I grew up in a community of scientists. I went to school with lots of engineers. While science is not my passion, connecting the dots for people by finding a way to simplify big things is how my brain is wired. I see a need to understand what stress looks like for leaders in transition, people trying to self-manage through over promised and under resourced projects, individuals starting a new company, and a host of other situations. More than understand, a key life skill is to figure out how to get unstuck and moving forward. This is resilience.
Through personal trials, coaching, walking with friends, leading, and a host of other experiences I’ve settled on an equation I use to represent resilience.
Hope > Fear + Anger + Despair + Frustration + Worry + Hunger + Mistrust + (Fill in the blank)
When the > (greater than)sign switches and the right side takes over our personality changes. Is it normal for the equation to change on occasion? Yes. That’s life. Is it healthy to let the right side dominate too long? No.
This has been talked about before. In Good to Great Jim Collins talked about the Stockdale Paradox. Admiral James Stockdale’s(a prisoner of war) presented the survival method of acknowlodging the brutal facts of a situation but never losing faith that he would prevail. This is resilience.
As leaders, we need to take care of ourselves. Exercise. Prayer. Vacations. Healthy Diet. Reading. Naps. All of the above.
Remember that your resilience will rub off on your organization. When you are leading from the right side your stress behaviors come out and your ability to react/flex your leadership style to manage others goes away. The Birkman Method assessment identifies these as stress behaviors. When we name them, we have a chance to manage them.
In a slow economic recovery, resilience becomes as important as cash.