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The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau

A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.

Lauren Eskreis-Winkler

Few of us are born with unwavering grittiness. Thankfully, grit can be built in anyone, at any time.

Assistant professor at the Kellogg School of Management | Speaker on Grit

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The Most Effective Techniques for Developing Grit

Lavin Exclusive Speaker

LAUREN ESKREIS-WINKLER is among a select group of people who can speak authoritatively on grit: steadfast resilience that predicts success better than talent. Eskreis-Winkler has worked closely with Angela Duckworth—the world’s preeminent grit researcher—to carry out “grit interventions” with leading organizations such as Major League Baseball Teams and the World Bank. Drawing from her hands-on research, her talks show us how to practice, and benefit from, grit on every level.

Lauren Eskreis-Winkler is an assistant professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she researches motivation and achievement. Her work is crucial in helping people reach their goals, no matter their situation in life. Grit—the ability to pursue long-term goals with passion and perseverance—has been proven to predict success time and time again, over and beyond measures of talent. Yet, surprisingly little research has been done as to how, or whether, grit can be cultivated.

Formerly a post-doctoral fellow at the Wharton School, (as well as a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s Character Lab), Eskries-Winkler has designed and implemented numerous interventions alongside #1 New York Times bestselling author Angela Duckworth. Together, they have successfully reached everyone from struggling athletes, to students in grade school and college, to individuals at every level of the workforce. Her work reveals a critical fact: “Grit is not only important, but also malleable and can be encouraged via intervention.”

More than a stand-and-deliver lecturer, Eskreis-Winkler’s sessions prime audiences on the cutting-edge science of grit, using fun intervention techniques that work empirically to increase motivation, resilience, and other gritty qualities. Her interactive talks can be used for individual character-building, or to nurture a corporate-wide culture of grit. Eskreis-Winkler earned her PhD in Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Testimonials

Just wanted to express our thanks to everyone at Lavin, and especially to Lauren for such a wonderful presentation. Our nurses really enjoyed the webinar last night – it certainly gave them a lot to think about! Lauren was a wonderful speaker and was such a pleasure to work with.

Oncology Nursing Society

Testimonials

I thought Lauren's keynote was a great session for our team, and a great new take about how to think about personal growth, collaboration, and the importance of language in all we do with one another. Great work!

GSTV

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Speech Topics

Grit at Work

Building GritWhy It’s Important and How It Can Be Cultivated

Grit, the disposition to pursue long-term goals with passion and perseverance, has been shown to predict success over and beyond measures of talent. However, very little research has addressed how or whether grit can be cultivated—until now. Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, working extensively with grit pioneer Angela Duckworth, has proven that grit can be encouraged and cultivated through deliberate practice. In this talk, Eskreis-Winkler discusses how grit enhances all kinds of success rates, from smokers trying to quit smoking, to unemployed individuals on the job market, students in grade school, and college students at risk of dropping out. She also shows how grit mentoring improves goal commitment, effort expenditure, and overall performance. You and your audience will come away from this talk understanding why grit is not only important, but also malleable, and ready to be cultivated in anyone.

Grit at Work

Grit InterventionDeveloping Grit in Yourself and Your Organization

Grit is a personality trait defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, predicting success across multiple domains. Sales reps who are high in grit are less likely to quit or move to another company, and gritty Special Forces officers in the US army are less likely to drop out. In this interactive talk, Lauren Eskreis-Winkler explores cutting-edge research on the science of grit, and reviews intervention techniques that have been shown to make people grittier. These interventions can be used to promote grit in individuals, or to nurture a corporate-wide culture of grit. You will walk away from this session able to:

1) Articulate what grit is and why it matters.

2) Understand the difference between grit and talent, and their relative importance to success.

3) Recognize key qualities that differentiate gritty individuals on a micro-level.

How do gritty people think in the face of challenge? How do they interpret setbacks? What is their response to frustration? With this knowledge set, you can recruit, staff, and build stronger teams. You will come away understanding how to build grit—in yourself, your team and within your organization’s culture.