Adversity is certain. Resilience empowers you to work through adversity, enabling you to step outside your “safe zone” and face the unknown with greater confidence.
And while you may not realize it when you are in the middle of a crisis, you experience more personal growth as you move through adversity than at any other time in your life.
What is Resilience?
According to the American Psychological Association, “psychologists define resilience as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress.”
People and organizations that exhibit resilience demonstrate an ability to manage, albeit not always perfectly, changing conditions during a crisis. Resilience begins with a mindset or perspective that makes it possible to navigate through a crisis. It gives you the strength and courage to step out of your safe zone to move forward.
When I interviewed Tonya Jackson, Senior Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer of Lexmark she shared with me that “Resilience is believing there’s a path forward, fully acknowledging that it might be bumpy, it might be rocky, it might be messy, but we can get through it. The outcome might not be perfect, but we’re going to be in a better spot. Perfection is not the goal because there is rarely a perfect decision in a crisis. Most importantly, resilience is a conviction and belief that we can move forward.”
A Time of Growth
Learning takes place through the process of moving forward, especially when things don’t go your way. But when you are resilient you have the wherewithal to get back up and try again when you’re knocked down.
Resilience is an anchor, providing hope and allowing you to maintain composure when chaos is occurring all around you. Even when you have a crisis or disaster recovery plan, the road is going to be scary and uncertain. Resilience gives you the “how” blueprint, around which your crisis management plans can take shape and be executed.
Being resilience ready does not mean that you won’t face crises, or that you are supposed to emerge as the smartest, most strategic person who makes it through flawlessly. Your approach to navigating through a crisis, and the humanity you show as you lead others through it, demonstrates your resilience.
Becoming Resilience Ready
Your resilience naturally fluctuates due to the circumstances of a crisis, other challenges you are concurrently dealing with, and your stage of internal crisis response at a given point in time.
Every crisis you face will be a unique experience and will affect you differently.
Your resilience builds through practice – even when times are not tough – so that your habits formed around these principles are ingrained when tough times emerge and you need them. You become resilience ready.
