If we’ve learned anything in recent years, it is that we need to be resilient. Of course, a leader’s resilience helps a lot when facing a challenge as staggering as a global pandemic. However, there are many other times in healthcare organizations that may involve unpredictability, change, stress, or even crisis. When you face big challenges in your role as a healthcare executive, your resilience, or lack of it, will determine how well you fare. It also will determine how well your employees cope, perform, and recover. Gleeson(1) explains, “You can’t build resilient teams without resilient leaders.” Your employees will be looking to you as a role model of how to handle themselves during times of turbulence, uncertainty, and change. Those who see you behaving calmly and with positive focus while under pressure will feel reassured and will most likely try to emulate you. However, leaders who react emotionally and become visibly overwhelmed when under stress will undermine their employees’ confidence, in both their leadership and in the organization. Gair(2) calls this a “ripple effect” and warns that modeling fear, doubt, and anxiety, especially in tough times, can negatively affect productivity and hurt your employees’ overall sense of well-being.
It is relatively easy to captain a ship in calm waters. Keeping the ship stable, afloat, and on course in a storm is far more challenging. Yet, the storm is exactly where the true mettle of a leader is tested. Your personal resilience is vital to your ability to guide your employees through the dark times, and research bears this out. For example, Folkman’s(3) leadership competency study found that when looking at ratings of leaders’ overall leadership effectiveness by their managers, peers, and direct reports, “It is obvious that the most resilient leaders are viewed as the most effective leaders as well.” Southwick et al.’s(4) research suggests that one of the reasons that resilient leaders are so effective is that they understand the importance of facing fear, particularly the fear of change. They found that leader resilience is “a facilitator of change, along with a means of quick recovery.”
The storm is exactly where the true mettle of a leader is tested.
It is easy to see that leaders need to become as resilient as possible so they are ready and able to meet the challenge of whatever lies ahead. This article explores specifically how you can become a more resilient leader. It warns you of the obstacles you may encounter when trying to do so and also suggests how you can build more resilient healthcare organizations and teams. We begin by determining precisely what it means to be a resilient leader. As you’ll see, it is far more than appearing to remain unruffled while under pressure.
What Is a Resilient Leader?
The American Psychological Association(5) defines resilience as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.” Resilience in leadership is the capacity not only to endure the great challenges your healthcare organization faces, but also to get stronger in the midst of them. Southwick et al. say, “Resilience can be defined as the ability to regain balance following exposure to an adverse event,” and to lead others forward successfully.
Leader resilience is not simply a matter of toughing it out or keeping a stiff upper lip when one is needed.
Notably, a leader’s resilience is not an end state of being, as many people think. Rather, it is a process of adaptation and growth within a risky landscape. A leader’s resilience will be tested anew by each challenge, and they will adapt their resilience strategically to whatever will be most effective in that particular moment. Resilient leaders, therefore, accurately assess both the challenge and the appropriate response. They are able to adapt to stressors, recover from setbacks, maintain a relatively stable trajectory of healthy functioning, harness resources to maintain well-being, and find personal growth as a healthy adaptation to each unique stressor. Folkman suggests that when faced with ambiguity during a challenge, a resilient leader “finds ways to move forward and avoids getting stuck.” A leader’s positive attitude while facing a stressor, or lack of one, is also a measure of their resilience.
Leader resilience is not simply a matter of toughing it out or keeping a stiff upper lip when one is needed. We often think of resilient leaders as bold, unflappable, and not easily affected by stress, failure, or setbacks. Although resilient leaders handle challenges with grace, most feel the impact of the challenges they face, even if they don’t share everything they feel with their employees. They may appear to be unruffled swans that glide effortlessly and gracefully on the water, yet they may be paddling like crazy below the surface. How leaders look, what they say, and how they behave while under pressure is only one part of what it takes to be resilient; it’s what’s below the surface that matters too. Gleeson suggests that a leader’s resilience is the product of a “broad perspective,” including both how to act while under pressure, but also being attentive to knowledge and care of oneself before, during, and after a challenge. Gleeson explains, “Resilience taps into your ability to adapt but also as relies on your own knowledge about yourself—your values, confidence, and optimism.”
Resilient leaders know who they are and stay true to themselves even in the toughest of circumstances. They have defined and live their core leadership values and are guided by them through the stressful times. They overcome major difficulties without engaging in what Kohlreiser et al.(6) call “dysfunctional behaviors” that harm themselves and others. They check in with themselves frequently while facing challenges to see what they need and what would help them most, be it food, exercise, rest, talking out their concerns, self-care, or asking for support. Kohlreiser et al. say that resilient leaders identify healthy coping mechanisms that will best allow them to relieve their tension and regain their positive energy. Resilient leaders know that they must be ready to jump into action quickly at any time. Therefore, they invest in their own physical and psychological health as a way of life, knowing that both will be needed when facing unforeseen leadership challenges. Moreover, resilient leaders do not hold their stress inward, at least not indefinitely, or take their stress out on others at work or at home. They recognize when and how to relieve their stress and/or know when to ask for help, and from whom.
Resilient leaders are not all cut from the same cloth, and they probably will not behave the same way in every situation. However, Gleeson suggests that they generally tend to do the following:
Maintain emotional equilibrium and composure under stress;
When upset, avoid agitating others by spreading tension and anxiety;
Tolerate ambiguity or uncertainty and adapt readily to new situations;
Handle mistakes or setbacks with poise and grace;
Put stressful experiences into perspective and avoid dwelling on them;
Invest in their own physical and psychological health;
Communicate confidence and steadiness during difficult times; and
Have the support necessary to cope with emotional overload.
Twenty-five Ways to Become a More Resilient Leader
There are many strategies that you can use to develop your resilience as a leader. Choosing to work on even one or just a few of the 25 strategies below can help you both to become more resilient and to appear to be resilient to others.
Become more self-aware. The body is very smart and often knows how we are feeling before we do. Pay closer attention to your body’s response to stress and don’t discount or dismiss how you are feeling. Gleeson asks, “Do you feel your heart rate going up? Do you get hot? Do you clench your jaw?” The sooner you recognize that your body is going into stress, the sooner you can do something to manage it.
Define your core leadership values. Resilient leaders believe in a core set of moral and ethical principles that help guide them and give them strength during times of uncertainty and stress. Peterson and Seligman(7) identify six virtues as signature resources that leaders can draw from to increase their performance during challenging times, as well as good times: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. According to Southwick et al., “Taken together, these signature characteristics are powerful components for both personal resilience and by extension, leadership resilience.”
Learn to be more flexible. Resilience has been associated with multiple expressions of flexibility. According to Southwick et al., these include “knowing how to accept situations that cannot be changed, having the capacity to switch between different modes of thought and coping mechanisms, learning from failure, and finding meaning, opportunity, and the potential for growth in the context of adversity.”
Cultivate more and better relationships. Trusted friends and colleagues can be a source from whom leaders can draw strength and guidance, especially when facing seemingly insurmountable crises. According to Gavin,(8) “A robust professional network can provide access to people with different perspectives and skills, along with resources that can be leveraged to build high-performing teams and drive key projects forward.” Strong personal bonds give us the confidence to take risks, stretch, and aim for high goals. They are also vital in supporting us as we recover from failure and disappointment. Growing your network and learning from peers with diverse backgrounds and talents are two resilience strategies that will help you to overcome your leadership challenges, Gavin says.
Become more focused, organized, and disciplined. Look for ways to organize and streamline your work when a task is causing you stress. Gleeson suggests that effective strategies include defining roles, clarifying expectations, managing a project schedule, and completing tasks ahead of deadline. He says, “Gaining focus may reduce stress.”
Become better at asking for support. Resilient leaders have at least one trusted person with whom they can let their hair down and ask for support. However, they do not share their stress with people who are not trustworthy or who may be hurt by it. Gair says, “It may be tempting to vent to colleagues about a stressful situation or bad news, but remember that as a leader, you help set the tone for the organzation. Find healthy ways to vent that frustration to people who don’t work with you, like a family member or a friend.” A coach can also provide needed support in trying times, as well as useful feedback.
Regularly reflect and assess. Self-reflection and feedback from trusted peers and others can help leaders to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and motivational drivers, and approach challenges with what Gavin calls “a keen sense of emotional intelligence.” Assess your leadership effectiveness regularly. In so doing, Gavin says, “You can adapt your leadership style to tackle complex business problems and steer your team through turbulent situations.”
Develop wellness rituals. A fitness ritual, good sleeping habits, maintaining excellent hydration, and even getting some fresh air can help you to manage challenges more effectively. Gleeson suggests that taking short breaks won’t significantly eat into your work time but will be well worth it to help you manage the pressure you’re under.
Become a better communicator. The most resilient leaders are effective at communicating their intentions to others. Folkman says, “They are willing to help others understand a new strategy or direction.” They don’t assume that everyone knows the rationale behind their decisions. Rather, they share their strategy with them clearly and in as much detail as is needed so that everyone can be on the same page.
Seek to improve your organization. Resilient leaders are not satisfied with the status quo and continually ask, “How can we improve?” Innovation requires leaders to be good observers and diagnosticians. They must be able to interpret performance data and be able to encourage adaptive change. As Southwick et al. suggest, “Modern leaders, particularly those in fields that are rapidly evolving, must know how to foster innovative change.”
Gain a broader perspective. It’s easy to hyperfocus on the problem right in front of you and to lose sight of the larger picture. When that happens, resilient leaders take a deep breath and put the problem into its larger context. By doing so, they often find that their challenges are not as bad and insurmountable as they originally thought. As well, resilient leaders do not inflate, dwell on, or run away from their mistakes and failures. Gleeson suggests, “Strive to get beyond the pain and disappointment and refocus on what you can learn from the experience and apply to future circumstances.” Keep in mind that your leadership challenges present opportunities for you to learn more about yourself and to bolster your resolve to overcome hardship. Says Gavin, “Approaching challenges with a positive outlook allows resilient leaders to bounce back from adversity and come out stronger on the other side.”
Create an executable plan. Gleeson suggests that leaders develop personalized resilience development plans with the help of a coach, mentor, or trusted peer. To do so, start by identifying any obstacles to your resilience. Ultimately, with that experience under your belt, you can develop a team resilience plan to help those you lead. (For more information on this topic, see the sidebar “Twelve Ways to Build More Resilient Healthcare Teams” that accompanies this article.)
Become more receptive to feedback. Resilient leaders are open to feedback and often ask others for it. Then, they listen, even if they don’t like what they hear, and demonstrate a sincere effort to improve. Resilient leaders are both humble and coachable. Folkman warns, “As we look at this skill [receptivity to feedback] we see that younger employees are often coachable, but many people become less coachable as they age.” The most resilient leaders, however, continue to ask for and are receptive to feedback throughout their careers.
Become more realistically optimistic. Resilient leaders are optimistic about their organizations. They believe that the future will be bright, that setbacks can be overcome, and that there is light at the end of dark tunnels. However, it is important to accept that resilient leaders are also realistic about their optimism. According to Southwick et al., “Realistically optimistic leaders do not prematurely sound alarms, nor do they engage in confirmation biases or immediately discount information that does not fit with the expected business plan.” Resilient leaders are neither overly nor inadequately optimistic. They base their optimism on accurate risk appraisals and pay close attention to areas of potential threat and vulnerability, giving them their proper due.
Establish and maintain boundaries. When facing big challenges, leaders often feel compelled to work long hours and drive themselves to the point of exhaustion. Unfortunately, extreme overwork is directly related to lack of effectiveness and poor decision-making. Spillane(9) says, “When leaders don’t set boundaries for themselves, they run the risk of burnout. Even worse, they set an example for their teams that can leave employees feeling worn out, undervalued, and disengaged.” For these reasons, resilient leaders say no to overwork when it threatens their effectiveness and resilience.
Focus on more delegation and less multitasking. Resilience sometimes requires letting go of the way we do things. Gleeson warns, “You may believe that your stamina is boundless, but it is not.” Resilient leaders know this and free themselves of the tasks that they can. They let go of unimportant, nonurgent work or delegate those tasks to others. In place of that work, they do something that inspires and rejuvenates them. They tackle their most important and complex work in the most productive part of their day. Then, they build time into their schedules to recharge.
Become more comfortable with risk. Resilient leaders are willing to take risks, try new ideas, and make bold changes. It is easy for leaders to become stuck in a rut in which they continue to conduct work in the same way from year to year. Folkman warns, “That approach works well until the world changes, requiring organizations to change or die.” Big challenges sometimes require big responses that are different from the ones that leaders have used before.
Redefine work–life balance. The balance among the various parts of your life is complicated. Gleeson explains, “Demands and interests change over time, and what feels like balance at one point quickly becomes outdated.” If your life revolves around who you are and what you value, you will feel balanced, even when you must temporarily prioritize one part of your life over other parts. Gleeson says.
Learn how to face your fears. The ability to face fear dramatically broadens the range of possibilities and choices available to a leader, while avoidance of fear is highly constricting. One of the most common fears that leaders must face is fear of change. Southwick et al. say, “Unfortunately, change within an organizational structure is often experienced as frightening and not all team members respond to change in a resilient manner.” Resilient leaders will be aware of fear within themselves and others and work to mitigate and manage it.
Develop others. Resilient leaders are interested in their own development and also are concerned with the development of others. Folkman says, “Resiliency is needed when we encounter failure. Developing others helps everyone learn from their mistakes.”
Become a more curious learner. Resilient leaders listen to podcasts. They read, take a course, learn new skills, and gain new understandings, and apply those lessons during times of stress and change. They don’t resist trying new approaches to their work when under pressure. Gleeson warns, “Don’t be that person [who isn’t curious]. It only leads to failure.”
Learn to respond, not react. Reacting is an automatic, emotional knee-jerk reflex caused by a stressor, while responding is much more objective, thoughtful, and strategic. In most cases, modeling a response rather than a reaction for your employees will mean keeping negative emotional reactions to yourself. Gair suggests, “Acknowledging what you have heard in the moment and then sharing your thoughts once you’ve had a chance to process them models self-restraint and maturity,” and is a hallmark of resilience.
Become more purpose driven. Resilient leaders do not lose sight of who they are, what is true, their values, and their purpose, even when they feel pressure to do otherwise. Staying true helps them to be more resilient and to lead more authentically, Gavin says, and to “rally employees around a mission when a challenge arises.” In fact, resilient organizations have leaders who demonstrate continual, unwavering support of its mission. According to Southwick et al., “Through their words and action they [purpose-driven leaders] are able to visualize a positive mission charter for the organization, effectively communicate the plan to others, and encourage strong commitment to the course of action.” A full “reservoir of commitment” encourages a higher tolerance for uncertainty and perseverance in the fact of threat, Southwick et al. say.
Practice being accountable. When challenges arise, employees will need to know that they can count on their leaders to provide them with the support, resources, and guidance they need. Spillane says, “The time to start building that track record for accountability is long before a situation that calls for resilience.” Resilient leaders demonstrate their accountability when the stakes are low so their employees will trust that they have stable, resilient leadership behind them. That will help them to get back on track when they face bigger challenges and when they must overcome disappointments and failures.
Become more decisive. The most resilient leaders do not get bogged down in decision-making. They are effective at making timely decisions and moving forward. Folkman adds, “If they make the wrong decision, they are quick to make a different decision and move in another direction.”
Obstacles to Leader Resilience
Several psychosocial, neurobiological, developmental, and environmental factors can support or interfere with a leader’s ability to remain resilient in the face of challenges. Southwick et al. say that psychosocial resilience factors supported by scientific literature include:
The capacity to face fear and regulate emotions;
Optimism and positive emotions;
Active as opposed to passive problem-focused coping;
Adherence to a valued set of ethical and moral principles;
Disciplined focus on skill development;
Altruism;
Attention to physical health and fitness;
A strong social support network;
Cognitive flexibility;
The ability to reframe adversity in a more positive light; and
Commitment to a mission or cause that is meaningful and highly valued.
Southwick et al. explain, “In many cases it is not known whether these factors promote resilience or simply are associated with it.” Nonetheless, a lack of these psychosocial factors may be a huge obstacle to a leader’s resilience. Fortunately, leaders who find themselves lacking one or more of these resilience factors can seek help to learn to develop them.
Similarly, Gleeson describes a short list of emotional and behavioral “blockages” to a leader’s resilience. He suggests that the following characteristics may make a leader slower to recover after a setback or cause a leader’s mental health, productivity, and relationships to suffer. According to Gleeson, you may be undermining your resilience if you:
Have a difficult time saying no to requests;
Struggle to prioritize;
Ruminate after difficult conversations and conflicts (which prolongs a stressed state);
Lose track of just how overcommitted you’ve become;
Work in a highly competitive culture and sacrifice periodic reflection for constant action;
Have little control over your work or what assignments you take on;
Sacrifice empathy for toughness;
Rely upon existing strengths, failing to develop new skills;
Are so self-reliant that you can’t trust others; or
Seem so positive that your optimism seems unrealistic to others.
Feedback and introspection can help you to identify whether you have any of these blockages. As with the psychosocial factors described by Southwick et al., it is possible to improve in each of these areas through learning and practice.
The neurobiology of resilience is a relatively new and interesting area of investigation and may give us a clue as to why some leaders are more naturally resilient than others. A variety of neurochemicals have been shown to mediate resilience via the body’s response to stress. According to Southwick et al., some of these include adrenalin, noradrenalin, cortisol, dopamine, and neuropeptide Y (NPY). Southwick et al. say, “Research shows that individuals with higher levels of oxytocin, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and NPY may be more psychologically hardy and resistant to high-pressure situations.” These neurohormones regulate the stress response in areas of the nervous system and brain known to be activated during fear and autonomic arousal. Additionally, Southwick et al. say, social bonding and interpersonal relations, important in teamwork, are mediated by oxytocin and vasopressin, while learning and critical thinking are mediated by glutamate and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. They explain, “Specific brain regions involved in these processes include the amygdala (i.e., processes emotions such as fear and threat appraisal), the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex (i.e., makes rational decisions and regulates emotions), the hippocampus (i.e., learning and memory), and the nucleus accumbens (i.e., reward).” More research will help us to understand if and how individual neurobiological differences in leaders cause or influence their resilience, or a lack of it, and even whether illness or neurochemical imbalances may be obstacles to their resilience.
Certain developmental factors may be obstacles to a leader’s resilience. Southwick et al. explain, “The type and amount of stress that one experiences in childhood can have a marked impact on how one handles stress as an adult.” Research in both animals and humans has shown that repeated stress that is overwhelming, unmanageable, and perceived as out of one’s sense of control can lead to exaggerated emotional, behavioral, nervous system, and neuroendocrine responses to future stressors. In contrast, exposing children or young animals to repeated stressors that they can control or master, particularly during key developmental periods, tends to have an “inoculating” or “stealing” effect, Southwick et al. say, so that as adults they can better modulate neurobiological, behavioral, and emotional responses to future stressors. Southwick et al. add, “It is also likely that the mastery of substantial challenges early in the life has a stress inoculating effect, leaving the individual stronger and better prepared to deal with future challenges.” Leaders who believe that childhood challenges and traumas may be lowering their resilience may want to seek help to address these issues. Those who lacked manageable challenges in early life to help them develop their resilience may similarly be helped with self-work.
Finally, environmental factors can be obstacles to leader resilience. For example, Dohaney et al.’s(10) study found that support, leadership, and planning are critical in building and inhibiting resilience, and that a lack of these factors can threaten a leader’s resilience. They suggest also that the organization itself can foster or thwart resilience to major disruptions and challenges. Frequently mentioned organizational barriers to leader and team resilience among their study participants include:
Lack of staff time and resourcefulness;
Lack of institutional mandate, buy-in, and acknowledgment;
Limited or weak existing systems;
Employee unwillingness to change, adapt, and be flexible; and
Lack of planning for improving resilience and responding to disruption.
The most common barrier to resilience mentioned in Dohaney et al.’s study was employees feeling “overworked with fewer resources and sustaining high workloads.” They suggest that leaders will require ongoing support and incentives to ensure that resilience-building initiatives are undertaken or maintained in their organizations.
As you can see, some of the obstacles to leader resilience are within your control, while others are not. Either way, it is important for you to recognize and assess the obstacles you encounter so you fully understand the complexity and depth of the challenge you are facing. As well, focusing and working on the obstacles you can improve will help you to increase your resilience, even if you are not fully successful. Small improvements can help, and taking action will help you to feel more in control as you face future leadership challenges.
How to Build a Resilient Healthcare Organization
Stressors as enormous as those we have faced in recent years are harbingers of the extraordinary challenges we are likely to face in the years to come. Suarez and Montes(11) warn that in addition to health crises, “Climate change, massive migration flows, and technological advances will all dramatically reshape the social and economic landscape in ways we can’t fully anticipate.” However, healthcare organizations aren’t helpless. They can and must prepare themselves to cope with novel and uncertain situations. Fortunately, just as leaders and employees can be resilient, so, too, can healthcare organizations.
Keep in mind that every routine and process you use in your healthcare organization is based on a significant number of assumptions.
Southwick et al. say: “A resilient organization not only survives, but also thrives in an environment of change and uncertainty.” This “reservoir of commitment” encourages a higher tolerance for uncertainty and perseverance in the face of threat, they say. Resilient healthcare organizations also have sound, well-established routines for getting things done. Suarez and Montes(11) say, “The task at hand may be as lofty as acquiring a competitor or as prosaic as filling out a time sheet, but if you look closely, you’ll find a reliable process to guide you through it.” Routines often are taken for granted in stable periods but become invaluable when an organization faces new challenges. Knowing what to do and how to do it provides a foundation of resilience. Therefore, before the next challenge or crisis hits, Suarez and Montes suggest, “It’s wise to spend time thinking systematically about the granular nuts-and-bolts processes you use—and to experiment with alternatives.”
Keep in mind that every routine and process you use in your healthcare organization is based on a significant number of assumptions. Therefore, devote some time to figuring out what those assumptions are, especially for your key routines. Then think about how you’d operate if those assumptions did not hold. Suarez and Montes suggest using the following four questions to assess the assumptions behind your routines:
Which types of decisions do you assume must be made by high-level managers? How do you envision those decisions being made in a crisis?
Do you assume (or do you know) that your existing processes have been revised and perfected over time? Are they optimal? Will they hold up in times of duress?
Where in the flow of work do problems consistently arise? Is there an argument for reshaping that segment of the process or allocating more resources to it? What would happen if you suddenly had to get that chunk of work done much faster or with fewer resources?
Do you assume that organizational resources are allocated well to your routines? Would you reapportion them if you suddenly had to respond to a major disruption? What would happen then?
In addition to routines, resilient organizations also develop simple rules that will guide them both when things are stable and when they are not. Suarez and Montes say, “Rules of thumb help you speed up processes and decision-making and prioritize the use of resources in less-predictable contexts.” Furthermore, resilient organizations are good at improvisation, what Suarez and Montes define as “spontaneous, creative efforts to address a problem or opportunity.” Role plays and simulations can be excellent training tools to help your employees to improve their improvisation skills.
These strategies—leader commitment, routines, rules, and improvisation—are all necessary for organizations to be resilient, and any organization will fare better if it can move easily among them. In fact, all four strategies are interdependent. Suarez and Montes explain, “People can improvise in the face of a crazy-seeming, unexpected situation, learn from the improvisation, and eventually develop a simple rule based on what they’ve discovered. Or they can revise an organizational routine after experimenting with new approaches to a particular task.” Fluency in leader commitment, routine building, rule building, and improvisation can improve performance and enhance resilience under any circumstances, including those when an organization faces extreme uncertainty or stress. Suarez and Montes add, “In fact, we believe that the ease with which teams refashion how specific tasks get done—whatever the level of turbulence—is the defining capability of a resilient organization.”
References
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Twelve Ways to Build More Resilient Healthcare Teams
Resilient leaders have a social and moral responsibility to foster resilience in their employees and to build resilient teams. Kohlreiser et al.(6) suggest, “They must become attuned to the people around them and learn to recognize when a colleague [or team] is under a lot of stress.” Resilient teams have a foundation of meaningful core values that all members believe in deeply and a sense of unity beyond what you find in many teams. Not coincidentally, Gleeson(1) adds, “They also have a tendency to show consistent and better-than-average profitability year after year.” Here are 12 strategies to help you build more resilient teams:
Recruit effective team members. Assembling a resilient team requires careful selection of individuals with diverse backgrounds and complementary expertise. Southwick et al.(4) suggest, “Certain personality characteristics and traits are particularly helpful when working in teams. Two of the most important character traits are industriousness and enthusiasm.”
Practice doing more with less. Suarez and Montes(11) say, “It’s hard for us to think of any actual crisis that doesn’t involve resource scarcity of some kind.” Challenge your team by asking it to achieve an ambitious goal with significantly fewer resources than normal. Or ask your team to brainstorm about how it would respond if a key resource suddenly became scarce.
Reach out to team members who seem stressed. Engage in an honest discussion about how the team member feels and why. Kohlreiser et al. suggest that sometimes the best way to initiate the conversation is to ask questions, such as, “Is everything all right? It appears you may be under a lot of stress. Is there anything I can do to help you?” Your questions should be gentle and respectful, not threatening, Kohlreiser et al. say, and lead to a definite plan for reducing or managing the team member’s stress.
Help employees to understand how their work fits into the whole. Organizations tend to ask employees to departmentalize and specialize, sticking to narrow tasks or activities. This structure is efficient and supports organizational routines. In uncertain times, however, deeper knowledge of how other areas function (perhaps gained through cross-training) makes a team more resilient. Suarez and Montes explain, “Team members develop a better idea of how their work depends on others’ work, and vice versa.” As a result, the team’s work is less likely to be disrupted when a routine is changed or resources become limited.
Talk less, listen more. The single most useful skill for building resilience in a team is for you to listen to your team members. Overby(12) warns that too many leaders “try to talk their employees out of what they’re feeling in challenging situations,” reassure them prematurely, or tell them that things are actually good and that they shouldn’t be upset. According to Overby, “This approach backfires, making team members feel misunderstood, condescended to, or resentful.” To build more resilient teams, never brush off a concern, Overby says, even if it seems unimportant to you.
Identify individual employee strengths. A leader who wishes to build team resilience concentrates on identifying and developing the individual strengths of each member of the team, then assigns work accordingly. Southwick et al. suggest, “Meet with team members separately to discuss their unique competencies; outline a plan to integrate these competencies into roles within the team.”
Invest in building your team’s expertise. New team routines, rules, and improvisations may appear to be spontaneous, but in reality, they rest upon a foundation of knowledge and training. Suarez and Montes suggest that knowing more prepares teams to make sound decisions and to create new ways of doing things when they need to.
Promote psychological safety. You can encourage team resilience when you make your team a safe place to take risks, share different perspectives, and ask questions. Overby explains that teams can more effectively tackle challenges and rebound from setbacks when they feel safe and supported. Protect your teams. Overby says, “Unnecessary and overly frequent change, unnecessary blindsiding or obfuscation, and even unrealistic positivity can sap otherwise resilient folks of energy and engagement.” Be honest about new or difficult situations and avoid unnecessary turmoil to protect your team members and their energy. As well, Ferrazzi et al.(13) suggest, “When it feels like there’s an elephant in the room, leaders of resilient teams create what we call ‘candor breaks’ to encourage team members to share their thoughts and feelings.”
Identify your team’s priorities. When a crisis is unfolding, red lights and alarms go off everywhere, and managerial attention becomes a very scarce resource. In such situations, leaders need to hyperfocus on the metrics that are central to moving the organization through the turmoil. By doing so, Suarez and Montes say, “They can help everyone tackle the most-pressing problems and concentrate on the activities that are essential to avoiding a collapse; everything else will simply have to wait.” Prioritizing often requires tough trade-offs. The metrics won’t be the same in every situation, however, so it’s useful to imagine a variety of scenarios for your team and to think through what they may specifically require, Suarez and Montes say.
Encourage commitment to building one another’s resilience. Ferrazzi et al. call this resilience-building strategy “co-elevation” and say that it is essential to establish clear and unambiguous expectations around team unity and peer-to-peer support. They say, “Any hesitation or reluctance to help a struggling colleague is a sign that deeper interventions may be needed.”
Learn to give up control. Resilient teams have a high leadership quotient. That means that many, if not all team members feel empowered to make suggestions and take on leadership roles in their areas of expertise. Southwick et al. explain, “Empowering teams serves to increase leadership capabilities within the organization and prepares others to assume a lead role when an unexpected challenge arises.” In fact, organizations that have survived dangerous times have often developed the ability to delegate authority and decision-making swiftly to people with expertise “on the front lines,” Suarez and Montes add.
Build team resilience again and again. Ferrazzi et al. suggest that team resilience is similar to a battery. They say, “It needs to be restored and recharged regularly.” Do not assume that a resilient team will stay resilient without some care and feeding, especially in the face of large challenges or changes in personnel. Make resilience building an ongoing team effort that you and your team treasure and continually renew.