Luke Johnson's column in yesterday's Financial Times (6 November 2013) focused on the need for founders (of an enterprise) to apply grit in order to find success, when the going gets tough. After all, as Johnson says, "On certain days business can feel like a war of attrition. [...] It could be argued that struggle is at the heart of enterprise." He goes on to state that "any entrepreneur should be good at coping with the stress that inevitably arises from such conflict and striving."
In schools, I'm sure that, if asked, we could provide a kind of Top 10 list of the most stressful events we could imagine. As a matter of fact, it would prove a most instructive exercise, I'm sure -- it would make us realize that no one would be able to take time off during a time of high stress because of fatigue. And that matters.
Although Johnson is talking about entrepreneurs specifically, I think that his advice applies to those of us in independent schools as well: "Resilience in an entrepreneur is more important than brilliance--grit trumps almost every other trait."
Well said.
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