- March 21, 2023
The changing nature of business has always driven the need for organisations to build resilient workforces, particularly in case of significant and sudden economic crises, such as the pandemic. They cause major disruptions and truly test the ability to respond and adapt.
Consultancies are no exception. Guiding clients through uncertainty and challenging change journeys require resilient teams that can effectively adapt and persevere in the face of adversity and ambiguity.
Although commonly misconceived as an ‘innate trait’, resilience is a set of teachable skills that can be utilised during phases of change and uncertainty.
Common foundations for developing resilience tend to include fostering personal wellness, i.e., proper nutrition, exercise and ample sleep; and building a network of people that you can openly voice and share thoughts with. In addition, we want to share some practical advice that can help build personal resilience in any industry.
Four practical ways to improve your own resilience
Maintain perspective
A significant player in building resilience is shaping incoming irrational thoughts into a more balanced and realistic mindset. For example, when feeling overwhelmed by adversity, it can be easy to slip into a negative mind frame – expecting failure.
However, what is more beneficial is practising an objective outlook, acknowledging that the stressful occurrence isn’t an indicator of future developments. You can accept that you may not be able to change the stressful event, but you can alter how you interpret and respond by embracing it instead.
Preserve an optimistic outlook
Although often challenging, maintaining a hopeful mindset helps empower you to expect more positive outcomes.
Rather than focusing on the concerns, what can particularly help is visualising what the benefits could still be. This helps pave other avenues to achieve alternative and more desirable outcomes.
Noting and celebrating the small wins achieved along the way can provide additional encouragement.
Learning from mistakes
It is always beneficial to reflect, especially during more challenging encounters. Looking back at what you have learned in hindsight can spark ideas for how to respond more effectively in new difficult situations.
Additionally, reflecting on what went well and where you were able to demonstrate some key successes, despite the challenges, helps in highlighting what can be re-enforced in the future.
Accepting change
When facing multiple obstructions, certain ideals or objectives may no longer be attainable. In other words, we may need to revisit and reconsider the original plan so that we can account for the unanticipated issues that we found along the way.
What can be more useful is accepting the circumstances that can’t be changed and instead focusing on the opportunities that you can alter and influence.
Conclusion
There are a plethora of benefits to teaching and instilling resilience into teams. For example, it can allow individuals to draw upon deeper reserves during challenging times, leading to improved well-being and higher levels of cognitive function.
This becomes particularly important for consultants, as it drives better engagement and allows challenges to be met with focus and energy, which means that more value is delivered and ultimately resulting in happier clients.
Organisations can also help maintain momentum when building resilient teams by creating an open culture, where difficulty and hardship are seen through the lens of opportunities to improve. It allows room for individuals to sustainably evolve and be equipped to deal with unfavourable experiences.
Change, adversity and ambiguity will always remain inevitable, but how we decide to learn and respond to it is in our own hands.
What are your tips for building resilience? Leave your comments on our Linkedin post!