What’s the best way to instill grit and grace in your team? My research shows that it’s about cultivating three specific emotions: gratitude, compassion, and pride.
David DeSteno, professor at Northeastern University & author
Takeaways of Note:
Gratitude, Compassion & Pride not only increase patience & perseverance, but also build social bonds. Research has shown that when people feel…
1- Grateful… they’re willing to devote more effort to help others, to be loyal even at a cost to themselves, and to split profits equally.
2- Compassion… they’re willing to devote time, effort, and money to aid others.
3- Proud… they’ll work harder to help colleagues solve problems.
…these emotions also build Grit – increasing the value placed on future goals & paving the way to Perseverance.
bonus nuggets:
Unlike using willpower to “keep our nose to the grindstone”, using these emotions also helps solve an increasingly common problem of professional life: loneliness. Today, loneliness has become an epidemic in the U.S., with 53% of American workers regularly reporting feeling isolated in their public lives.
Because of the connection between these emotions and grit and social connection, managers who cultivate gratitude, compassion, and pride in their team will see increased productivity and wellbeing of their workers.
Gratitude, compassion, and pride make us more willing to cooperate with and invest in others. But because they accomplish this feat by increasing the value the mind places on future gains, they also nudge us to invest in our own futures.