Executives – Get Unstuck From Low Resilience
Are you resilient? Are the people who work for you resilient? Chances are that your answer is that both you and the people who work for you could be more resilient. Resilience is the ability to bounce back after change or a set back. It also is a measure of flexibility and even hardiness. We see lack of resiliency when we see resistance after a change has taken place. We see it when people cannot seem to forge ahead in spite of difficulties. People who are not resilient tend to push back and even give up and give in to what they cannot seem to change.
People who are resilient can continue working toward their goals even when they face difficulties – roadblocks, difficult people, office politics, etc. The can also deal with feedback, criticism and even rejection better than most people can. They take those things seriously in that they make changes where needed but they do not let criticism stop forward progress. Resilient people are able to recover from setbacks and personal issues. They put them in perspective and deal with them objectively. They are able to continue forward progress in spite of what is going on in their lives. Additionally, resilient people plan for the unexpected but when something does crop up they are able to deal with it and move forward without great delay and much drama. There is little gnashing of teeth and a lot of practical problem solving.
We are not necessarily born with great resiliency. There are specific skills involved and skills can be learned. Handling rejection is probably the most difficult skill for most people. Rejection and criticism can hurt but if we learn to look at them as feedback we can begin to see them more objectively and then we can rationally decide what to do about them. I love the statement that there is no failure – only feedback. When we see life that way we can make much better decisions.
Another skill in resiliency is the ability to take initiative. Being able to put a stake in the sand, especially when there is a lot of ambiguity is an important part of taking initiative. Decide what needs to be done, make a plan of action and then move forward. That is initiative.Waiting on others is not.
A third skill in resiliency is being persistent. Persistence pays in not letting adversity wear us down. Persistence in doing what we think is right even if others do not agree can lead to forward movement.
