Management Perspectives

Look around you, right now, and you will notice some people coping with problems that little bit better than others. Is that because they are simply ‘made of stronger stuff’?

Positive leaders may have built up resilience over the years—they may have been taught, they may have taught themselves, they may have learned from experience—when life gives them lemons, they make lemonade. They may already have built a strong support network whom they trust and can go to for help at any time. They may have worked out their goals and already know where the motivation needs to come from. Others may never have had that…but ‘anyone’ can learn.

Building resilience is like exercise for the mind; like physical fitness, it takes time and a little effort, but its effects are powerful.

The key is to know that resilience is not just about the strength to survive crisis. Rather, it is navigating three dips: The first (dip 1) of which is Crisis, often unexpected, and yes, you must survive…but, then what? Next you need to rebuild. The problem is dip 2: Exhaustion. Worse still, you have less community spirit around you, less support…why? Because others have themselves just survived crisis and all are fatigued. But, build your mental and emotional fortitude, and you will rise. Then comes dip 3: Competition. Why stop at normal when you can thrive? But, at that stage, others too may be growing, and you need that clarity and focus to flourish.

So how does one build resilience?
For teams and leaders at a personal/individual level:

1. Crisis is often the known enemy. While it does not hurt to have your energy tank topped up, survival in the crisis period is helped by adrenaline. The bigger the crisis, the more the support as the community pulls together. Where the hardest slog comes is when the crisis is conquered.
Ask yourself before or during the survival period (i.e., now):
- What or who keeps you going when you are exhausted?
- How can you take or find respite in a period of crisis?
- What is the minimum you need during the crisis stage to survive? (Thus, leaving less to repay, restore or rebuild)

2. After the storm is the calm, but that is the hardest part of all: rebuilding through exhaustion. There is devastation in the form of debt, despair, loss, trauma, and compassion is now running dry. You need to pick up again when there is less camaraderie, less charity, and even more fear of “now what?”
Ask yourself during the rebuild period:
- Who or what of your new collaborations can assist with your restoration?
- What renewed, revisited, or transferable skills can now be utilised?
…and do a regular ‘sense check’ on the consumer and client climate, exploring new areas or opportunities where possible.

3. You are now okay; you are finally back...but you cannot stop there. If you stop, you stagnate; and if others grow, you are moving backwards. Now you must thrive through competition.
Ask yourself when able to thrive
- Have all the exposed weaknesses been addressed satisfactorily?
- What lessons were learned and how can they inform your current decisions?
- Have you shown appreciation to all those who came together to pull through to this point…and do you continue to do so?
Then extend your focus at an organisational level; audit your areas of weakness.

i) Reflect on, and correct, areas of weakness in your initial response stages
While the same occurrence may not happen again in your lifetime, you may have identified certain areas in which your response was sluggish or affected company morale and trust. Be aware of what happened through asking the ‘5 whys’ (asking ‘why’ five times to get to the root cause of the problem).

ii) Know that intellectual awareness is not the same as practical preparation
It is all about very well knowing the ‘theory’ of what you might do, but it is action that is essential. In life coaching terms, I tell overthinking clients, “don’t be the most enlightened person that never lived.” You need to be able to put those ideas into practice, and if you cannot, then work to adapt them so you can.

iii) Are there wider opportunities or networks with whom you can grow collaboratively?
Use this time to network or reach out to explore opportunities especially since you have been afforded time to think, as well as holding the awareness that people’s habits and behaviours may change after a crisis. Also, consider previous areas of expertise which may even be now defunct; see if their revival would serve you well?

iv) Be aware of changing consumer/client behaviours
Following a crisis or changed situation, the lifestyle we had been used to may change and so would our consumers’ behaviour. Organisations need to keep abreast of and consider the possible mindset of their clients and customers.

v) Use the time to reflect on your own responsiveness and growth potential
Here are some questions to ask yourself if you have been gifted some quiet time:
- If you knew a disruption or crisis would last longer than the proposed 12 weeks, how might you respond?
- If you knew six months ago this would happen how would you prepare?
- What long term strategic projects may have to change or could be started as a result?
- With whom can you collaborate to help you with any changes of direction, or to help each other rebuild after financial loss or other negative effects?

vi) Be mindful of your ’fear responses’
Crisis brings fear, and fear can result in knee-jerk reactions. Be aware of what yours are so that you do not fall back into old habits. You would not drink poison if you were thirsty, why would you engage in toxic practices just because you are afraid?

vii) Future plan what worked
You may find that new adaptations such as ‘work from home’ resulted in a better productivity (and fewer overheads, more room to add location based services if people work from home and so on)—if this is the case, think carefully to best optimise any new implementations. Do not just rush into buying the technology you are using because “it works now”—think about how that method is going to work in the future and how you might want to use it and invest accordingly.

viii) Keep topping up your energy tank now
Resilience is the knowledge that you can, and will, cope before the act of proving it, and the best time to work on it is when things are calm. (When they are not, you need all that emotional and mental energy you have built up to survive and rebuild). It is the knowledge that you can, and will, cope in all three stages of resilience rather than the act of proving it. You will also find that if you have built up your strength, not only is survival and rebuilding easier, but also you are already better placed to find ways to thrive following the unexpected.