Shannon Huffman Polson is the founder of The Grit Institute, a foundation which focuses on ways its member can develop their own GRIT, through offering keynotes, writing, and training. She was one of the first women to fly Apache helicopters, serving on three continents and leading two flight platoons and a line company.

In her new book, The Grit Factor: Courage, Resilience, and Leadership in the Most Male-Dominated Organization in the World, Polson writes about her own experience of combat and career that of other decorated female leaders, including Heather Penney, one of the first female F-16 pilots, who was put on a suicide mission for 9/11; General Ann Dunwoody, the first female four-star general in the Army; and Amy McGrath, the first female Marine to fly the F/A-18 in combat and a 2020 candidate for the US Senate.

In this Anti-Viral Session with #NatSecGirlSquad, Maggie Feldman-Piltch will interview Polson about her new book and hear her take on competent diversity in national security and defense.

Recorded on: October 5th, 2020.