Why is "Grit" the most important thing for your studies and career?
"And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."- J.K. Rowling
As Angela Duckworth has noted, "grit" is a significant predictor of success (and, in particular, long-term success).
It is synonymous with resilience, perseverance and a "never give up" attitude in the face of adversity and failure.
According to Wikipedia, grit is a positive, non-cognitive trait based on an individual's perseverance of effort combined with the passion for a particular long-term goal or end state.
So why is "grit" important for your professional career?
After all, for some of you, failure has been and will be a foreign concept throughout high school and university. You graduated high school with a 99.95 ATAR, you are on track to graduate with First Class Honours in your law degree and you will secure a seasonal clerkship offer (and subsequent graduate position) at a top-tier law firm.
However, no matter how meticulously we plan our lives, everybody will inevitably face some sort of failure (whether it is personal or professional).
For many of you, law school will probably present many adversities. Whether it is that pass mark for an assessment (for which you hoped for a distinction mark), being rejected by top-tier law firms during clerkship season or losing in a moot.
For those who rarely taste failure or defeat, when it happens, it will likely shake your confidence and belief. The question is whether you will overcome the setback or the setback will overwhelm you.
How you bounce back from setbacks and failures is critical for the course of your career. Don't believe me? Let's see what some of the greats have said about failure and resilience:
- “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career, I’ve lost almost 300 games, 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. I don’t always have to hit the last shot but I do have to walk away knowing I did everything I could to win the game.” - Michael Jordan
- “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill
- “Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. I've met people who don't want to try for fear of failing.” - J.K. Rowling
- “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” - Thomas Edison
- "Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” - Nelson Mandela.
- "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail." - Confucius
The moral of the story? Those who reach the very top (for the legal profession, think law firm partners, general counsels, senior counsels or those on the bench) aren't always necessarily the ones who never fail. Rather, some of them are the ones who simply keep going no matter the adversity.
So the next time you face a setback or disappointment as a law student (whether it is a grade that is well below your expectations or being rejected for a job application), remember that some of Adele's greatest hits came after she suffered heartbreaks and breakups.
I personally didn't get a seasonal clerkship offer. I didn't get any Honours upon graduating with my law degree. I could have let those rejections and "failures" define my legal career and given up on joining the legal profession. Instead, I decided to keep "showing up" and that resilience has no doubt paid dividends for my career.