Stay Gritty, New Orleans.

During a short, but inspirational trip to the mystical city of New Orleans as a guest of Exabeam’s SKO, I had the distinct pleasure of bonding with Nick Hays and Aaron Kendle, who have taken their experiences as Navy SEALs, supplemented it with formal coursework from HBS and created a thriving organizational consulting and speaking practice called Elite Teams Performance. It could have been the soul-touching horns blaring by the Rebirth Brass Band, the sweet Abita amber or the distinctly Cajun jambalaya and “street meat” served outside, but the concoction created a backdrop of openness to delve into discussions with honesty and vulnerability.

What was so intriguing (and quite serendipitous) for me was many of their stories and anecdotes weaved through core tenets of a book I have been reading by Angela Duckworth, called “Grit”. One of the opening questions in her book was to examine why so many highly qualified, intelligent and gifted cadets at West Point voluntarily quit and is there a way to predict which of the lot would be most likely to do so? She has scientifically deduced the key factor to be their amount of grit, formulated into a Grit Score. Nick’s Grit Score is off the charts, best represented by his explanation about how he persevered through Hell Week of the famously intense BUDS training. For him it was not something to endure, to get over with, rather he was consumed by his passion of being a Navy SEAL. He was able to focus on overcoming each incremental sub goal in order to build the fortitude necessary to continue not for himself, rather for the members of his team.

Aaron shared an even more inspiring story about surviving 6 combat deployments, only to lose his left hand in an ATV accident while hunting. Coincidently, Kendle's training as a medic is partly how he was able to apply a tourniquet and hike the mile back to the lodge without bleeding out in the woods. He was so grateful to be alive and able to tout that he can now change his daughter’s diaper, one of a number of new challenges he is excited to tackle. We even had a debate about where he should keep the remains - on the mantle,  the centerpiece of a coffee table or on the corner of his executive desks.

The apex of the conversation was at the appropriately resolute Lafitte’s Blacksmith’s Bar (est. 1722) where I provided constructive feedback and thoughts on how to make their excellent, inspirational talk even better. They welcomed the critique with vigor and enthusiasm, a contrast to the accolades and thanks for service they typically receive. It is this same striving for mastery through relentless attention to detail, that drives concert pianists to train 10,000 hours and elite swimmers to get in the cold water every day before dawn. Having, often losing, the acute struggle in our most stressful moments becomes the fuel to follow through, finish strong and ultimately build grit. Points of failure become measurements of incremental gains and opportunities to learn how the next set of improvements can be made.

The Crescent City has persevered after Katrina, a Minnesota Miracle and pass interference that wasn’t, to be even stronger and more resilient than before. Creole passion and purpose is nestled deep in culture and exudes through their art, music and cuisine, even by name (shrimp & grits). These are the same values and mantras entrenched in the special forces units of militaries around the globe and in every elite organization: passion enables perseverance and produces grit. It was both humbling and motivating to share our struggles, obstacles, fears and ambitions - for that I am sincerely thankful and a quite a bit "gritful".