Has resilience been weaponised in the charity sector?

?Working in charities you often hear the word resilient being used; often as people say they, or their teams need to be more resilient. That this is how the sector is, the work is hard, and they just need to keep going. This idea of resilience is timeless, the heroes of stories and myth who won’t be defeated, who pick themselves up time and time again. They just keep going. They’re on a mission, and there is no alternative but to, ring any bells? ?

This is what we see in the charity sector; to just keep going in the face of ongoing pressure, from the funders & commissioners, from our teams, from stakeholders, the wider organisation and the sector more broadly. That it's normal to take everything which is thrown at you, and just get on with it, that you ARE superhuman. After all, you have to get the job done, the buck stops with you, and if you don’t keep on going, you’ll be letting people down.?

What is resilience??

But is this what resilience is??

The Cambridge dictionary defines it as “the ability to be happy, successful again after something difficult or bad has happened”, suggesting that resilience is the process of how we respond and manage after a difficult situation. And if we look to the world of positive psychology where resilience is a central concept, we see it defined as “flexibility in response to changing situational demands, and the ability to bounce back from negative emotional responses” (Block & Kremen).?

So we could consider that resilience represents our response to the pressure we face in life, how we handle it in the moment, and how we recover from it, in other words how we bounce back from stressors, challenges and adversity. We know pressure & stress are to some extent unavoidable, we’re all going to experience them at some point. Pressure in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, we can see it as a double-edged sword. On one hand it can be a great motivator, some of us thrive on the adrenaline (hands up who always leaves projects to the last minute, and somehow always get them done ??), but on the other, when it’s too much it can place great strain on, it can make us feels anxious & stressed, and sustained pressure can lead us to burnout. Here’s the rub, this experience is going to be different for all of us, and will likely differ between situations for each of us as individuals. The negative impact is more likely to arise when we perceive the pressure we’re experiencing as more than we believe we can’t cope with.?

If we did more into what contributes to our resilience, we can see it as a combination of skills or qualities which we have which facilitates the ability to bounce back, and these fall into two categories:?internal (our psychological resources) and?external (the practical resources we can access). Being able to draw on these resources helps us to buffer the stressful situation and recover.?

Note the idea of bouncing back, the definitions (and the research) aren’t saying that these stressors and pressures don’t have an impact on us, which if often the message we hear at work: yes, the work is hard, but you should be able to cope with it. In fact, the definition is telling us that understandably stressors, pressures and adversity will impact on us, but if we are resilient, we have the resources to help us manage it, and return to a state of feeling good.?

In addition, this idea of bouncing back is in-and-of itself challenging; the concept of bouncing back suggests a quick recovery, that you’ll snap back into place like an elastic band, and that if you don’t somehow the problem is within you. And the stories that are told within the charity sector, of the superhuman staff, who are so resilient, tell us that the stresses and challenges shouldn’t impact us, that they should just wash off, resulting in resilience being weaponised.?

Weaponised resilience?

There are a lot of stories told about what it means to work for a charity, what’s required of us, and what sort of person that means we are. Who hasn’t at some point had someone tell us what a great person we are, how they could never do our job, how hard it must be, when they find out what we do for a living. The narrative is often that working for a charity is a calling, that it is integral to who we are as individuals and that by choosing this line of work we are accepting that it is in service to others, that it will be hard, and that our needs are secondary to this calling. And that we will do this with little resource, without enough time and until the job is done is ingrained in what we do. ?

These beliefs are so ingrained in the sector, to the extent?that nearly every person I’ve worked with in the charity sector over nearly 20 years has said that’s just how it is, that you have to be tough. To the point that compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and burnout are expected, and considered normal responses to the work if you’re not resilient enough and that when people get to the point of doing the bare minimum, the question isn’t what’s going on for them, but why aren’t they doing more??

The narrative is that YOU have to be more resilient, that your colleagues can do it, so why can’t you? That if you’re struggling, perhaps you're not dedicated enough, creative enough, can’t hack it. These stories are so internalised, that when clients begin working with me, they tell me they ned to be more resilient, they question their ability, not the culture they’re working within.?

Building resilience and resilient organisations?

The good news is that we can develop and enhance our resilience. If we think of resilience as a muscle or a savings account, it can help us imagine how we can do this. By exercising the muscle, by putting more money in the bank, we have the resources we need to fall back on during tough times.?

So here are 5 things you can do: ?

1. Prioritise your wellbeing?

1. Make time for things and people that make you happy?

1. Practice reflection to support yourself, but also to see new perspectives and reframe your experiences?

1. Remember what matters to you, and link this to your work?

1. Find coping mechanisms, which both soothe your emotions, and help you practically?

Resilience at work isn’t just on you. The charity is responsible for the environment, culture and expectations placed on you – if the balance between your resilience and the stress you’re experiencing is out (i.e. if the stress is greater than your resilience), in other words if nothing changes in the organisation you’re working in, and the pressure remains high, you’re still going to experience stress despite working on your resilience. ?

If that’s the case, then it’s time to think about the workplace culture, and how that can start to prioritise the wellbeing of staff, here’s some ways to get started:?

1. Challenge the narrative of individuals needing to be more resilient?

1. Model healthy work practice for your teams - they will do what you do?

1. Create realistic expectations, goals & strategies – don't commit to it if the resource isn’t there?

1. Make asking for help ok?

1. Have honest conversation at a senior level and with the board about pressure points?

1. Consider if your employee wellbeing offer provides enough resources to balance the pressure and stress staff are experiencing?

Staff resilience has become a focal point in a sector battered by systemic and financial challenges, where at the best of times the work is hard. This has turned into a narrative that staff are solely responsible for their resilience, and if they’re not coping, they need to work harder to be more resilient, as resilient as their colleagues, it’s just the way it is. But is it really resilience when staff find themselves picking themselves up time, and time again, without any meaningful recognition of the pressures they face? Perhaps resilience would be picking yourself up, and flexing in the face of the pressures and demands and making changes to the narrative of what it means to work for a charity.?