In the early morning hours of December 16, 1944, the German Army attacked thinly held American lines in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium. 76 years ago this week, the German Army’s 400,000 men and 1,400 tanks achieved almost total surprise, in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge, due to Allied overconfidence, bad weather, and lack of focus. With a goal to attack and seize the port of Antwerp, the Germans hoped to force the Americans and British to pursue a negotiated settlement to the end of the war.

The 101st Airborne Division was resting, refitting, and retraining in Reims, France after being in two months of combat in the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden (see Post #55). With less than 24 hours notice, the division moved 107 miles to the important cross-roads town of Bastogne, Belgium and established defensive positions. By December 21st, the entire 101st Airborne Division and its attachments (if you want to read more about how the Army leads Task Forces see post #73) were surrounded by German forces. Dick Winters and Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment occupied defensive positions to the north of Bastogne in the vicinity of Foy, Belgium. With Germans on all sides, the only way to resupply the Screaming Eagles was by air, especially critical artillery ammunition. As one of the men of Easy Company recalled, they did not believe their situation was hopeless; instead the collective sentiment was “They’ve got us surrounded — the poor bastards.”

Despite several tough German attacks, the perimeter held. On December 22, the German commander, General Heinrich von Luttwitz requested Bastogne's surrender. General Anthony McAuliffe, the acting commander of the 101st, responded, "Nuts!" Despite the odds, the paratroopers’ morale soared when they heard the story of McAulliffe’s response. On December 26th, General George S. Patton’s relief force, the 4th Armored Division, broke through the German lines and opened a corridor to Bastogne, ending the siege.

However, the 101st Airborne Division’s fight was not over. The paratroopers were ordered on the offensive to help reduce the Bulge. The 506th attacked north, finally seizing Foy on January 13 and the town of Noville on January 15. Fresh troops relieved the division on January 18. As Dick Winters recalled “Bastogne was undoubtedly the toughest campaign in which the regiment participated during the entire war.”

One of the reasons why the defenders of Bastogne, and especially, Easy Company held out against overwhelming odds was that they had grit. Angela Duckworth defines grit as passion and perseverance towards a long-term goal. I define it slightly differently. For me, grit is “the will to persevere to achieve long term goals.” Perseverance is part of my nature. You can read about my quest to ride 1,000 miles on my bicycle in July in Post #42 or Don Beebe’s perseverance in Post #61. As I continue to refine my thoughts on grit, I believe that there are five key components of a gritty individual:

• Long-term goal – a desired result in the future.

• Perseverance -- the ability to persist in doing something difficult.

• Resilience – the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

• Courage – the ability to manage the fear of failure.

• Drive — the internal or external motivations that fuel our grit.

For organizations, like Easy Company and the 101st Airborne Division, they developed and maintained their grit, because their leaders, like Dick Winters, did five things:

• Provided the organization a goal and a purpose

• Provided the organization 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

Do you have grit, like Anthony McAuliffe or Dick Winters? Does your organization have grit, like the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne? If you’d like some ideas or help on growing your own personal grit or your team’s grit, send me a message here. You will be seeing more posts on grit in the coming months — I find it a fascinating topic. Go on the offense in 2021 and build grit in yourself and your organization and be ready to overcome anything the new year throws at you.