CROSSFIRE
Want To Be Successful?
Enforce The Right Behaviors
To Yourself And Others
By Herman Githinji
L
ast time I wrote about how
successful people set stretching
goals in order to unleash their full
potential. I have continued to read and
explore more on why, in life, some people
succeed and others fail.
We all know what to do to succeed, we
know the importance of success and the
benefits it brings, and most of us have
a pretty clear idea of how to go about
achieving whatever we endeavor. If we are
all together up to that point, when do the
successful people start getting ahead of
the rest?
Take an example of kids brought up in the
same family where some end up successful
and others fail. They are all told what is
right to do in life and in school, they are
all told why success in school and life is
important for them, and they are all told
how they can go about to succeed in
school and in life. Where do these kids go
separate ways?
Those kids who end up successful take
up the information and act on it. They’re
able to force themselves to do the right
thing. If it’s in school, they wake up early
to study, they sacrifice other pleasures
for study, they do all it takes to succeed.
They’re able to command themselves and
ground themselves in the right road of
success. Those who end up failing have no
will and mental strength to put into action
what is required for success.
That took me to another question, what
makes some people able to command their
will and mind to do the right thing? It’s
all about what goes on in our minds and
in our hearts. Dr. Carol S. Dweck, in her
book, Mindset, describes two mindsets
that determine success and failure. Fixed
mindset hold that talent is natural and we
cannot learn or add to it. Growth mindset,
on the hand, is all about learning and
seeking challenges that make us learn and
grow.
She explains that people with growth
mindset thrive when they are stretching
themselves and when they take on
challenging tasks. In the contrary, fixed
mindset thrives when things are safely
within their grasp. When the fixed
mindset gets too challenged, or when they
are not feeling smart or talented, they lose
interest.
In another book, Grit, Professor Angela
Duckworth emphasizes on the strength
of passion and perseverance - the two
components of grit. She explains that
while the strength of will to achieve a goal
We all know what to do to succeed, we know the
importance of success and the benefits it brings,
and most of us have a pretty clear idea of how to
go about achieving whatever we endeavor. If we
are all together up to that point, when do the suc-
cessful people start getting ahead of the rest?
06 MAL22/18 ISSUE
is important, consistency of effort over the
long run is everything.
Grit is more about stamina than intensity.
Gritty people believe that they’re always
going to succeed, that they’ve got
something to prove. They’re resilient,
they’re not going to allow setbacks
hold them back. They’re not going to be
deterred by challenges and other hurdles
on the way.
How does lack of grit and fixed mindset
affect success at the work place? I have
noted that the lower the rank, the lesser
the grit, and the more the fixed mindset.
People who from their childhood failed
to learn to command their will and mind
continue with that attitude from family, to
school, and to the work place. It is at the
work place where they confront authority
that requires them to change that attitude
in order to achieve results. Many of them
struggle.
You would expect people who have excelled
in school and gone through to university
level to have some grit and growth
mindset. That could have been true in 70s
and 80s when parenting and schooling
were in unison about the importance of
character and grit for success.
These days, kids quit school, quit extra
curriculum activities, and quit work when
faced with minor challenges. They seek
validation. They want to feel smart and
talented, even when they are not. They
want to be pampered. They lack grit and
growth mindset.
It’s imperative, therefore, for leaders
and managers to understand that to get