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"The moment people understand how passion, hard work, and dedication to a goal fit into a traditional description of grit, they usually think of someone they know who fits the definition in a good way, like Gandhi or someone in their extended family who showed them early that work pays off. But it isn't long before they get a puzzled look and ask about Hitler. [...] In order to make it easier to understand the differences between good grit and bad grit, I've divided up the types of positive Authentic Grit that I see in the world, along with examples to help flesh out their significance and meaning."
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"A story is told about a reporter who was interviewing a successful bank president. He wanted to know the secret of the man's success. 'Two words,' the president replies; 'right decisions.'"
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"The concept of 'best practices' is no protection against toxic practices. Most of these 'Best Practices' have never been validated, and some are particularly toxic themselves—whether that is in how they develop strategy, lead people, or change an industry. Most are marketing hype invented by a consultant company. Of course, everyone wants to have the 'best' way to work. But by what standards?"
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"You may have heard the phrase that people are an organization's greatest asset. As a human resource director for many years, that philosophy guided my professional decisions. But after 14 years as a Chief People Officer, I see things a little differently. I've learned that it's not only the people who determine an organization's performance, it's what happens between people that makes the greatest impact on effectiveness. Your organization's ability to achieve sustained superior performance depends on the nature of the relationships inside it: how well people work together, how respectfully they treat one another, how carefully they listen to customers and suppliers, and how leaders model the type of behavior that attracts, retains and develops the best talent. In the end, it's the collective behavior within an organization's culture—how most people act most of the time—that is an organization's greatest competitive advantage."
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