The Alamo and Grit (#103)
The Siege and Battle of the Alamo (February 23, 1836 to March 6, 1836) was the defining event for the Texas Revolution. The thirteen-day siege of the Texian (Texians were residents of Texas who fought for the revolution and were not from Mexico) mission-fortress ended with a predawn attack by an overwhelming Mexican force. The Mexican soldiers were led by the President of Mexico, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. All 189 Texian defenders were killed; the Mexican Army suffered 375 killed and wounded soldiers. On Saturday, we memorialize the 185th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo. Of course, the battle cry of “Remember the Alamo!” has resonated through history ever since.
Many of you who have visited the Alamo today walk away wondering how did the 189 Texians hold this small (only 1/3 of the Alamo remains standing today) fort against the thousands of soldiers and artillery of the Mexican Army for 13 days? One of the reasons why the defenders of the Alamo held out against overwhelming odds was that they had grit. Organizational grit is “the group’s will to achieve long-term goals.”
The Texans developed and maintained their grit, because their leader, William Travis, did six things:
Provided the organization a purpose
Provided the organization a goal and a plan of how to get there
Provided the group a scoreboard that tracks the progress
Modeled and grew an organizational culture that values daily small wins (”every day a little better”), self-discipline, and resiliency
Developed trust in the team through shared experiences and hardships
Provided gritty leadership
William Travis was a 27-year old soldier, lawyer, and newspaper publisher. Hot tempered, extremely ambitious, eloquent, and a deft writer, Travis inspired his men and his fellow Texians to fight for their independence. On February 24, as the siege began, he wrote an open letter addressed to the “the People of Texas & All Americans in the World.” It was republished in papers across Texas and the United States. In “one of the masterpieces of American patriotism” Travis provided the group a purpose, a goal, and a plan, writing:
I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna — I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man — The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken — I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls — I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch — The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honour & that of his country — Victory or Death.
It is a powerful paragraph. The siege itself provided the hardship to bring the group closer together. Small victories, like burning small houses outside the Alamo, shooting retaliatory cannon fire, and sniping at Mexican soldiers helped to grow the gritty culture of the defenders.
If you want to read more about how to grow grit in your organization, check out Post #89 on Organizational Grit. More posts this month will tackle each part of organizational grit, so stay tuned. Then go on the offense and build grit in your organization.