Adversity comes from various sources at work: people, change, rumors, lies, conflicts, differences in values or beliefs, decisions taken beyond your control.
When feeling challenged or blocked, people react in different manner (passivity, hopelessness, anger, blame shifting, avoidance, etc …).
Hoping that life or work is made of only happy, positive moments is an illusion. If you are submerged with setbacks, learn to discreetly deal with them and with the emotions that they bring.
Wondering how to build up your resilience and face adversity head on?
What is resilience?
Resilience is the ability to function under pressure, to skillfully master stressful situations.
In addition, resilience is a mindset that focuses on the essentials and your personal growth. In fact, it changes your perspective on a tough situations, shifts the focus from our self to a goal or a purpose, and removes the pressures of running after success.
That being said, resilient leaders demonstrate similar behaviors, beliefs and values in challenging times. Resilient leaders:
- Find opportunity in failure. Resilient leaders are unafraid to fail or to succeed. Furthermore, they don’t stay down when they have been put down.
- Are able to draw strength from within and to survive ridicule, undermining, alienation, manipulation and what people say and think about you. They have a deep understanding of self and belive that they cannot be moved no matter the circumstances.
- Face obstacles head on because they understand that pain is inevitable in life. They are pioneers, the firsts tp experience everything and to face obstacles before everyone.
- Have faith that there is always a solution and that they will find a way. They remain optimistic in adversity, believe that it is just a phase of life and that they can create a positive outcome out of any situation.
- Are accountable for their actions, don’t shift blame, don’t complain uselessly or make excuses for themselves.
- Are able to respond to the demands placed upon them.
- Effectively manage time.
- Set high standards for themselves.
- Are willing to go through uncomfortable situations to get where they are going and understand that these situations are part of life.
- Are selective of the people they surround themselves with and the people they look up to.
- Have strong coping mechanisms.
- Know that you are not the only one facing adversity.
- Welcome change.
What are the benefits of resilience in leadership?
Moreover, resilience will determine how far you will go in your career or in life. On the long run, in the workplace, it helps you grow as a person, it increases job satisfaction, job performance, success and moral.
It is notorious that during challenging times, you become stronger, that you build up your character and discover your authentic self. Furthermore, you learn from your failures, you learn to do the right thing in wrong situations, even when nobody is looking.
How to build and boost personal resilience?
To measure resilience, it is important to look at a leader’s behavior, emotional response during challenging times. To build up your resilience and the resilience of your team:
- Recognize that you are only human and that you will make mistakes. Being human is not an excuse for purposefully making mistakes or for creating setbacks for yourself or for others.
- Be self-aware, self-efficient, and adaptable to any situations. This step is detrimental to identify your stressors and anticipate your reaction.
- Realize that everyone faces adversity and that behind every obstacle lies an opportunity.
- Change your perspective and see adversity as a challenge.
- Share positive experiences and values with people around you.
- Discern the essential from the rest. Then, commit to these essentials. If you haven’t committed to your essentials, trials will seem insurmountable.
- Invest your time and energy rightfully and purposefully. Make sure you persist and put your energy behind the right goals.
- Discipline yourself and your emotions to be able to work under pressure.
- Accept that there will be things that you cannot control.
- Take care of your mental health and find ways to evacuate the effect of negativity.
- Avoid taking setbacks or failures personally.
- Reinforce your coping mechanisms, find strong people to support you and seek a sounding board who can bring new perspectives on an issue.
- If all fails, turn over a new leaf.
How to build and boost resilience in your team?
Team members are always looking for reassurance. When they don’t have it, they monitor leaders behavior and can possibly start false rumors. To reassure them:
- Remember that your team observe you and rely on you the most. Therefore, demonstrate the behavior required for success and for overcoming adversity.
- Deal with employees that have made mistakes quickly, before they seem acceptable, and with a cool head. When emotions are high, it becomes difficult to think straight, to make the right decisions, and to behave professionally.
- Help your team identify the origin of the issue, different strategies for improvement, for the problem-solving process.
- Be as transparent as possible and let them understand the difficulty of the situations.
- Treat people with respect and not as commodities. For example, try listening to their concerns without emitting judgement.
- Provide trainings to your team and allow them t learn skills such as goal-setting, conflict resolution or decision-making and apply them with confidence.
- Provide tools to measure progress and to control the damage done to ensure that what brought up the problem does not recur.
- Congratulate them, reward them on successes.
- Avoid punishing or reminding people of their past mistakes.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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