Page 53 - Ignite Change: Unleashing thought leadership - A roadmap to thougth leadership

– Keep it real. Build your on-the-job experience. There are no shortcuts. Look

for ways to take on more opportunities and tasks beyond the scope of your
role.

Be “gritty”
You have the passion and the purpose, but being successful as a thought leader

means staying the course, having perseverance. Achieving your goals is going to

take time and effort over a sustained period. Angela Duckworth, the American
Psychologist who came up with the concept of Grit defined it as the “passion and

perseverance for very long-term goals” (Pelis, 2019).

“Grit is having stamina,” she continues. “Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day
out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really

hard to make that future a reality” (Pelis, 2019).

Although defining the

exact nature of “grit” is
difficult, people who have

grit all share the following

essential characteristics:

 They are courageous
 They are

conscientiousness

 The display
perseverance

 They are resilient
 They are passionate

Figure 20 The Grit Scale

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