Life often tests us, whether we face personal challenges, professional obstacles, or global crises. According to Murphy's Law, multiple misfortunes often strike simultaneously. In such situations, plans crumble like houses of cards, and only the most resilient thrive. Therefore, resilience stands as a crucial skill for leading teams and organizations successfully. In this article, we will explore how resilience becomes key to successful leadership in turbulent times.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Being a leader means leading inspirationally, but also facing uncertainties, making tough decisions, and motivating people in turbulent times. Resilience is a crucial trait for leaders because they not only have to withstand pressure but also set an example for their teams. Just as courage is not the absence of fear but means facing it anyway, resilience does not mean the absence of problems but successfully managing them despite challenges. Leaders with high levels of resilience inspire their teams to grow and develop despite adversities, learning from their own and others' mistakes. Every inspiring leadership story begins with a clear vision and a series of defeats.
I remember 2020 as particularly tough – it brought a global pandemic, lockdowns, and associated business challenges, caught me in the middle of my MBA studies, and brought a period of significant personal changes and mourning, culminating in the epicentre of an earthquake. Although it was a difficult period, it was also a good time for self-reflection and awareness of my weaknesses, which became apparent under pressure. From this realization sprang a desire for change, motivation for self-improvement, and learning from my own mistakes, which enabled my further development. From this turbulent period, the idea of developing a program for the resilience of individuals and organizations, Future Resilience, was born.
Resilience in individuals is not about surviving challenges but growing through them. Leaders with this skill do not lose focus or motivation when faced with obstacles. Instead, they use these challenges as opportunities for personal and professional development. It is essential to nurture and develop this mindset as a key leadership skill while reminding yourself and your team that failures are temporary, but what we learn from them remains. When we are authentic in sharing our vulnerabilities and acknowledging our mistakes, we build a bridge of empathy and mutual trust but also nurture an open culture of sharing, and foster collective resilience.
How to recognize a resilient leader?
A resilient leader is not recognized by a superhero cape but by how they approach challenges and how they relate to the people around them, their team, partners, and colleagues in high-stress situations.
The ability to adapt to changes is crucial for a successful leader. Resilience involves not only accepting change but also skillfully adapting to new circumstances. This includes openness to new ideas and strategies and flexible approaches to problem-solving. Instead of focusing on problems, resilient leaders actively seek solutions. They are proactive in finding ways to overcome challenges and do not allow problems to discourage them.
Resilient leaders often practice open and clear communication and transparency. Communication is key in building trust within the team, and a leader who can clearly communicate goals, expectations, challenges, and plans for addressing them, creates an environment where team members feel safe and informed. Resilient leaders recognize the importance of team member development. They support continuous learning, providing resources and opportunities for developing skills crucial for facing future challenges. Resilient leaders know when it is necessary to delegate certain tasks and responsibilities. They trust the team, give space for growth, and encourage initiative.
Resilience is also linked to emotional intelligence, particularly with the skills of self-regulation and empathy. Resilient leaders are aware of their own emotions and can understand the emotions of their teams. This ability helps in building strong interpersonal relationships within the organization. Understanding the perspectives of other team members builds empathy, and empathetic leaders have the support of the team in tough times.
Finally, resilient leaders are those who take responsibility for making tough decisions. Regardless of the outcome, they take initiative and use the experience to learn and grow. This includes creating an environment where learning from failure is valued.
How can managers build resilience?
Developing personal resilience is a process that requires commitment and continuous effort. Here are some concrete steps you can take to develop your resilience in a leadership role:
Work on self-awareness
Start becoming aware of your emotional reactions to stressful situations. Self-awareness is a key component of resilience. Understanding how you react to pressure allows you to manage your emotions better. Self-study helps in understanding how to deal with situations that cause stress.
Learning self-regulation techniques
Develop resilience by learning self-regulation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, or relaxation exercises. These techniques help maintain emotional balance and focus on solutions instead of problems.
Setting realistic expectations
Setting realistic expectations for yourself and others is crucial for reducing stress. Work on becoming aware of your limitations and understand that it is not always possible to control all aspects of business. Realize, and then accept, that every decision you make means you have to give something up.
Developing a support network
Having a strong support network is crucial for resilience. Develop relationships with colleagues, mentors, or friends with whom you can share experiences and seek support in tough times. Support can also be sought through psychological counselling.
Continuous learning
Be ready to continuously learn and develop while enabling the same for your team. This includes openness to coaching, participating in training and seminars, and reading literature that encourages the development of personal and professional skills.
Setting goals and priorities
Clearly setting goals and priorities, both in professional and personal domains, will help you stay focused and organized, reducing the feeling of being overwhelmed. This also allows you to better manage resources and time. You want to spend your time on what matters to you.
Proactively managing stress and preventing burnout
Instead of a reactive approach to stress, start developing proactive stress management strategies. This can include clearer setting of boundaries, prioritizing sleep, planning breaks during the workday, exercising, or taking time for activities that help you relax. Self-care is an important factor in developing resilience.
Resilient managers – resilient organization
Developing resilient managers can mean the difference between survival and prosperity for organizations. Here is how leadership resilience manifests as a factor affecting organizational success in key segments:
Reaction to challenges
Survival: Managers who focus solely on survival face challenges reactively. Their strategies often involve quick and temporary measures to put out fires to maintain stability.
Prosperity: Resilient leaders recognize challenges as opportunities for growth. Instead of a reactive approach, they proactively plan and adopt long-term strategies that contribute to the organization's prosperity and business sustainability.
Team development
Survival: In survival situations, managers may focus exclusively on maintaining productivity, and team development may be neglected.
Prosperity: Resilient leaders recognize the importance of team development and nurturing future competencies today. Their approach includes encouraging learning and developing new skills within the team to achieve long-term success.
Openness to change
Survival: In survival situations, managers often resist change out of fear of the unknown or loss of control.
Prosperity: Resilient leaders accept change as inevitable. They are adaptable and proactive in adopting new strategies to keep the organization competitive.
Stress management
Survival: Managers focused on survival may be under constant stress, affecting their decisiveness and ability to make clear decisions.
Prosperity: Resilient leaders develop strategies for effective stress management. They maintain emotional stability, making it easier to make decisions in challenging situations.
Innovation and creativity
Survival: In survival situations, the focus may be on preserving existing processes and avoiding risks.
Prosperity: Resilient leaders encourage innovation and creativity within the organization. They are willing to experiment with new ideas to improve the business.
Vision and strategy
Survival: Leaders focused on survival may lose long-term vision due to focusing just on current problems.
Prosperity: Resilient leaders retain their vision and guide the organization toward long-term goals. They strategically plan and manage changes.
The magic of resilience
The magic of resilient leadership is not just about survival but about transforming challenges into opportunities for growth. Resilient leaders not only build solid foundations for personal success but also shape organizations that boldly move toward prosperity. By consciously developing our own resilience and encouraging the same mindset in our teams, we create leaders and organizations that emerge from storms stronger, smarter, and better prepared for future challenges.
Building the foundations of personal resilience is not only a step towards a leader's success but also a prerequisite for the organization's long-term excellence. If you have reached the end of this article, it seems you genuinely want to know more about this topic. Therefore, I challenge you to take the initiative and apply these steps in your daily leadership practice. If you don't know how you can always contact us with your questions.
