The theme of resilience has been “hot” these days amongst my clients and friends. Makes sense – the world is truly in a BANI state (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible). So how do we build resilience to move past this sense of being beaten down? Often, people define resilience as the ability to “bounce back” – as though our goal after a setback should be to return to where we were before. But I think that true resilience is not about going back. It’s about being able to move forward despite any setback or turbulence — stronger, wiser, and with greater clarity.
I don’t know a single leader who has the luxury of simply recovering; they need to evolve – to come back ready to forge ahead from a place of strength and vision. So to me, building resilience is about learning to adapt, learn, and build the internal resources to navigate challenges with robust mental and emotional health.
How Do We Build Forward-Looking Resilience?
1. Create a Resilience Protocol When stress hits, have a structured approach: pause, assess, choose a response, and act intentionally
- Recognize & Name Your Stress – Awareness is the first step. Research has shown us that just recognizing and labeling emotions reduces their emotional intensity and gives you control. So, learn to recognize your emotions – name what you’re feeling to reduce its impact.
- Analyze the cause – Is it workload? A conflict? A deadline? A personal bias? Identify it.
- Consider a strategy – Breathe. Then choose a strategy aligned with your vision: you know how your emotions would want you to react. How would your values, your goals want you to react?
- Act with Intention and Authenticity – Make strategic, not reactive, decisions to regain balance and move towards actions that support your purpose.
2. Regenerate Don’t Just Rest – True recovery isn’t just about pausing; it’s about actively restoring energy through mindful breaks, movement, and connection. I’ve said this before: think about your cell phone, when the battery runs out, you don’t just set it aside to rest; you find an energy source and plug it in to charge up with that energy. Same for humans – what gives you energy? How do you get more of it? Rest is good and needed, but regenerating energy is a different thing. The more things you can develop to give you energy, the more resources you have available to you.
3. Strengthen Your Social Ties – Relationships are resilience boosters and, for most people, a valuable source of energy. So double down on connecting with people. Trusted allies also provide support, perspective, courage and encouragement.
4. Embrace Growth, Not Just Stability – Every challenge carries insights. The most resilient leaders don’t aim to return to baseline; they use adversity to evolve and are willing to “pay the price” by stepping past their comfort zones. As Wayne Gretzky, the famous hockey player, used to say “look where the puck is going, not where it is”
Resilience is not just about surviving the storm—it’s about learning to navigate through it and emerging even stronger.
What’s one step you can take today to build forward momentum, one that aligns with your larger purpose?
As always, let me know your thoughts, and if you want to talk about the ways we can work together, please reach out!
Best,
