How would you rate your current level of resilience?
At the last Nonprofit CEO Roundtable, we talked about change and its impact on people’s work experience. Change triggers brain threats. We like to joke that CEOs (since they love creating change) are “walking brain threats!”
When you’re leading change, and threatening brains, it’s essential for your team to be actively increasing their level of resilience.
Resilience is the ability to adapt well in the face of adversity, change, trauma, or significant stress. Building it involves intentional practices and skills that can be developed over time including:
- PEOPLE - Maintain Strong Relationships. Intentionally build supportive relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. A support system can provide emotional help, advice, and encouragement during tough times (as long as you ASK for help!) In-person connection is critical to deeper level relationship because of its physiological impact on connection. While technology can bridge gaps when physical presence isn't possible, it's the irreplaceable depth and quality of face-to-face connections that truly bind people together.
- PERSPECTIVE - Look on the BRIGHT side. Developing an optimistic outlook while avoiding negative news can enhance your ability to handle stress and bounce back from challenges. The more negativity you allow in, the more positivity you are sapping from your psyche. Focus on what’s working in your life and reframe challenging circumstances as temporary and surmountable. What you focus on expands. Keep looking at the bright side, even if it’s only a sliver of light shining through.
- POWER - Embrace Change. Change creates disruption that you can run from or harness and use to power new levels of growth and development. Think about the times in life where you have evolved. There is a high probability that at the time, you were challenged by change. Viewing change as an inevitable part of life and an opportunity for growth can help you better navigate uncertainties and deal with brain threat! Change is certain. Growth is optional. Choose wisely!
- PRIORITIZE - Take Care of Yourself: You will always have more on your “to do” list than you have time for. Prioritize what really matters. Self-care is vital for resilience. This includes physical self-care (such as sufficient sleep, healthy eating, and movement) as well as emotional self-care (such as gratitude, practicing mindfulness or meditation, and seeking professional help when needed).
Incorporating these practices into your daily life can help you build and maintain resilience, enabling you to navigate through life's challenges more effectively and emerge from them stronger and more resourceful.
Pick one of these 4 practices to focus on and increase your resilience.
