles of passions as steadfastness and perseverance as endurance.
Leadership Grit
What would be the connection between grit and leadership? “Grit is an essential quality for leaders who want to keep themselves and their teams focused on achieving their most critical objectives. It’s not enough to merely have fortitude; leaders must also be able to inspire and encourage their team members.” [10] To put all of these overlays together, I would say that Christian leaders, would have the advantage since the empowerment and promises is provided in God’s word.
[1] https://angeladuckworth.com/about-angela/.
[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grit.
[3] Duckworth, Angela. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (p. 8). Scribner. Kindle Edition.
[4] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/grit?msockid=2986ff463a4e6d9833b1f0453be66c16.
[5] Duckworth, Angela. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Part II). Scribner. Kindle Edition.
[6] Dweck, Carol S. . Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (p. 6). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[7] Bloom, Jon. True Grit. August 15, 2014. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/true-grit#:~:text=The%20Bible%E2%80%99s%20terms%20for%20grit%20are%20steadfastness%20%281,desired%20goal%20despite%20external%20challenges%20and%20internal%20weariness. (Accessed November 15, 2024).
[8] English Standard Version (1 Corinthians 15:58).
[9] Ibid (Luke 21:19).
[10] https://psychologyroots.com/connection-between-grit-and-leadership/. Accessed November 15, 2024.
About the Author
Noel Liemam
14 responses to “A Piece of Grit”
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Hi Noel, I really like how you took this concept of grit and connected it to life for some in Micronesia, leadership and the Bible. One of the things that I think stands out is your acknowledgement that sometimes grit means having to work through the hardship of limited resources. It adds a different dimension to it, something that, I believe, Kari, also alluded to in her post. In what area of your life or work do you see your personal grit as being important?
Hi, Diane, thank you for your comment. I do need to have grit in every aspect of my life. In my family, I need to be more to my wife, my teenage son and my three-year-old daughter. My work and my community responsibility, I need to developed grit there as well. And for now, I needed to have more grit for this doctoral journey. My journey felt like I am trekking uphill. I believe the right way of saying it would be, I need more prayer to have more steadfastness and endurance. Thanks again, Diane.
Hi Noel, Thank you for the connections you made in your post. As you work with Micronesians living in the US, how do you see the type of grit from your Post played out in this new cultural context? In what ways are people growing more and less gritty?
Hi, Julie, thank you for your comment. If I am not mistaken, as we are in this new cultural context we are still carry some of our Micronesian practice or mentality. The practice that would be consider grit in our community is ‘survival.’ To be able to survive in this new culture or new way of living.
One example would be, sharing of housing. Multiple families or siblings (adults) as they start to settle share housing until they are able to go out on their own. ‘Sharing’ of no matter what little you have is always our Micronesian traditions. Thanks again.
Noel, I always enjoy learning more about your culture. Duckworth mentioned 4 necessary components of grit: interest, practice, purpose, and hope. In my host culture, I see a lack of purpose and hope. I wonder what characteristics you see in your culture that is strong and what may be lacking?
Hi, Kari, thank you for your comments. You host country sounds like my backyard. I believe when you have ‘luxury’ you could say this are the components of what grit is. This is just my opinion. Since in your host country and my country, ‘survival’ is priority number one, not setting a goal and working hard to a doctoral degree. If survival is taken care of, then. other stuff will come after. That is just my opnion. Thanks again,
Hi Noel, I appreciated your breakdown of Micronesian, biblical, and leadership grit. Duckworth mentioned goal hierarchies in “Grit.” She discussed living with the tension of one goal hierarchy as a professional and another as a mother. She states there never seems to be enough time, energy, or attention to go around. However, she has decided to live with this tension. It seems like you may be living with this tension too. Duckworth states, “the more unified, aligned, and coordinated our goal hierarchies, the better.” What areas do you think your goal hierarchies could be better aligned and coordinated? And what tension have you just decided to live with?
Hi, Elysse, thanks for your comment and sharing that ‘tension of goal hierarchy’ that I can also learn from. I believe that we all have that goal hierarchy that seems like pulling us in every direction. In fact, I look at it as a way that maps our leadership training, or at least that is how I viewed it.
For example, I am a Micronesian (which comes with who I am and my make up), I am a husband, a father, a community leader, a representative of a foreign government, and a Christian: Personally, to put in perspective, I would say that first I am child of God, I a husband, a father. a representative of my country and a community member. Though there are also many tensions, prioritizing which goes first and what follows is always the important one to me. Thank you again Elysse!
Hi Noel! I appreciate your map making in this post.
You spoke of how taking care of family bears a semblance to grit. I wonder can you share how else have you found grit applicable or relatable in your context?
Hi, Daren, thank you for your comment. Back in my Island, there is not a lot of things one can do besides grow up, get married and have kids and try your best to take care of them. Our people live of what they planted and what they gathered. So, trying to get by, or to feed your family is always priority #1. Other option is to try find work to have money to support family.
So, in my current context, now I am living in different culture where I have to work to support myself and my family, my personality is still influenced by the equating grit to survival. I hope that today on, I will have more steadfastness and endurance not only for survival, but beyond, to improve myself and for service for others. Thanks again Daren for your comments.
Noel, I appreciate your article and the perspective you bring. Given the cultural and biblical perspectives you mention, how do you believe different cultural interpretations of ‘grit’ can enhance or challenge Duckworth’s framework?
Hi, Chad, thank you for your comments. Well, that is a very good and difficult question to answer. Imagining myself chatting with the old and very traditional leaders (Islanders) about ‘grit,’ I believe they would say, ‘no, no, no, grit is doing your responsibility.’
My personal opinion, grit, would be interpret differently in other cultural setting. My cultural looks at grit as doing your responsibility, or the best you can to provide for the survival of yourself, your family or your community. Thank you again, Chad.
Hi Noel, as a generalization, I imagine that immigrants usually have a high level of grit compared to the normal population. Many immigrants that I know of have a higher level of perseverance to keep going when difficulty arises. What do you think about this? How would you encourage another immigrant to grow in grit?
Hi, Christy, thank you for your comment. That is true in some ways. For our Micronesian community, if I could say that there is a presence of grit, that grit would be for survival. I would say that work hard to survive.
And yes, one thing that I see with the Micronesian community is culture of sharing which on the other hand is their ‘Achilles-heel.’ I believe that once our community understands and adapt to this new culture that they are in while maintaining their cultural background, it is then that will be attractive for them to pursue the ‘Duckworth Grit.’ Thanks again, Christy.