Shannon Huffman Polson, MBA

Shannon Huffman Polson, MBA, is the founder of The Grit Institute and author of The Grit Factor: Courage, Resilience, and Leadership in the Most Male-Dominated Organization in the World and North of Hope. As one of the first women to fly Apache combat helicopters in the U.S. Armed Forces, she served on three continents and led two flight platoons and a line company. After nearly a decade as an Army officer and attack aviation leader, she transitioned through her MBA at Dartmouth to become a leader and manager in the corporate sector at Guidant and Microsoft. Shannon’s work at the Grit Institute is committed to robust training in leadership and grit dedicated to whole-leader development in times of challenge and change. Drawing on her own career, and the most current research in leadership and grit, she is passionate about sharing lessons learned and leadership strategies to help others harness their inner strength, develop grit and resilience, and attain their goals.