Cultivating Resilient Leaders - A Blueprint for Success
Utkarsh Narang
Scaling High Performing Teams | Speaker | Author | Coach | Humanising Leadership
"Resilience is not about avoiding adversity; it's about navigating through it, adapting, and emerging stronger on the other side." - Sheryl Sandberg
There's a prevalent misconception that putting in more effort and extending work hours is the most effective strategy for handling the challenges of management. Many believe that multitasking is a key to improved efficiency. However, this perspective is fundamentally flawed.
We know from studies of stress that performance doesn’t always increase as a result of putting more pressure on yourself. Pushing yourself too hard will just lead to overwork and burnout.
The Yerkes–Dodson law is a relationship between pressure and performance, originally developed by psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson in 1908. The law dictates that performance increases with physiological or mental arousal, but only up to a point. When levels of arousal become too high, performance decreases.
The relationship between performance and pressure follows a bell curve, where individuals have an optimum level of pressure under which they perform at their best. If pressure is above or below this level, their performance falls
While increased pressure may initially yield improvements, sustained overwork can lead to performance plateaus and eventual decline. In the face of crises, industry fluctuations, societal changes, or workplace stress, it becomes crucial to prioritize building resilience as a leader. Resilience is the capacity to rebound from obstacles and setbacks.
Excessive pressure or stress leads to narrowed thinking and a higher probability of faulty reasoning, triggering the body's stress response with a surge of chemicals and hormones.
In the contemporary and unpredictable managerial landscape, cultivating resilience as a leader is imperative.?
The key question is, how can one foster this resilience? As an initial move, it proves beneficial to pinpoint situations that cause heightened pressure and stress. Understanding the triggers allows for a more focused effort in developing a personal reserve of resilience.
A study by Gee (2021) explains how resilient leaders proactively support employees to cope with challenging long-term health consequences and contribute to employee engagement.
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4 Tips for Building Resilience as a Leader
There are many strategies you can use to build resilience, but these are the top 4 that I have personally experience -
"A resilient leader is someone who not only withstands the storms of challenges but uses them as opportunities to grow stronger, adapt, and inspire others to do the same." - Arianna Huffington
According to a study conducted by Harvard Business Review, organisations with resilient leaders have a higher tolerance for failure and are more likely to innovate. Resilient leaders foster creativity, risk-taking, and continuous improvement within their teams by embracing failure as a learning opportunity
According to a study by Kelly Grimes et.al., during the COVID 19 pandemic, effective leaders support each other and grow in their roles by building personal resilience, practicing compassionate leadership, modelling effective interpersonal leadership behavior, and ensuring frequent and authentic communication
How can an Organisation build Resilience in its leaders?
Here are four tips for organisations -
You need resilience not just at work, but also in your personal life. Having this inner strength is helpful for all that life can throw at you — divorce, losses, illnesses, and unexpected change.
Building resilience as a leader gives you the strength to bounce back and be at your best.
Founder and CEO of Team Smartual (Since 2021) | Virtual Assistance Extraordinaire | Over 25 Coaches Served, 10-Month Average Retention | Passionate about Empowering Coaches and Soloprenuers Globally |
10 个月Unlike coal, humans don't have to become diamonds under pressure. Resilience is about navigating adversity and emerging stronger on our unique journey. Utkarsh Narang
Fitness, Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach . Transforming lives with a sustainable 360° holistic approach . I believe you can be at your best version at any stage in life. I am crushing my fitness goals at 51.
10 个月Humans aren't coal turning into diamonds; we're resilient beings navigating through life's challenges, emerging stronger on the other side. Utkarsh Narang
Chartered Accountant | 15+ Years of Expertise | Finance Coach | Navigating Corporate & Personal Finance | Training Programs for?Corporates?|
10 个月Resilience isn't about becoming diamonds under pressure; it's the art of navigating life's challenges, adapting, and emerging stronger. Utkarsh Narang
Executive and Business Coach | Founder of Keystone Excellence Services | Action Coach
10 个月Life's challenges shape us, but unlike coal turning into diamonds, humans have the power to navigate through adversity and emerge stronger. Utkarsh Narang
Helping you 2X your productivity, confidence and wealth | Behavioral Scientist | NLP Master Trainer |Trained 200+ Organizations Including Indian Army & Navy | Corporate Trainer | Sales & Marketing Specialist | Speaker
10 个月Utkarsh Narang Very good article. In the present VUCA world resilience is one of the much needed skill, rather life skill to succeed in both personal & professional lives.