There are many stressors coming at us and our team members all the time. Experts advise that resilient leadership means building resilience in ourselves and our teams.
Since stress is inevitable, developing resilience – the ways to cope with stress that allow us to withstand it and recover quickly – is vital. Resilient leaders will recognize a stressful situation and be proactive about dealing with any sort of crisis or challenge in healthy ways.
Unfortunately, when we’re feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and overworked or burned out, we sometimes sabotage our resilience by falling into negative thought patterns. The less resilient we feel, the harder it is to bounce back from tough times.
Some ways folks self-sabotage their resilient leadership qualities include:
- Being pessimistic and falling into scarcity thinking rather than embracing an abundant mindset.
- Fearing failure and pursuing perfectionism, rather than finding the emotional courage to learn from mistakes.
- Engaging in negative self-talk and limiting beliefs rather than challenging them and reframing their narrative.
- Lacking the self-awareness and emotional intelligence to manage emotions (remember, you can boost your emotional intelligence).
Ways to Counter Stress and Develop Resilience
Some of the most common ways to build resilience and improve the ability to handle stress are related to healthy habits. These include things like:
- Honing problem-solving and decision-making skills.
- Getting adequate sleep.
- Making time for self-care (and this includes leadership self-care!).
- Eating well and staying hydrated.
- Exercising regularly – even when things are hectic.
- Practicing mindfulness.
- Enjoying hobbies and time with family or friends.
- Cultivating a growth mindset and building capacity.
The Power of Supportive Relationships: Resilient Leadership’s Hidden Strength
Resilience requires more than developing internal characteristics.While we can cultivate personal qualities to build resilience, it’s equally important to develop strong relationships and a solid support network.
The Harvard Business Review (HBR) identifies personal and professional relationships as the secret to resilient leadership. These interactions can be very motivating when we face hard times and challenges.
The HBR interviewed 150 successful leaders who shared that the people they lean on for support in their personal and professional lives help by:
- Providing support and empathy so negative emotions can be released safely.
- Helping to manage intense workloads.
- Bolstering confidence to be better self-advocates.
- Providing encouragement to see a way forward and to find purpose or meaning.
- Keeping perspective in times of difficulty.
Expanding Your Support Network
It’s helpful to have connections with people who will provide this support. Strengthening existing relationships is one way to cultivate a solid support network. This might be scheduling regular lunch meetings with work peers or participating in team-building activities with coworkers outside of work.
Finding new supporters (groups or individual people) helps to broaden your support network. This might be fostering relationships through an activity or faith organization, meeting with college friends or volunteering. Many of our clients have shared that one-to-one coaching has helped them weather storms at work and in their personal lives, which is supported by a controlled study that found executive leadership coaching fosters resilience by enhancing essential qualities and skills. By guiding leaders to navigate uncertainty, coaching drives organizational success through resilient leadership.
At Padraig, we offer two robust peer group programs that significantly contribute to the development of resilient leadership by creating a valuable platform for leaders to establish and strengthen their peer networks. These transformative programs are:
The Partnership — Our peer group program for experienced leaders. This program brings experienced leaders together in a small group with a certified executive coach for monthly group coached sessions and 4 private sessions of one-to-one coaching, over the course of the year.
The Network – Our peer group for new leaders and those who aspire to leadership roles. The Network provides coach-led group discussions as well as four fundamental leadership courses, over one year. The program meets monthly, alternating between 90-minute group coaching sessions and full-day courses. Participants in this program develop peer bonds as they become leaders — solidifying their connections for years to come. Each successful participant graduates with our Certificate in Leadership Foundations.
These programs can be either delivered in-house for your staff, or you can sign up for individual workshops through our public registration website at Odality.ca .
Coach’s Questions:
What have been the biggest challenges for you and your team this year? Which three sources of resilience would you like to cultivate? How can you help your team become more resilient?
