There is no doubt that over the past few years, leaders have all adapted to unprecedented change in their professional and personal lives and their resilience has been tested. The post-pandemic world of business is more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous than ever before. One of the toughest aspects of leadership is the number of decisions a leader must make, often with limited information and all with ramifications. It is not necessarily an overwhelming workload that can lead to burnout but the lack of internal capacity to handle the level of responsibility and pace that comes with the position. Without a degree of resilience, a leader’s mental and physical health can suffer which affects not only themselves but their team and family too.
What is Resilience?
The term ‘resilience’ has become a much-used word over the last few years, and calling out the need for greater resilience, not only in personal circumstances but in business leadership, is the topic of much professional development discourse. The reality is that whilst the term is bandied around a lot, the definition, and indeed the ability to become more resilient, can be difficult to grasp and master.
Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from illness, change, or misfortune. It is our ability to respond adaptively to challenges and often turn them into opportunities. It is what helps us get back up again stronger, after meeting hurdles, disappointments and failures. More than just bouncing back, it’s about springing forward, having learnt from our setbacks. Resilient leadership requires growth.
Why Resilience Is Key to Leadership Success
A great leader is able to absorb pressure and transmit clarity and the belief with which others can achieve. Leaders need to be resilient to bounce back from difficult situations and to implement new initiatives all the while keeping the team morale and energy up. There will be times when leaders need to show up for their team and their organization with courage, hope, and positivity. This doesn’t mean a leader has to lie or display fake positivity. It is ok for a leader to admit they don’t have all the answers yet. Candour and humility are indeed two core characteristics of resilient leaders. What their people need to hear, and feel, is that as a leader, they can maintain optimism and have and convey confidence that together we will get through it.
How to Grow Leadership Resilience
Resilience is associated with inner strength, optimism, flexibility and the courage to reach out for support. The good news here for leaders is that resilience is not a trait that we either have or do not have. It involves behaviours, thoughts and actions that can all be learned.
Here are seven key areas you as a leader can focus on to cultivate and maintain resilience.
1) Gaining a deeper sense of self-awareness: Take the time to understand your own strengths and weaknesses, what your triggers are, how you react to situations, and how you best regulate your own feelings and behaviours as a leader. Doing the inner work will help you develop greater emotional intelligence; a key trait of being able to be resilient. Greater emotional awareness of self and others leads to greater emotional regulation.
2) Being able to have perspective: Our perception of situations is more likely to become distorted or irrational when we are under stress and our thoughts can spiral when we are under pressure. Being able to challenge our assumptions and consider more positive alternative outcomes to situations can help us gain greater resilience. Ask yourself ‘What is a more supportive and empowering way of thinking right now that will move me and my team forward?’ Practicing gratitude also helps. Take time to acknowledge and appreciate the small things throughout your day. The more purposeful you are about practicing gratitude the more things will naturally trigger a feeling of thankfulness. Neuroscience research suggests that our brains have a negativity bias, so leaders must be intentional about finding and acknowledging positivity, which will enhance resilient leadership.
3) Maintaining a positive mindset: This shouldn’t be unrealistic “Everything is FINE” but rather more “Some things are bad, but I/we can deal with them. Angela Duckworth, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance talks about the merits of developing ‘Grit’, of learning to do hard things…. by doing hard things. Having a resource of memories where you and your team have prevailed, despite setbacks, the odds or any of the multitude of things life throws at us is a powerful resource for future success.
4) Letting go of what you cannot control: With so much unpredictability in the world, let alone the world of business, learning how to let go of what we simply cannot control is key. Not allowing it to affect our thoughts and behaviour and instead focusing on what we can control and importantly what we can have influence over, is a key trait of resilience. This is brilliantly outlined in Steven Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People.
5) Being purpose driven: When we are clear on our values, have a strong vision and are passionate about what we get out of bed to do every day, weathering professional storms becomes easier. We find strength in the face of our professional challenges, because we know what we are working for and towards is making a difference in the world, whatever that might be.
6) Cultivating a strong network of connections: Having the advice, encouragement and support of others when times are tough helps us to be more resilient. Research in recent years has shown that having the support and concern of others can trigger the release of Oxytocin, one of our stress-reducing hormones and having others around us to turn to in times of difficulty, reinforces that we are not alone in our struggles.
7) Making physical and mental wellbeing of self and team a priority: Make sure you are getting enough sleep, eating healthily and taking regular exercise. This all improves your ability to process stress and makes your leadership more resilient and effective. As important is taking pockets of time out and doing the little things that bring you joy every day, however busy your day may be.
Resilience is the product of a deep level of self-awareness, self-care, and maintaining a broad perspective. You can bolster it with a supportive network of professional and personal relationships and use it to get comfortable being uncomfortable. So, whilst ‘resilience’ might be considered by many to have become another entry to personal development buzzword bingo, it is in fact a business essential and understanding how to cultivate and maintain resilience as a leader is more critical than ever.
Carrie Chappell is a former marketing and communications leader and executive coach with The Preston Associates. Learn more about how coaching can benefit you, your team, and your business.
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