How to be more Resilient
Do you find that you are increasingly irritable and erratic? Is it hard to imagine ever getting back on top of things?
Resilience training is a trendy topic these days, but fashion-be-damned, surely this is just bandaging the symptom whilst ignoring the cause?
The Economic Environment has been relentlessly tough, complexity is rising (6.7% every year according to analysis by the Boston Consulting Group) and we are increasingly on demand 24/7. Shouldn’t we be finding ways to make work more, well, workable rather than finding ways to help us cope? Isn’t resilience training just fuelling an arms race where we all lose in the end?
In my view it should now be a top priority for organisations to take ownership of how thinly stretched many of us have become. In the meantime though, there is some really good stuff in some of the resilience training that’s out there, and it doesn’t do any harm to have a quick look at some of the key points:
Firstly, resilience isn’t the same as bouncing back. We tend to create rather a macho ideal of how we should react to adversity and anything short of a stoic, stiff upper-lipped response is a failure. It’s James Bond, straightening his tie as he walks calmly away from scene of complete carnage. Obviously next time I foil a global plot to seize control of the World’s Uranium deposits then this is exactly how I will react, but in the meantime, we have to cope with real life and it is not helpful to create unrealistic benchmarks which we will inevitably fall short of.
It’s OK to feel a bit rubbish for a while and to take time to get back control of emotions and our focus.
Secondly, we can give ourselves a few simple tools to help us cope with the small bumps in the road as well as the Biblical floods. Without going in to too much detail:
- Don’t catastrophise. If you’re running late for a meeting it’s not ideal but sprinting off in to a self-indulgent dark alley: “My boss will hate me, I’ll get sacked, I’ll lose my home…” is illogical and counter-productive.
- Don’t wallow in self-pity. I would say that Self-pity, not money or even the love of money is the root of all evil. It allows us to blame somebody else and let’s us off the hook for taking responsibility.
- Don’t attach your self worth to the wrong things. You may well want to win that new contract and you should throw the kitchen sink at trying to do so. Your self-worth should be all about how strong a case you have made not about whether you actually win the contract – this is outside of your circle of influence.
Executive Coaching will help improve your ability to ride the highs and lows of business, remaining effective and in control the whole time. These days, most top performers in business work with a coach.
If you would like to invest in yourself and the value of your business then call me on 07730 700258 to arrange a free introductory Coaching session.