Resilience is a confidence builder and a vital personal and business tool that can help to overcome workplace and personal change. See some key steps and tips for developing and nurturing resilience for yourself and your team.

Among many things in the world, and especially of late, business is forever shifting shape and feel. From the way we approach or maintain customers, to onboarding and training staff, or to our core values; every business is faced with a change or transition at one time or another. And for many, change can mean new personal or business challenges, troubleshooting tests, or even pressure to perform outside “the norm”. Whatever the case, a strategic priority for moving through many metamorphic situations is resilience.

Resilience builds confidence, aids individuals and teams to maintain motivation, and helps to smooth out any emotional or mental stressors. It provides a special kind of power that when we get knocked down or pushed aside, we can get back up or back on course again. Businesses and people who lead a culture of resilience, typically embellish this mindset, which can help move through change or new challenges; mentally, emotionally, or physically.

First, let’s examine a little closer – what exactly is resilience?

Summed up, resilience is an inner strength that presents the ability to recover and adapt from traumatic events or stressors. And in business, we find there are some common characteristics that resilient people hold:

• Being realistically sensible in the control of personal and business choices
• Knowing the limitations that follow this control
• Embracing change as an opportunity for improvement or a challenge to tackle, rather than a hindrance
• Has a strong network of people who can support them personally or in business, maintains these relationships, and protects their people
• Set and hold personal goals
• Understand when a good sense of humour is required
• Practices patience
• Holds a high tolerance of negative affect (which includes a variety of negative emotions)
• Looks at tasks, challenges, and life in general, optimistically
• Models adaptability

Stress, modifications or change, and unexperienced challenges are common elements of life and of work. However, using resilience as a vital, useful tool in business, can offer help at any level of an organization.

So, how do you grow a team culture of resilience or embrace the power of resilience for yourself personally?

Resilience may not be something that we are all born with. But it is in fact, a tool of personal and business trade that can be learned, simply by learning to understand it.

Following are five key elements that help to build a resilience foundation and understand its value.

#1 Keep Up Good Health and Exercise

According to the National Library of Medicine, physical activity and keeping healthy are important protective factors for the development of resilience. They say, exercise is known to induce many positive effects on the brain and represents a tool to influence neurodevelopment for learning how to react to life’s challenges. Among its beneficial effects, exercise intervention has been linked with cognitive improvement and stress resilience.

A good sleep routine, eating healthy, and staying hydrated will also help to stay fit and healthy to build resilience.

#2 Practice Relaxation Techniques

To be resilient, you must also know how to stay calm and relaxed, especially in stressful situations.

Some simple ways you can start to train your mind to remain relaxed are:

• Practice good work/life balance and spend quality time with family and friends
• Seek out activities that help you to relax or blow off steam – gardening, painting, cooking, going for a walk, exercising, yoga, etc
• Meditation is a great way to refocus and centre yourself. You might like to recharge, relax or improve focus by trying out some relaxation or meditation apps.

#3 Threat or Challenge?

When we consider something as a challenge, rather than a threat, we see its possibility for growth, development, or improvement. This creates a mindset that already starts to think about resources to troubleshoot and deal with it.

So, in the event of a threatening situation, simply practice reframing threats as challenges instead. This will lead to a better mindset and better productivity to overcome the challenge and control the outcome.

#4 Make Your Network Strong

Have you ever thought why someone so connected often seems more resilient? It likely has to do with the fact they feel supported by being able to reach out to others in their network when they need it most.

Connections and networks that support businesses and individuals are one of the most important factors for resilience. Support helps people to manage stress, work through challenges and build on new opportunities.

#5 Be Self-Aware and Monitor Stress Levels

Remember that as much may be going on around you, it is important to pay attention to the thoughts and feelings in your own head too. This helps to recognise when your resilience is tested, you are feeling stressed or your body simply needs some maintenance.

Learn to listen to your intuition and feel when your resilience might be getting tested or when you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed. What helps you to de-stress? Take the time to re-think and beat off any stress or negativity before it spirals.

This is especially important if you are leading a team too. If you see someone falling down or their work is suffering, what can you do to help them find their centre again?

An organization that builds resilient and adaptive leaders and employees will be better positioned to respond to changing markets, solve problems and troubleshoot, and tackle challenges with greater confidence and innovation.

Along with many other business services and tools, Optimum Consulting now offers a valuable assessment service which observes your current staff and new recruits to measure their level of resilience in varying situations.

For more information on this valuable service, just check in with one of our friendly team at Optimum Consulting. Get started here.

Alicia Sumich
Group Manager – Business Development

Alicia is a seasoned Recruitment Consultant with over 15 years’ experience in the Brisbane market. Having dealt with a diversified range of clients she has expertise in helping employers build “best in class” talent acquisition and talent management capabilities to attract, engage and retain high performing staff.