Resilient Leadership: What it is and Why it Matters in Business

Resilient Leadership in Business

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Resilient Leadership - What it is and Why it
Matters in Business

"" "Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the
strength to endure a difficult one." - Bruce
Lee

The world we live in is volatile, uncertain, and ambiguous. In fact, the recent pandemic is
proof of that. However, in order to survive, we must be resilient and nowhere is this more
evident than in the workplace. Leaders have faced challenges they had no idea existed. In
the face of constant change, they have had to make difficult decisions. In order to stay
ahead, they have needed to be extremely adaptable, proactive, and resilient. After all,
without resilient leadership, it is impossible to develop and grow a resilient workforce.
But how do you strengthen resilient leadership?
As with any skill, resilience can be taught, learned, and honed with practice; in this article,
we'll look at why is being resilient important, some strategies and examples for how to do
that.

Understanding Resilience Theory

Let's first look at what resilient leadership theory actually is before moving on to examples
and techniques for enhancing resilience in leaders.
Resilience is an essential trait of high-performing leaders. To advance and thrive, leaders
must cultivate it within themselves. They are also responsible for assisting in protecting the
energy of the people in their teams.When we think of resilient leadership, we often envision bold and brave individuals. People
who appear to be immune to setbacks and failure. These people may be resilient, but that ^
isn't what resilience really is.
Toughening up isn't the goal of a resilient leader. It is the ability to recover and adjust after
setbacks. To keep going in the face of adversity. It's about learning to be comfortable with
discomfort while still leading others with empathy, courage, and conviction.
The pandemic meant that leadership had to become more resilient in its practice

The 7 C's of Resilience

1. Competence

Number one is competence, which means knowing all of your skills and what you already do
exceptionally well. The things you've learned along the way, and the things you've picked up
during different jobs.
It's all about reflection. What skills will come in handy when things get tough? What are the
skills and competencies required for your role to be successful? Begin by listing all of these1
and determining whether there are any gaps.
Do you need to invest in some skills to truly ensure that you are prepared for any situation
that may arise?
It's not so much about knowing everything but about having problem-solving skills and
knowing the right people so that when things get tough. You should know where to look
things up, how to solve and figure things out, or who to talk to.
To reflect on it. Consider the following questions:

• What are some of your key strengths?
• What are your natural talents?
• What are the things that people come to you for help with?

These can be indicators of your unique competencies, and skills that you have acquired
along the way.

2. Confidence

The second C is confidence, which means that you believe in your own abilities. You have to
believe in your own strength and all that you've already accomplished. Start by believing that
whatever you've learned will help you figure things out going forward, that you have what it
takes.
You can conduct a CliftonStrengths assessment, for example, or you can begin to reflect on
past accomplishments and challenges, looking at everything you've already overcome or
achieved.1
Confidence is key to a resilient workforce

3. Connection

Connection is the third of the seven Cs. To be truly resilient, we must believe that we have
people on our side who will catch us if we fall. You need a supportive group.
Who exactly are the people in your life-your friends, your family, your coworkers, your
mentors, your peers, your manager, your team. What do they do for you? What are the
communities that you're part of? Have you got any hobbies? Are you part of a club? Who in
your life is always there to support you?
Consider reflecting on all the various groups you belong to and identifying the key figures
you can really rely on as a way to strengthen this. So, if something happens at work, for
example, have someone who understands what's going on there.
So consider your most important relationships. Then, because relationships are a two-way
street, consider what you can do for the other person. How can you strengthen the bonds?
So, for each person in your safety network, write down an action to see how you can do
something nice or supportive for them in order to build and invest in that relationship.It is critical that we remember to give as well. And if something happens to you or you
require assistance, they will be there. No questions asked.

A

4. Character

Your character is the fourth C. That means knowing your values, knowing what's right and
wrong, and having a genuine connection to what you truly care about. That is critical for
resilience because it will assist you in making difficult decisions. It will help you stay on track.
When things get tough, it will help you see the way forward. You'll be inspired to go back
because you can relate it to the things you value and are most passionate about. It also
assists you in forgiving yourself when you make mistakes because when you reflect on your
values and why you did the things you did, you will see that you made decisions based on
your values.
And, yes, perhaps things did not work out. Perhaps there was a better way to go about
things, but your intentions were sound. It's often much easier to forgive ourselves and feel
motivated to try again after that.
So, think about your values. What are your core values? Do you stand for something
particular? What are your non-negotiables?

5. Contribution

Contribution is the fifth C in the seven Cs of the resilient leadership toolkit. What have you
done to improve the lives of others or the greater good of the world? Is there something that
motivates you? What is your mission? That is very important because it will help us find the
drive and motivation to try again. You need to understand why you do the things that you
do, why you work so hard, and why it's important to get back up.1
So be aware of what you stand for. What do you want to be part of?
Your contribution allows you to be part of a resilient team
To do that, you can start to reflect on your passions, and things that you really care about
that excite you and energise you. You can reflect on people that you admire for their
contribution. And what about that did you admire? Starting to find some clues of what are
the bigger causes that you care about?
It's not necessary to change the course of history. It could also simply be to have an impact
on the people you lead or those in your life. How do you want people to feel when they
interact with you? What kind of change do you want to see?
It takes some time to discover your purpose. So keep thinking about it, taking notes, and
adding to it and changing it up. At some point, you will be certain of your goal. It will also
help you succeed and persevere during difficult times.

6. Coping

Coping is number six, and these are the traditional coping strategies that many people
discuss when we discuss resilience. It is about how you cope with and release stress
mentally, emotionally, and physically. How do you care for these three aspects of yourself?Begin to mentally reflect. What can you do to lighten your mental load? Which steps can you
take to write down difficult tasks, delegate them, and prioritise your days? What can you do
to ease the burden? How can you reduce mental stress?
It is also closely related to your emotional coping strategies.
Mindfulness and meditation are important strategies. How do you deal with stress? Who are
the people you can talk to? Maintain regular contact with them. What strategies can you put
in place?
Then, physically, how well do you move your body? What is the quality of your sleep and
rest? Of course, what do you consume and put into your body?
Consider these things on a mental, emotional, and physical level. How can you develop
coping mechanisms to relax and relieve stress? To ensure that our body and mind are in the
best condition possible, it is crucial that we take these steps before things get difficult.
Furthermore, we are the most energised to face adversity.

7. Control

Finally, control is the final C. You need to remember that you have control over your
thoughts, decisions, actions, and behaviours. You can change things.
We often worry about things over which we have no control. We waste emotional energy
worrying about things we can't change or being angry about decisions made by others.1
What you can do is choose not to worry about things over which you have no influence or
control and instead focus your energy on things over which you have control. This will give
you enough emotional energy for your own causes, work, and the things that are important
to you.
Focus on the things you can control, not those you can't
If we waste energy on things we can't even influence, we won't be ready and prepared for
when things get tough on our end. A lot of things happened in the last few years that were
beyond our control. Many decisions were made about our lives and our lockdown that were
not always in our control. But what we can control is how we deal with it. What are the
decisions we make for ourselves, our families, and our jobs, and are they difficult?
A key exercise you can do here is to:

• begin reflecting whenever you feel overwhelmed.
• Write down everything you're worried about.
• Begin with everything that you're worried about, or whatever causes you to feel a
  certain way.
• Divide these items into three groups: your circle of concern, your circle of influence,
  and your circle of control.

Dividing and Addressing Concerns

Then, Divide ThemThen divide these items into three groups: your circle of concern, your circle of influence,
and your circle of control. The difference here is that your circle of control includes things ^
that you can address, change, or act on right away. These are things over which you have
complete control. These could include your schedule, when you wake up, what you eat, what
you do during the day, and how you structure your day.
The circle of influence is next. These are things you can influence and impact over time by
collaborating with the right people, talking to the right people, and inspiring others to act.
They are the things over which you have some influence, but not complete control. You may
need to collaborate with others to complete these tasks.
Then you have the circle of concern. All of these things are important to us but we have no
control over them. We can't influence those decisions.

What to Do With Your Thoughts

What Do I Know With These Thoughts Now?
So, once you've organised all of your thoughts into these three categories, here's what you
should do with them:

1. Circle of control category: Take immediate action, address the issues that concern you,
   and find a solution.
2. Circle of influence: Start by defining actions. Who do you need to talk to? What do you
   need to do? How can you start to drive change in that area?
3. Circle of concern: You need to release everything written here. These are things that
   you can't change. So even if you spend days and hours being upset you can't change
   it. You don't know what's going to happen and you don't have any impact on that. So
   wasting your energy will take away energy from the things that matter and the things
   that you can actually control.

Reflect on the 7Cs, remind yourself of your competencies and strengths, build your
confidence, and review your values. Speak with those in your support network and use the
strategies for your coping skills.

The Resilience Spiral