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“Vision and perseverance are not enough. It takes uncommon if not extreme and comprehensive GRIT to lead and achieve transformational change. Here is the good news: GRIT is something we can all measurably, and permanently grow, at any age and any stage of life.” Paul G. Stoltz, PhD
GRIT--Essential to Transformational Leadership
Transformation is all about struggle. It takes longer, is tougher, and requires more effort and sacrifice than most can imagine or stomach. It’s a multi-pitch, marathon climb through a wilderness of uncertainty and an avalanche of resistance. Being lead climber—relentlessly and effectively setting the route for others to follow—requires something special.
Business leaders know this. They scour the planet relentlessly for those exceptionally rare transformative leaders, the ones who make the impossible happen. No wonder it’s so darned tough to earn that credential. That’s why it’s such an immense honor, for example, for a leader to win E&Y’s coveted “Entrepreneur of the Year Award.” Winning it twice, for two completely different breakthroughs, is simply unheard of. Yet, that’s exactly what our case example—Keith Krach, Chairman of DocuSign—has done.
Quintessential Transformational Leader
I’m convinced that the ultimate measure of a leader includes the leader’s track record, their pattern of behavior, contribution, aspiration, and accomplishment over time—across multiple platforms and contexts. It’s also about the deeper elements that fuel all of it—everything they care about, and everything it takes—to accomplish genuine, full-on transformation.
I’ve chosen to analyze Keith Krach because, drawing from and comparing to the diverse pool of CEOs I’ve worked with globally, he meets and exceeds the measure of an extraordinary transformational leader. He’s founded and led organizations that have revolutionized a broad range of sectors: factory automation, engineering, commerce, education, leadership, philanthropy, and even the way people sign. In addition to being DocuSign’s long-term CEO, he is best known for creating the B2B e-commerce industry, as co-founder, chairman and CEO of Ariba, as well as making game-changing moves as Chairman of Purdue.
Measuring Krach the First Time Around - AQ
But it’s not just about accomplishment. It’s about how he overcomes challenges and the profound impact he has had on others. Along the way, Krach has touched, inspired and empowered thousands of colleagues, customers, partners and mentees to become their best selves in pursuit of noble causes. A month ago, my first “Decoding Keith Krach” article examined the CORE elements of Krach’s Adversity Quotient (AQ). The conclusion was: As much as Krach’s IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence) matter, it is his AQ (Adversity Quotient) that sets him apart. Part 3 of this series will focus on the roles of AQ and GRIT in employability and applicant screening across a variety of sectors.
For years, Krach has been a fan of the Adversity Quotient. He’s written about it as part of his “Rockstar Formula” for hiring great talent. But that’s just the beginning of the story. The AQ is essentially about defense—how you respond to whatever comes your way. GRIT is more about offense. It defines the degree, duration, and quality of effort you invest to make good things happen.
GRIT is also about more than resilience, tenacity, persistence and discipline. GRIT gets to the character elements that make you a smart leader, and a leader in pursuit of the greater good. It takes GRIT to succeed as a transformational leader. Let’s break it down and look at the components of GRIT. The great news is that anyone can grow these components to make their impossible, possible.
Analyzing The Transformational Leader’s True GRIT
After assessing (and educating) more than one million individuals in 137 countries, and applying independent statistical analysis, I’ve identified the key components—the guts—of GRIT that bring it to life, every day. These can be measured using the “GRIT Gauge” assessment tool, which scores Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity, and also measures quality of GRIT—Bad versus Good, and “Dumb” versus Smart GRIT.
Let’s take a look at Keith Krach’s G-R-I-T scores, and how they build on his AQ, and fuel this rare, serial transformational leader.
G--Growth
To what extent do you seek and consider fresh advice, insights, ideas, inputs, on the path to achieving your most worthy goals?
Krach’s score 100 out of 100. Global Average is 74.
This dimension of GRIT is hugely deceptive and grossly underestimated. If you asked 100 people if they thought it smart to get fresh ideas, inputs, etc. as they pursue their toughest goals, 100 would say “heck yeah!” The problem is, how many of us really do it, and how well do we actually do it, especially in the heat of battle?
I call this quandary “the dormitory syndrome.” Here’s why. When I lived in a freshman dorm, and it was time to grab some grub, who did I dine with? Well, typically, I flung open my door, and turned to the nearest dudes on my hall and asked, “Heading to dinner?” And our posse grew as we passed through the hall until we filled a couple cafeteria tables. I did not ask, “Are these the most redeeming human beings to be dining with this evening?”
I picked my peeps based on proximity and ease, not on thoughtful consideration (as they did with me). The same applies to our potentially momentum-enhancing ideas and inputs.
When we’re cranking hard, the most natural thing is to turn to those resources and people that are easiest and closest. We do not necessarily seek the most redeeming, i.e., the most helpful, credible, impactful, and important.
The Krachs of the world have an uncanny propensity to seek, find, and tap diverse, rich resources well beyond their immediate sphere. It helps them get there better and faster. And this growth-mindset-in-motion helps them learn and improve.
Krach’s oft’ repeated mantra is that “diversity-of-thought is the catalyst for genius and the secret sauce for transformational change,” a life lesson he learned during his undergraduate years as a brother in Sigma Chi fraternity. A self-proclaimed “people collector,” Krach has applied this lesson over and over, building diverse high-performance teams at company after company.
The latest and perhaps greatest example of this is DocuSign’s Global Advisory Board—a stunningly diverse “Who’s Who” of more than 200 thought leaders from around the world who share business insights and feedback from their varied backgrounds and experiences to help shape DocuSign's mission, strategy, products and services. This gives Krach an almost unmatched cornucopia of potential inputs and perspectives to enhance and accelerate his progress toward any goal. For comparison, most advisory boards have 2-8 members.
R--RESILIENCE
To what extent do you respond positively and ideally make good use of all kinds of adversity?
Krach’s score 100 out of 100. Global Average 71.
There are two main facets to this component of GRIT. How well and how quickly do you respond to any sort of adversity (hardship, problem, frustration, setback, obstacle, irritation, tragedy)? And, what do you do with it? What is the result?
As Krach’s AQ also reveals, he has an exceptionally rare pattern of harnessing—sucking the marrow out of, and benefitting from—each and every adversity, to the point where adversity actually becomes his, and consequently his followers’, advantage.
Most people merely cope, survive, or eventually get past adversity. These are fine for enduring, but far from sufficient for transforming.
Krach has demonstrated resilience over and over, but one telling example comes from his work at an engineering design software company, Rasna. Ultimately, Rasna was a great success story—creating the new category of Mechanical Design Synthesis, being ranked the #3 fastest growing company by Inc., and being bought by Parametric Technologies for $500 million.
But Krach has described the journey as a “seven-year slog.” Every day was rife with adversity—problems, issues, headaches, setbacks, delays, obstacles, etc.—which he attempted to not just survive, but harness for real upside. Engineering design software is a relatively small market. Succeeding in it required constant vigilance and hard work making every penny count. It taught Krach the important lesson that it’s just as easy (or easier) to pursue a large market as a small one, so it’s better to go big—as he did after Rasna, at Ariba.
Krach has gone so far as to make deliberately seeking out adversity a life practice. He calls it “Jumping into water over your head.” He’s learned that the challenges make him stronger and facilitate growth. According to Krach, “The key to personal growth and making an impact is facing your fears and jumping into water over your head.” So he actively looks for opportunities for what he calls “scary fun.” The bigger the challenges and adversities, the more potential upside.
I--INSTINCT
To what extent do you pursue the right goals in the most effective ways?
Krach’s score 98 out of 100. Global Average 72.
Lead climbers have the tough job of constantly assessing their goal and asking, “Is this the right summit?” as well as questioning, “Is this the best, most effective route to the top?”
Without the right instincts, soul-crushing levels of energy, effort, hope, blood, sweat, and tears can be wasted in pursuit of less-than-optimal goals, in less than optimal ways. This has a radical effect on pace, verve, engagement, and elevation.
Krach’s score indicates he’s among the very best, top one percent, in having the relentless courage and clarity to ask the right questions and apply his best instinct to the climb.
When he served as chairman of the board of trustees at Purdue University, his incisive instincts shone like a beacon. He could have chosen any of a million things to focus on at a university with more than 3,000 academic staff and 40,000 students. Not an academic himself, he relied on his business-honed instincts to tell him that his top priority should be hiring the university’s next president. His instincts also told him not to follow the typical university practice of choosing an academic for president.
It was clearly time to focus and re-route. He told the search committee he wanted them to look for three things, “Leadership, Leadership, and Leadership” and it didn’t matter where their candidates came from. He wound up setting his sights very high, recruiting what he affectionately called his “marlin candidate” Mitch Daniels, then sitting governor of Indiana, who political power brokers saw as a viable candidate for U.S. President.
I'm sure there is an interesting story here, but a nine-month courtship ensued, with Krach fighting off detractors at every step, who were put off by Daniels’ lack of a Ph.D. and academic experience. Since his tenure began, Daniels has played a pivotal role in transforming not just Purdue, but higher education itself.
And Krach's Instinct—his gut level capacity to pursue the right goals in the best ways—has paid off. Daniels’ accomplishments include launching strategic initiatives around student affordability—now reaching an unprecedented seventh year of zero increase in student tuition; online learning—acquiring Kaplan and transforming it into Purdue University Global; record research funding; higher retention rates; enhanced reputational rankings; and a whole new level of philanthropic giving.
T--TENACITY
To what degree do you persist, stick with, and commit to, and relentlessly go after whatever you choose to achieve?
Krach’s score 100 out of 100. Global Average 77.
Generically, tenacity is considered a synonym for grit. But, as we now know and the science reveals, while the T is essential, it takes much more to be a transformative leader.
This score is classic Krach. Ask his associates, followers, family, and friends. “When Keith sets his mind to something he is convinced is worth going after, how likely is he to throw in the towel, or give up?” Words like “Never. Not gonna happen,” get notably repeated.
Examples of Krach’s tenacity are legion. His determination to face his fears and tackle labor challenges on GM’s Cadillac production line as a 19-year old college student. His decision to stick it out in Silicon Valley after a disastrous first experience with Qronos Software. His “tough slog” at Rasna. His nine-month courtship of Daniels despite opposition. The creation of four categories at DocuSign when he was a board member.
I’m pretty sure Krach’s picture is in the dictionary next to the word “Tenacious.”
GRIT Quality
The GRIT Quality score is a composite measure of two scales: “Dumb” versus Smart GRIT—how you approach your goals and Bad versus Good GRIT—how your GRIT affects others.
In an ongoing global survey, now closing in on 500,000 individuals, when asked what matters more in achieving their highest aspirations (and the kind of leader they become), Quantity or Quality of GRIT, 100% answer, “Quality.” Impossible statistic. But true.
Dumb vs. Smart GRIT - The efficiency and effectiveness (the “intelligence”) of effort applied.
Ever seen someone beat their head to a bloody pulp? Dumb GRIT. Smart GRIT is the inverse. Lead climbers know, to reach the summit, you have to re-assess and re-route. Sometimes those decisions are, and often should be, based on foundational values. Moral choices.
A great example of Krach’s “Smart” GRIT was his decision to leave the first software startup he joined when he moved to Silicon Valley. Krach was thrilled to have made the move from “mother GM” to Silicon Valley, “the West Point of Capitalism.” But the second day of his new job as COO of a software startup, the company founder and CEO instructed Krach to misrepresent company performance to the board. Krach immediately declined, “That would be lying!” he said. This was the beginning of a nightmare.
Krach tried everything he could think of to “reform” the company’s culture, but eventually realized he couldn’t live with the values of the company leadership. After months of struggle, Krach was at the hospital for the birth of his first son. The company founder kept calling, demanding that he come into the office for a meeting with a major investor. Krach made it clear that his team was completely prepared, and could handle the meeting, and that he was not about to miss the birth of his baby boy. When the founder wouldn’t accept it, he finally told her to do something that was anatomically impossible and finished with, “I quit.”
While that moment, with new child in tow, took some real courage, it was also an exercise of Smart GRIT. Instead of letting raw "never say die!" tenacity rule the day, Krach realized it was time to move on. Now he reflects that it taught him a priceless lesson about not compromising his values, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life. Smart GRIT can drive moral fortitude.
Bad Versus Good GRIT - Describes how your efforts affect others, even unintentionally.
Bad GRIT has a detrimental effect. Good GRIT generates a beneficial effect. People who go scorched earth—unnecessarily burning out (and up) the people around them are demonstrating Bad GRIT. Those who elevate those around them demonstrate Good GRIT.
Looking at how Krach’s GRIT affects others—it is the “Goodness” of his GRIT that those around him find genuinely inspiring. Based on all due diligence so far, it appears that literally every endeavor he’s embarked upon is driven by the pursuit of “a noble cause.” This seems hard-wired into Krach’s DNA. For Krach, it’s not enough to succeed or to achieve or even to transform. There’s got to be something fundamentally good—something noble—at the heart of the effort. But doing good is one thing. Doing it in a way that elevates others—those directly involved, and those ultimately affected—strikes at the heart of Smart GRIT.
At GM it was driving productivity improvements that ultimately enhance the quality of life and standard of living for workers. At Ariba, it was greasing the wheels of global trade and commerce, again, improving standards of living and quality of life. At Sigma Chi, it was about transforming the way leadership is taught to bright young undergrads. At Purdue, he sought to tame the $1.4 trillion student loan debt crisis, and make advanced learning more accessible to everyone around the world. At DocuSign, Krach again has taken on inefficient paper-based processes with an eye to accelerating global trade, boosting productivity, reducing environmental impact, and improving lives.
Beyond raw grit, Good and Smart GRIT forge loyalty, respect, and followership.
General Stanley McChrystal (retired), is now a best-selling author on leadership and CEO of the McChrystal Group, a top leadership and management consulting firm. He has gotten to know Krach through business engagements and through their work together on Krach’s Virtual Mentor Network. McChrystal makes his own powerful assessment of Krach’s leadership when he says, “In the civilian word, leadership tends to be happenstance. You will have some amazing leaders, and I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside some of them who are just stunningly good. They could go out tomorrow and be General Officers, and be as good as any General in the Army. One of them is here – Keith Krach could walk out tomorrow and be a General.” People sense and follow true GRIT.
Krach interviewing 4-Star General McChrystal on the Virtual Mentor Network
Doctors, Choppers and Cash
In times of crisis, Krach’s mantra is “Doctors, choppers, or cash—whatever you need.” When a project manager at one of his offices in Indonesia was run over by a jeep and couldn’t get medical attention fast enough, Krach had a helicopter dispatched to immediately render aid.
When a typhoon hit a DocuSign call center in the South Pacific, Krach immediately sent word to the supervisor in charge that everyone was empowered to do whatever it took to help. Either DocuSign or Keith Krach personally would underwrite whatever emergency assistance was needed—doctors, choppers or cash.
In these situations, he may generate a little temporary adversity for the individuals who are scrambling to render aid, but it’s ultimately uplifting to everyone because it’s in the pursuit of a higher, noble cause.
Another perspective on how Krach’s GRIT affects others comes from long-time friend and colleague of Krach’s, Marc Carlson, “Everywhere he goes, he creates community and family. Employees, partners, and customers all get this, ‘I’m a part of something special’ feeling. And it’s global. When Keith’s doing a keynote at an Ariba/SAP event in Japan, or briefing Deutsche Telekom executives in Germany, or at the DocuSign Momentum conference, he gets back slaps, high fives and bear hugs from new friends and people he’s known for decades. People love him--not for his success, but for how he gives to others.”
Why focus on Krach? Krach scores top-end on Good GRIT. But his GRIT is also comprehensive, real, and rare. Krach’s story is a notable contrast to the countless leaders I’ve worked with over the past 33 years who, despite whatever values they profess, funnel their abundant resources for purely personal pleasure, over greater goods. Krach’s philanthropic endeavors show where his heart is. And the way he goes after and leads every cause, reminds us what's possible.
The True GRIT of a Serial Transformational Leader
As the various Krach-led transformations in high tech, commerce, manufacturing, education and philanthropy prove, GRIT is portable, universal, and applicable to every worthy goal, as well as everyday life. Krach insists he’s not done. Every day he strives not just to apply, but to improve all facets of his GRIT, in ever-more meaningful ways.
That’s why, as his chairmanship of DocuSign draws to a close, Keith Krach is dedicating himself to a new mission: equipping emerging transformational leaders with the comprehensive GRIT and AQ it takes, to forge the future we all need.
For Krach, this is all about impact and is the next iteration of game-changing leadership. What he did in business and higher education he is now applying to the social sector: identify a gap in the market, create a new category of service and build a network. Seeing a huge need for next-generation transformational leaders, and a shortage of role models as a market gap that needs to be filled, Krach is using technology to expand mentoring opportunities for young people by building the Virtual Mentor Network. What Krach has pioneered in his previous endeavors might be the formula for building the ultimate pay-it-forward category and end up being Krach’s most transformative venture—and most lasting legacy—yet.
