Grit (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series)

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Organizational Grit

By Thomas H. Lee and Angela Duckworth

High achievers have extraordinary stamina. Even if they’re already at the top of their game, they’re always striving to improve. Even if their work requires sacrifice, they remain in love with what they do. Even when easier paths beckon, their commitment is steadfast. We call this remarkable combination of strengths grit.

Grit predicts who will accomplish challenging goals. Research done at West Point, for example, shows that it’s a better indicator of which cadets will make it through training than achievement test scores and athletic ability. Grit predicts the likelihood of graduating from high school and college and performance in stressful jobs such as sales. Grit also, we believe, ...