Posts tagged “resilient leaders”

This time, more than ever in recent history, has created exceptional changes for people all across the world. COVID-19 has brought about social, business, economic, travel, and even relationship changes on a level that is unprecedented in both scope and complexity.

Some individuals have done relatively well, some have thrived, and some have struggled. One factor that sets those that weather the storms from those that experience more difficulties is their resilience.

Understanding Resilience

Resilience is the ability to adapt and change to life situations in a positive way. It is sometimes described as the ability to “bounce back” after a difficult situation. Resilience is not pretending that something is not serious or difficult. Instead, it is the ability to recognize the problem or trauma and manage it in a way that prevents it from overshadowing or encapsulating your life.

Resilience is not an inherited genetic predisposition. Resilience is a way of managing situations that are often learned by moving through challenges and difficulties. People who have never experienced emotional distress, trauma, problems, or challenging circumstances tend to have limited resilience due to their lack of perspective on how to respond.

Developing Your Resilience

The ability to be resilient can be learned. In this way, resilience is like Emotional Intelligence. There is always the opportunity to make positive changes. Research into resilience identifies four key areas of personal growth to develop your ability to handle challenges. These four aspects include:

• Connection – developing a support network of people you know and trust and who have gone through challenges in their lives and grown through the process.

• Wellness – focusing on growth and learning about emotional and physical wellness as a part of personal development. People who follow self-care routines have higher levels of resilience and more effective coping strategies when stress, trauma, or difficulties occur.

• Purpose – finding a meaning in life helps to provide a grounding point and to keep things in focus and perspective. Helping others, practicing mindfulness and gratitude, as well as setting goals for yourself on a personal as well as professional level all creates growth and sets the foundation for resilience.

• Positive thinking – focusing on releasing negative self-talk and learning to identify irrational or unfounded thoughts about situations opens the way to a positive outlook even in a currently difficult situation. Coaching, counseling, and self-learning are all ways to overcome negative thoughts.

Building resilience is an active and not passive practice. Building resilience and personal growth into your goals is an effective way to keep growing, adapting to change, and bouncing back after life’s challenges.

Resilience is a term that is used in many types of professional development training. It refers to an individual’s ability to bounce back from a disappointment, a setback, a change, or a stressor that occurs in their personal or professional life.

Being resilient is not ignoring problems or challenges or putting on a brave face and simply not showing the emotional pain, sadness, or even confusion that these issues cause. Instead, it is a way of accepting the inevitable challenges in life and having a way to move forward without allowing these issues to drag you down emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and even physically.

Successful business professionals develop resiliency early in their careers. These people have typically gone through downsizing, job loss, rejections, criticisms from bosses, and more serious and significant life events. However, they have developed or worked on enhancing their resilience or their ability to cope effectively with these obstacles life throws in their path.

The good news is that resilience is something that anyone can develop. As part of emotional intelligence, there are activities, skill development, and insights that can be used to build up your capacity for resilience to respond without stress when challenges occur in your life.

• Work on relationships – research shows the more meaningful relationships and connections people have in their personal and professional lives, the more resilient they are when challenges occur. These connections are the people you interact with on a regular basis or those good friends you can call on when you need to talk to someone you can trust. Relationships that could for resilience are your emotional network, and they work with you to achieve success, just as you work to help them achieve success.
  

• Create a structure of caring for yourself – one of the best ways to be able to handle challenges is to maintain a high level of physical, mental, and emotional energy. This means knowing your limits, setting boundaries, and being able to say “no” to avoid feeling pressured, stressed, and mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.
  

• Find something you like and do it regularly – find something that makes you happy. This could be playing a sport, taking up a hobby, volunteering, spending time in nature, or connecting with your friends and family. If you have multiple things that you enjoy, make time to do them on a regular, weekly basis to bring fun and enjoyment into your life as a priority event.
  

• Practice mindfulness – mindfulness is the art of being in the moment. It is about looking for the benefits in a situation and not immediately spending time stressing about the “what ifs” and “what abouts” that drain your mental energy. Being mindful can include meditation, deep breathing, or simply finding a place to sit quietly for a few minutes and letting go of thoughts.
  

The more you practice resilience, the better and more positive you will be in any given situation. Like any skill, it is a gradual process, but well worth the effort.

Good listening skills are one of the most important traits of a successful leader. By listening intently to what others say, you can learn a great deal of valuable information that can help you learn, and that often can help the person talking to you, as well.

One way to improve both your listening skills and your credibility as a good listener is to learn to listen without judgment. When others can trust you to listen without judgment, they will be more likely to confide in you and seek your feedback.

Listening without judgment means not jumping to conclusions or forming opinions about what is being said. This form of listening allows you to absorb all of the material being presented to you, rather than making a decision about what you hear midway through the conversation.

To improve your skills in listening without judgment, try the following tips.

1. Don’t interrupt. Don’t jump in to finish the person’s sentence, even though you may think it shows that you understand what the person is saying. Don’t ask questions, unless these are absolutely necessary to clarify what is being said.

2. Ask appropriate clarification questions when the person is finished in order to ensure you understand what is being said.

3. Ask “Why” a person feels the way they do if you don’t understand.

4. Do not give feedback, unless specifically asked.

5. Never tell a person he or she is wrong for their feelings.

Of course, you will form opinions on the things you hear. You may need to take action on what you hear and even decide if what you’ve heard is inappropriate or outside important rules in some way. However, by listening without making judgment until the end of the conversation, you will have a more complete perspective before you form an opinion. You will give yourself the opportunity to understand the person’s motives and feelings behind their words.

Learning to listen without judging will make you a better and more respected leader. It will also give you better decision making skills because you will have a much better understanding of circumstances before you decide. Take the time to hone your listening skills- it’s a practice you will be happy you did.

Your integrity is an important part of your personal brand. Most leaders have the best of intentions when making commitments but may fail in the follow through due to unforeseen circumstances and or poor planning. In order to protect your reputation, it’s very important to be a person of your word, ensuring that others can count on you to do what you say you will. Here are three tips to help you make the right commitments and keep them.

Keep a calendar. People who consistently keep a calendar are much better at juggling their commitments, which helps ensure they don’t over commit. If your calendar is part of your everyday life, you will always know what you can commit to, and what you can’t.

Prioritize where you will donate your time. As a leader, you are likely asked frequently to give of your time. In order to avoid being spread too thin, it is important to know which organizations have highest priority on your list. This will make it easier for you to weed out the things you simply don’t have time for when life gets busy. If you have identified volunteering at your child’s school as a top priority, for example, you will know that during busy times of the school year, you are unable to take on additional volunteer activities. When things slow down, perhaps during summer vacation, you can take on volunteer work with another group.

Learn to say “no”. Many of us hate saying no, particularly to a good cause. But, it is better to say no upfront when you know your schedule doesn’t really allow the time to do what you’re asked than to back out at the last moment or do a poor job because you were out of time.

Communicate proactively. Let people know when you’ve run into an obstacle. For example, if you promised a customer an answer to his question today, but you still don’t have the answer, it’s critical to call him today anyway. Giving him the update that you are still waiting for an answer and giving him a new commitment for getting back to him will assure him that you are someone he can count on to do what you say.

Being a person others can count on is an important character trait. Your reputation and your personal brand depend upon your ability to keep your word consistently.

Leadership is stressful. It becomes even more so when work disasters happen or things don’t go as planned. However, it is particularly important to be careful how you behave during the worst of times. It is during these times that you create a lasting reputation for your leadership style.

Some people are naturally calm in the face of trouble. Most people, however, are known to overreact from time to time. For some people, it is certain circumstances that cause upset, while for others, the negative reaction is based more on their current mood at the time or how well other things are going.

Regardless of what sets you off, it’s important to know when you are getting angry, and to take action before you lose your cool. It is ok to show that you are human, but it undermines you as a leader when you lose control. Walk through these four steps when you feel a meltdown coming on.

Take a deep breath and think about the situation for a minute. Don’t speak immediately, particularly if you will be speaking in anger.

Determine if you must take action immediately. In many cases, it’s ok to wait until you’ve cooled off to decide how to handle the situation.

Formulate a plan. When you’re able to do so objectively, create a plan to fix the problem, as best you can.

Take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. One of the best ways to avoid losing your cool is to take any measures possible to prevent being in the negative situation in the first place. As part of this step, it’s important to make certain that people involved know that the situation is unacceptable to you. This allows them to help prevent it in the future as well.

When you can handle yourself calmly in any situation, you demonstrate exceptional leadership skill. This trait will help you to make the best decisions in the worst of situations. It will also help ensure that employees and others that deal with you feel comfortable with telling you the truth and respect you for your ability to handle whatever business throws at you.

Ambitious people often spend a great deal of time working on improving their areas of weakness. This is a noble endeavor, and will help you to improve your skills and become a better leader. But, don’t make the mistake of spending so much time trying to improve in areas where you struggle that you forget to make the most of the areas where you shine. Leveraging the strengths you already possess is just as important as improving areas where you are not as adept. Here are some unique ways that leveraging your strengths can help you and your business.

1. You can take the most active role in your business where it makes the most sense. Rather than spending a lot of time trying to hone your accounting skills so that you can manage your own books, spend that time using your already powerful sales skills to bring in more business. Then, you’ll have more money to pay an accountant to manage the books.
2. You can become a leader and mentor. One of the best ways to develop your employees and others in the community is by sharing your skills as a leader and mentor. When you focus on those things you are good at, you are more able to impact and teach others.
3. You can increase the awareness of your business in your community. Leverage your skills for good, as well as in your business. Volunteer in a community organization or work in your church in an area where you excel. As you meet new people through your volunteer work, not only will you be making a difference in your community, but you will also shining a light on your particular business skills.

As a leader, it is critical to continue to grow and learn new skills. Just remember that you got where you are today because you already possess some pretty impressive abilities. Be proud of these, and use them where they can bring the most benefit to you and to others around you.

One primary sign of a good business leader is the willingness to take action when needed. Too often, problems languish due to a hesitation to make a definitive move forward. However, in addition to being willing to make a decision and take action, it is just as important for a leader to take the appropriate action at the time. Here are some tips to ensuring the action you’re about to take is the appropriate one.

1. Is it necessary? There are times when a problem doesn’t really require action. We may be tempted to take unnecessary action because we are upset or have a strong opinion on the situation at hand. But, before you make a move, consider how the scenario might play out if you do nothing. Sometimes, letting a situation resolve itself without your intervention is the best course of action.
2. Is it well thought out? Once you’ve decided that it is important to take action, it is equally important that you take the right action. Look at all your options, and choose carefully. Don’t be afraid to ask for input from those who will be affected by the actions you’re about to take.
3. Is it timely? Taking action at the wrong time can be costly. Be certain to evaluate the timing of your action. The right move at the wrong time can be just as costly as the wrong move. This is especially true of situations that involve people who may be hurt or angry. Sometimes, a cooling off period will change perspective on the situation.

One of the marks of a great leader is the ability to make good decisions and move forward, even in times of uncertainty, and even when these decisions must be made quickly. However, even in the most urgent of times, it pays to take a minute and ask yourself the three questions mentioned above before you make a move.

In today’s business world, there are many buzzwords surrounding the idea of effective leadership and executive management. One of the most recent catchphrases is “authentic” leadership. The phrase has been coined, in part, out of a realization that many business people act more as “bosses” rather than “leaders” and may struggle with the concept of leading in a way that is true to themselves. Here are some traits that help set apart “authentic” leaders from those who are in leadership positions, yet continue to act as bosses.

1. Authentic leaders create change. Anyone can become unsatisfied with the status quo when he sees it isn’t working. A true leader, however, creates change when the status quo isn’t working. Leaders are people who have tangible results.
2. Authentic leaders operate with integrity. The most effective leaders have a moral compass that guides their behavior. They are true to their word and have a genuine desire to make a positive difference. They treat other people the way they want to be treated in business and in their personal lives.
3. Authentic leaders act. They don’t ask others to do what they are not willing to do themselves. They work hard, without waiting for others to step up. One of their greatest qualities is their ability to inspire others to work hard because of their initiative.
4. Authentic leaders are involved. The best leaders usually have many other activities outside of work. They often raise families and are deeply involved in their communities. This variety of priorities and commitments gives them the motivation they need to keep making a difference. The best leaders are busy doing things they want to be doing.

The actions of a leader are what separate them from those who operate as bosses. Leaders motivate others to be their best selves because of the example that they set. If you strive to be a leader in your own business, find the activities and outcomes that speak to you and then set up your own life to have the authentic tone that will not only make you your very best, but will inspire others to be their best, as well.