Your True Grit: More Than a Movie

• DateApril 1, 2020
• AuthorLeah Swearingen
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“If you’re going through hell, keep going,” is a quote attributed to Winston Churchill. No matter who said it, I think most of us agree: March 2020 unleashed a netherworld that few could have imagined or prepared for.

Now April dawns. I’d like to suggest that, no matter the unknowns ahead, we focus less on the enveloping miasma and more on summoning our inner grit. Because true grit isn’t just a movie – it’s a mindset. Right now, those we serve and care about need us to show up “gritty.” What do I mean?

I mean showing up as informed, wise, proactive, confident, aspirational, compassionate, and available professionals, for the slew of issues clients and colleagues are facing. I also mean staying blessedly silent if we can’t add value to a situation.

Examples of how you might demonstrate your “true grit” are by being:

• Informed: Creating and sharing beneficial content in a timely matter
• Proactive: Posting FAQs relating to the current crisis on your website
• Available: Using email and phone calls to ensure your clients know you care about them and can answer their questions
• Compassionate: Sharing resources and relevant insights that benefit your colleagues, many of whom are likely facing challenges
• Confident: Sketching a road map for the near and longer term
• Aspirational: Communicating a future of possibility, once the crisis has subsided
• Wise: Refraining from making extraneous noise

Whatever your professional calling, this month will likely test you, your clients, and colleagues.  But I believe if we begin each day by asking, “How can I help, and what is needed?” our true grit will overcome the “hell” that’s nipping at everyone’s heels today.

Here’s to ending April even stronger than we started it.