Building a resilient business

If we have learnt one thing from the pandemic, it is the importance of resilience in the face of adversity. It is an essential, but until now, often under-appreciated or honed skill. We have all shown great resilience as individuals and a collective over the past two years. The ability to power on and keep going hasn’t always felt comfortable, in many cases far from it. But for an elite few resilience is a super-power to be sharpened.

Businesses now seek managers and leaders that can adapt with the times moving seamlessly between fighting immediate short-term fires while continuously horizon scanning for potential future threats and opportunities. Building resilient teams and leaders is essential for organisations to thrive the new frontier shrouded in challenges and change. 

what does resilience look like?

Resilience can manifest itself in different ways within the workplace. Identify individuals already in your team or when recruiting who embody these characteristics and help them hone their sought-after skill.

• Emotional strength: People with a strong emotional resilience will have a range of coping strategies they can employ to deal with adverse situations. Often described as ‘rolling with the punches’ these individuals will take a pragmatic and positive approach to challenges.
• Excited for opportunity: Seek those who run towards change rather than away from it. Change brings with it opportunity, find the select few who want to capitalise on that rather than fear the unknown.
• Positivity prevails: People who approach challenges with positivity are more likely to succeed. If employees are happy before change, they will be emotionally better equipped to perform when in the eye of a storm.
• Adaptability: When individuals can see things from others’ points of view, they can better adjust their behaviours and ways of working. Exiting their own perspective can build emotional strength, creativity, and innovation – essential when facing new challenges.
• Resourcefulness: By drawing on people, tools and technology people can forge resilience at work. Being resourceful lessens the mental load on individuals, sharing the potential burden of difficult situations to find solutions.

six tips to build resilience

The good thing is, that even if these traits don’t come naturally, they can be learnt, acquired, practiced, and perfected. Here are some tips to build resilience (many taken from our previous webinar with experts Dr John Mervyn-Smith and Farah Govani) which can be explored on your own, in teams, or with an executive coach:

1. Create a self-care regime. Put yourself first to be able to support others.
2. Know when to say ‘no’ for self-preservation.
3. Build trusted relationships to support you and find others to care for too.
4. Evolve those relationships into a connected network to help you become more resourceful.
5. Beware of negative thoughts, instead practice positivity and presence.
6. Manage your internal dialogue; surface and explore inner thoughts about your ability.

Keep in touch – sign up to our newsletter to get: the latest news, views, best practice, and exclusive content…