Keys to Developing Resiliency

by Tiffany Crosby on 07/03/12

The marketplace has begun to place a high value on resiliency, and indeed, it should. The ability to bounce back from adversity is never more needed than now with our constantly changing business environment. So, it’s within this context that I pose this question: “What are you doing to develop your own resiliency and the resiliency of your team?” There are some that would contend that you can’t develop resiliency until you’re tested. They would contend that it’s the testing process that develops the resiliency muscle. And as you’re continually tested, that muscle gets stronger. I disagree. I believe that you need to develop your resiliency quotient before you’re tested or you won’t pass the test. Look at this way, how many of you would:

 

·         Show up on marathon race day having never participated in any training?

·         Show up at a conference where you are the keynote speaker having never prepared yourself to speak?

·         Show up for final exams having never attended class, read the material, completed homework, or studied for the exam and expect to get an A?

 

No, in each case you would prepare yourself for the event. Now you might say that these are not comparable because you know what you’re preparing for in each of those cases. When it comes to building resiliency, you don’t know what situation you’re going to face, so how can you possibly prepare?  The answer is so amazingly simple that you may be a bit disappointed. In my experience, I found that resiliency comes down to mindset. We have to train our minds to focus on the end goal and not the current situation. Why is that?

 

·         When you are focused on the ultimate goal, you’ll begin to realize that there are many paths to achieving that goal and that one door being closed doesn’t impact goal achievement.

 

·         When you are focused on the ultimate goal, you’re more open to trying different things. You’re more willing to experiment and it’s out of experimentation that innovation occurs. New products, new ideas, and new strategies do not arise from doing things the same way or from thinking about problems the same way.

 

So how do you retrain your mind? How do you take every thought captive so that they are leading you forward and not allowing you to wallow in the past? This is not keep as simple. It takes time and it takes intentional action on a daily basis. It begins by establishing triggers that will remind you to focus on your goal throughout the day. These triggers may be pictures, quotations, mementos, or the like. The key though is that they cannot become just routine items that you notice but don’t notice. They can’t just be there. They have to trigger some type of action on your part. The action may be as simple as leaving an encouraging voicemail to your team or reviewing and reaffirming the visioning statement that you so painstakingly developed. Anything that gets your focus squarely back where it belongs suffices. Done frequently enough, you will begin to think in the terms of possibilities instead of obstacles and that defines the resilient mindset.

 

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