CHICAGO, April 17, 2023 — The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession will host a webinar to launch its new report, “Leveraging Grit and Growth Mindset to Drive Team Success,” at 1-2:30 p.m. EDT on April 21. The report explores how grit and a growth mindset impact overall team performance, engagement, morale and firm/organizational culture and includes best practices for developing gritty teams.
After analyzing data collected from a diverse group of lawyers through a survey, focus groups and interviews, the report shows a significant relationship between grit and growth mindset and several important measures of team success. For example, gritty and growth mindset-oriented teams:
- Deliver excellent service to the client
- Learn from their experiences and develop new skills
- Think creatively and bring new ideas to the table
- Contribute to the firm or organization’s overall business strategy and have a positive impact on the bottom line.
“The Commission on Women in the Profession is thrilled to be releasing ‘Leveraging Grit and Growth Mindset to Drive Team Success,’ an important addition to, and next step in, our Grit Project. Since the legal profession is largely team-oriented, exploring how grit and growth approaches function within groups will help foster communication, interpersonal skills and motivation and continue to support the advancement of women practicing law,” said Judge Maureen Mulligan, chair of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession.
Among the findings:
- Gritty, growth mindset-oriented teams are successful teams. 97% of respondents agreed that when working on gritty teams the quality of work produced was excellent.
- Respondents had more positive experiences when working on gritty and growth mindset-oriented teams. Team members are almost three times more likely to have a very positive experience on a gritty team or growth mindset-oriented team.
- The experiences that lawyers have on teams has a huge influence on overall job satisfaction and future career plans, especially for women. 65% of men and 71% of women described positive team experiences as “extremely” or “very” influential contributing factors to overall job satisfaction.
- Most people have worked on gritty teams, but not enough people have worked on growth mindset-oriented teams. 90% of respondents reported having worked on successful teams, 80% reported having worked on gritty teams and 45% reported having worked on growth mindset-oriented teams.
The webinar will include a presentation of the research findings by Milana Hogan, Ed.D., author of the report and lead researcher for the Grit Project. Click here for more information on the Grit Project, including the downloadable Grit Toolkit and related materials.
This event is open to members of the press. For media credentialing and registration instructions, please contact Jennifer Kildee at [email protected].
The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.