5 Ways Leaders Can Increase Resilience During A Crisis

While pressure is a part of any job, leadership positions come with high demands and expectations especially during times of crisis. Questions that continually come up in my work with leaders during this time of crisis are:

• How leaders can be resilient during extended times of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity?
• What can leaders do to respond to this new wave of stresses in ways that they don’t become derailed—but instead adapt and thrive?

The ability to adapt and overcome for leaders during challenging times comes through exhibiting resilience. Resilience is the ability to stay focused and passionate about goals regardless of the unexpected setbacks and challenges. It’s the ability to look forward rather than backward, to consciously choose to get up rather than stay down, and to push on with confidence rather than give up.

Below are 5 ways leaders can increase resilience for themselves and their teams when navigating times of uncertainty.

1. Bring a Healthy Stress Mindset

In her wildly popular TED talk, Stanford researcher and bestselling author Kelly McGonigal shares research that shows one of the most important factors for healthy stress management seems to be how well people cope with stress rather than how much stress they face.

Studies show that people who view stress as bad are more negatively affected in terms of happiness and health. Those who view it as motivating report fewer symptoms such as headaches, backaches, and fatigue—even though they experienced the same amount of stress.

This fact makes it important for leaders to recognize the positive aspects of stress by knowing the human brain actually works best in the presence of this tension. Stress can improve cognitive ability and increase productivity and memory. Think about it: Some of the greatest human achievements occur in the midst of stress. Good stress tends to trigger the “challenge” response, which prompts us to step up, focus, and execute.

A healthy stress mindset includes:

• Looking at a stressful situation as a challenge rather than a threat.
• Awareness that you your body’s response to stress is helping you prepare for peak performance.
• Understanding that stress is caused only by things you find important. Connect with the meaning, and you’ll be able to make stress work for you.

2. Make Time for Renewal and Recovery

Tony Schwartz, the Founder and CEO of The Energy Project, has provided useful insights about how we're designed to move rhythmically between spending and renewing energy. His research shows when leaders recharge and renew, they can get more done in less time at a higher level of quality and in a more sustainable way.

But energy is finite, and leaders should not assume their energy is limitless. Leaders need to find ways to recharge their batteries. They should think of their executive life as a series of sprints which require ongoing renewal and recovery. Following are proven activities to recover and recharge energy.

• Exercise regularly
• Sleep a minimum of 7 to 8 hours at night
• Eat the right foods at the right times in the right portions
• Find something to look forward to
• Commit conscious acts of kindness

3. Foster Social Connections Within Your Teams

Resilience is found in teams that have strong social bonds. Focusing solely on tasks can work for short periods of time, but over a long haul these behaviors deteriorate social bonds. This isolation is problematic, as a strong social support system is the most important factor in creating resilient and productive teams during extended crisis.

During times of setbacks, challenges, change, and high demands, leaders must invest in social networks. Below are some ideas for facilitating team connection that can happen virtually or in-person.

• Celebrate Success —Too often, teams focus on the next crisis without acknowledging their successes. Take time out to celebrate wins.
• Gratitude—Take time in meetings to share appreciation for others or what the team has accomplished.
• Emphasize Team Collaboration—Leaders need to emphasize the importance of collaboration and address collaboration issues immediately.
• Regular Check Ins – Leaders need to be deliberate about checking in with their team leads and staff. This can be done by asking others “how are you doing?”, “what are your concerns?”, or “what do you need from leadership at this time?”

To foster resilience, pay attention to these cues on your team that could either chip away or build up psychological safety. Create environments where team members can share openly and equitably, demonstrating empathy for others in the process.

4. Practice Emotional Awareness and Regulation

Negative emotions like fear, anger, threat, and pride signal that a leader is seeing the world through a distorted lens. This is important to recognize, because in situations of high stress, the part of our brain that helps with advanced thought processes like strategy, trust building, and compassion shuts down. Our instinctive brain takes over.

So how do we prevent ourselves from being hijacked by our reactions? Neuroscience now supports the ancient wisdom psychotherapists, writers, and the philosophers have always stated: Simply recognizing and naming an emotion reduces its negative effect. Research repeatedly shows those quickest to recover from distress are people who can identify how they are feeling and put those feeling into words. When we take time to identify and label feelings, we become less stressed and can think more clearly and creatively, making it easier to find constructive solutions. As neuroscientists like to say, naming an emotion helps tame it; by becoming emotionally aware, we can then regulate our response. 

5. Role Model Resilience

Employees are always watching to see how their leaders address adversity and setbacks. A leader’s role doesn’t allow for pessimism about the future—as the team takes cues from its leader about how to respond in difficult times. 

One such model of resilience is Admiral Jim Stockdale, a United States military officer who was held captive for eight years during the Vietnam War. Stockdale was tortured more than 20 times by his captors, and never had much reason to believe he would survive the prison camp and someday get to see his wife again.

Stockdale chose to face this adversity with a unique mindset. He accepted the reality of his situation. He knew he was in hell, but, rather than bury his head in the sand, he stepped up and did everything he could to lift the morale and help his fellow prisoners survive.

The Stockdale Paradox was made famous in Jim Collins’ bestselling book, Good to Great, through the resilience mindset called the Stockdale Paradox, which says:

You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties.

And at the same time…..

You must confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

In other words, leaders must be pragmatic, yet positive!

Effective leaders role model optimism when confronting setbacks and challenges infusing their teams with belief and thoughtful action to advance confidently into the future.

Taking the time to put into practice these 5 ways for increasing resilience will help leaders and their teams bring their best selves to their most important moments.

Please comment to share your ideas for being resilient during challenging and complex times.

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