Shannon Huffman Polson

The Grit Factor: Grit in an Agile World

Shannon Huffman Polson

Founder, Author, & Veteran
The Grit Institute

About the Presentation

In a rapidly changing world, no matter how good our tools or processes, businesses are facing unprecedented challenges requiring a holistic understanding of grit to achieve success. Polson’s proprietary Grit Triad ™ developed from her book, The Grit Factor, encourages Agile leaders at all levels – Scrum masters, product managers, product owners – to empower themselves and their people. Using research backed storytelling from her time in the cockpit of the Apache as well as in the boardroom, Polson brings the Grit Triad ™ to life. Grounding work in story and purpose, engaging work in people-centered leadership and active listening, as well as developing the powerful mindsets needed for success, and launching toward excellence with the courage of ownership, developing and bolstering critical areas for Agile success including risk taking, facing failure, and adaptability.

Key Takeaways

  1. Learn to ground your leadership in story and purpose. This will help obtain the grit necessary in changing times.
  2. Become a people-centered leader to effectively action iterative changes, while maintaining a cohesive and powerful team.
  3. In addition to the Agile mindset, embrace grit, resilience, purpose, and optimism to exponentially scale the potential of your team.
  4. Foster a culture of ownership so that every team member has a healthy acceptance of risk, the ability to face failure, and readiness to adapt to changing circumstances.

About Shannon Huffman Polson

Shannon Huffman Polson is a leadership speaker, professor, and author. As one of the first women to fly the Apache helicopter, serving on three continents, and a veteran of the corporate world, Polson brings leadership lessons to bear on all industries, especially in times of change.