Angela Duckworth’s pioneering work on Grit was published in her #1 New York Times best-selling book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.” She is the founder and CEO of Character Lab, a nonprofit whose mission is to advance scientific insights that help children thrive. She is also the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, faculty co-director of the Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative, and faculty co-director of Wharton People Analytics. A 2013 MacArthur Fellow, Angela has advised the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams, and Fortune 500 CEOs. Angela’s TED talk is among the most-viewed of all time, and along with Stephen Dubner (co-author of Freakonomics), she is co-host of the podcast No Stupid Questions.

In this episode of Intersections, Prof. Hitendra Wadhwa has a conversation with Angela Duckworth on the topic “How to Build Character”.

We usually focus on acquiring the technical and functional skills that will make us excellent at what we do. But what about our character? What role does it play in our success, and what are the character qualities we should be concerned with? Can qualities like perseverance and passion be cultivated by intention, or are they mostly fixed?

“Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.”

Angela Duckworth

The episode “How to Build Character” offers key insights on:

• New findings on the true qualities that lead to outstanding achievement
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• Science-proven strategies to bring out the best in yourself and your people
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• The limits of grit and how to overcome them as an individual and an organization