Photos by Ralph Freso
Can you display grit in business in the same manner as in sports?
And can you increase grit in your daily life?
Ben Malcolmson, who went from student newspaper reporter, to walk-on receiver for the University of Southern California's 2006 Pacific-12 Conference championship football team, to head of investor relations for Trinity Capital, told Grand Canyon University students recently how grit – accompanied by leadership, culture and decisive thinking – can translate from football to capital markets.
“If you're an athlete, you understand grit is really important,” Malcolmson said. “But it also applies to life. It applies to school. It applies to everything you're involved in. It applies to your spiritual walk, as well.”
After Malcolmson’s college football career ended, he went on to serve as chief of staff for coach Pete Carroll with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and learned that grit was the No. 1 lesson he learned from him.
Malcolmson also shared the insights of Dr. Angela Duckworth, author of “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” and a firm believer through a lifetime of research that grit is the best predictor of success in a person’s life.
Duckworth’s research, shared in a video, examined cadets from the United States Military Academy, participants in the National Spelling Bee, first-year teachers in rough neighborhoods and salespeople from private companies.
Her data indicated that grit – not social intelligence, good looks, physical health or IQ – emerged as the primary indicator of success.
Duckworth’s book included a chapter titled “A Culture of Grit” that is devoted to Carroll and his mission of finding gritty players with the ability to improve.
That occurred after Duckworth had no idea who Carroll was, nor did she initially believe that one could increase grit, until meeting him.
Malcolmson shared the five ways you can increase grit:
- Deliver at practice. Whether you are an athlete or musician, practice helps you increase grit. “It helps strengthen you, gives you confidence and helps you finish what you started,” Malcolmson said.
- Delay gratification. You may be on a treadmill thinking it is time to slow down. Instead, “increase your self-control,” Malcolmson said.
- Choose to persevere. It is a choice. “Something you have to choose every single time,” Malcolmson said. “You have to choose to persevere every single time.”
- Associate with people who are grittier than you. “Grit is contagious,” Malcolmson said. Think about someone who is gritty and spend more time with that person.
- Prove your self-awareness. Duckworth, according to Malcolmson, said to figure out where you now in terms of grit and take that same test one month from now to see if you are improving your grit.
“I want you guys to be successful, no matter what you’re doing in life,” Malcolmson said. “Even in these moments, as the semester wraps up, I want you guys to be successful. That happens through grit.”
Bryson Conrad, a junior finance major, was pleasantly surprised by Malcolmson’s presentation on grit.
Conrad initially was unsure of Malcolmson's tactic of transferring grit from sports to business. “But when he applied it, even in his example, like dealing with people you don’t want to deal with every day, doing it with a positive attitude and smile on your face, that’s what grit looks like in business. “It might not be in the weight room, but it might be dealing with people you don’t want to deal with, or working crazy hours when you’re tired. Seeing that connection was eye-opening.”
Malcolmson described his position as an ambassador of the company to its markets and provided a bridge by answering questions. He relishes the interaction with every corner of the company, from the CEO, to CFO, to marketing department.
“I’m wired differently where I love the diversity of things happening every day,” Malcolmson said. “It’s a matter of what’s your skill set, your gifts? How do you instill grit to others? You got to live it. Learn by watching is the most important thing.
“When people know you care, they want to learn more.”
Malcolmson also told students that he learned the benefits of asking more questions than a person asks you, instead of waiting for questions or talking about yourself.
“When you ask questions, you build a relationship and build a rapport,” Malcolmson said. “That goes a long way because a lot of the business world is transaction. But what actually lasts in business and life is relationships.
“…It’s something that will last a lot longer than just a transaction.”
During his brief time on the USC football team, Malcolmson maintained efforts to raise spirituality by organizing a prayer meeting and privately distributed Bibles inside teammates’ lockers on Christmas Eve.
To Malcolmson’s discouragement, no one attended the meeting, and he found copies of his Bibles shredded on the locker room floor.
A few days after the Rose Bowl, teammate Mario Danelo died in an accident. Malcolmson gained some solace when one of his Bibles was placed on top of the casket at the funeral.
About four years later, while participating in a Young Life event in the Seattle community, Malcolmson bumped into a former teammate who disclosed he had transformed his life and once held a deep discussion with Danelo about the Bible that caused them to miss nearly an hour of practice before the Rose Bowl. The teammate disclosed that Danelo read the Bible and would share the gospel on bus rides leading up to the Rose Bowl.
“God did have a purpose all along,” Malcolmson said.
And God engages in business.
“God wants to bless all that you do and wants to interact through everything you’re involved in, and business ends up being a lot of your life,” Malcolmson said. “So you want to integrate it to every aspect of your life.
“When you operate through love and care, you end up living your faith out because you realize that God does have a purpose for me, through these relationships that are around me, whether they’re coworkers or a guy I spend time with in Charlotte, North Carolina.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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