Do you ever wish you could take all the challenges you have ever encountered and automatically make them into amazing learning experiences? 

I think we all wish that at one point or another! 

And it sounds easy, right? 

“Just learn from your mistakes!”

People say this all the time, but it is definitely easier said than done. 

Shannon Huffman Polson speaks into that difficulty flawlessly. She uses analogies and stories from her time as an Apache attack helicopter pilot in the Army to illustrate how resistance that we run into in life can truly be harnessed to help us grow in invaluable ways.

Tune in to the full episode here!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts

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She describes developing grit like building a muscle, and she also believes that this whole process starts with the simple but often overlooked step of understanding your own story and, from there, your core purpose.

Sound familiar?

I thought so! 

I love to talk about how transformative my experience was to finally understand my story and, subsequently, my core purpose. 

So now you’ve heard it from both of us! 

“Grit,” Shannon says, “is that thing that you find at the intersection of your purpose and your passion.” 

She continues: “And you have to own your own story, and your own sense of purpose, to get through those on your own before you’re ready to lead others.”

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In her book, “The Grit Factor: Courage, Resilience, and Leadership in the Most Male-Dominated Organization in the World,” she actually walks readers through an exercise to help narrow down their core purpose through a series of specific “why” questions drilling down to our very deepest motivators. 

It’s cool! 

When she first started her military career, she ran into a lot of resistance and people trying to put a lid on her dreams. She gives such genuine advice about what it looks like to avoid the tendency to complain in discouraging situations. Not only that, but she also ties that guidance into how we can best press on and stay true to ourselves in the midst of less-than-encouraging circumstances. 

Describing the importance of leadership, Shannon says: “Leadership is a sacred trust. The only good use of any increased power is the increased responsibility to take care of your people.”

Shannon Huffman Polson has professional experience not just as a former military pilot, but also as a consultant, and now an author and speaker. She teaches mostly on the topic of developing grit to companies and organizations all over the country. She grew up in Anchorage, Alaska and attended Duke University in North Carolina where she went through the ROTC program and, after going active duty, was in the first group of women to fly the Apache attack helicopter in the US army. This is where her interest in the larger topic of grit really began to take hold. 

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