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Viewpoint

Grit and Growth

By Glenda Wait
As the West Virginia State Organization president (2019-2021), my intent
was to visit all 25 chapters in person. I was able to do more than half in
person until the pandemic started; then I visited the rest virtually. At every
visitation, I talked about growth as it relates to our members. Growth is
as much about experimenting as it is about plowing forward. Stepping
outside our comfort zone, embracing change, and sustaining efforts over
an extended period of time are challenging. Often, we are confronted with
obstacles, doubt, and even failure while trying to seek new members, new
ideas. and chapter growth. In such situations, a significant factor needs to
be considered. That factor is grit.
Five characteristics are often associated with grit: courage,
conscientiousness, perseverance, resilience, and passion (Duckworth et
al., 2007). All can demonstrate or develop grit when reaching out to our
members and possible new members.
Courage presents when we take a chance as a DKG member to reach
out and invite others who may be different to join us in supporting women
educators and staying the course when some are ready to abandon ship. A Thistle and the Tetons ©
Women leaders are best suited to help and support other women leaders. Photograph by Judy Rongey,
It demands courage to increase diversity in our chapters. Be prepared for Louisiana; Fall 2023 Art
Gallery
the pushback. Our chapter has added alternative-school teachers, a nurse
educator, and even a yoga teacher to our membership. We have an educator who teaches in a federal prison
and several women who started in teaching but now are in different professions. One of our members is
a retired teacher who serves on our local board of education. Another member and I are retired school
superintendents. We have a retired professor in our chapter, a speech and language therapist, a birth-to-
age-two developmental specialist, a retired physical educator, and a guidance counselor. This diverse
and inclusive group of educators brings in new ideas and energy every time we meet. Yet the task is
far from finished. In order to keep building diversity and an inclusive environment, we also strive to be
conscientious—displaying yet another characteristic of grit.
Conscientiousness is having the desire to do tasks well and not resting until the task is done correctly.
Conscientious people stick to their convictions. In the case of DKG, we are determined to make our
chapter a more professional organization by demanding meaningful activities that provide a balance of
collaboration, community service, and social activities. This can be difficult in a diverse, inclusive, and
multi-generational environment. For this, we need perseverance, a third characteristic of grit.
If we persevere, the struggle to strengthen and grow our chapters will be fruitful. Many of us remember
the story of Sisyphus. According to Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned to an eternity of rolling the
boulder up the hill just to have it roll down again. Persevering often makes the difference between success
and failure. Although significant time and effort go into our plan, our goals are not always met. Long-term
goals for our chapter provide a framework for the context and value of our efforts. Perseverance means
starting and continuously moving steadfastly on the path toward chapter goals. Perhaps we can spend
more time listening to each other to determine what our chapter members value so we can continue to
shift closer to our vision. Changes and sustained effort are necessary in order to avoid the fate of Sisyphus,
who, even with the greatest of exertion and hard work, never achieved his goal. What may be perceived
as failure is just an opportunity to learn and grow. When we acknowledge this, we demonstrate resilience,
another characteristic of grit.

Collegial Exchange · 15