Reimagining Resilience.

Resilience.?

It’s a funny word really, that has multiple meanings and which can be interpreted differently depending on the environment and situation one might find themselves in.?

In my context, the last five years of navigating a variety of challenging environments has required leadership strength and what I would call resilience. That’s not to say that it’s been about taking on more and more, but that the uncertainty and requirement to adapt and flex has necessitated resilient leadership.?

I’m an individual that thrives with pace and variety. The unknown doesn’t really phase me, and tight deadlines motivate rather than frighten me. Having spent most of my career in retail environments this is my stomping ground and I have a love for all it represents. I recognise that it isn’t for everyone.?

When I think about my own resilience I look at my own mental, emotional and behavioural agility. Bouncebackability. It’s a brilliant word - one that I have seen my children taught at school to train their brains into a way of being able to recover or pivot as they may need to. Valuable skills even at the earliest age. Why? Because the greatest leaders are born in adversity, and adversity tests the very core of leadership resilience.?

There are three core thoughts I’d like to share as you consider your own resilience.

1.??????????Do you have a strong personal purpose??

Yes, yes. There I go again talking about purpose. Bear with me because this is relevant.?

When you truly understand what motivates you - gets you out of bed in the morning -??then you have a benchmark that enables you to judge effectively whether you are being fulfilled. Imagine a bucket that needs filing to keep you satisfied with high energy levels.?

How does this help you? I’ll share my own experience to add some colour. My motivators are heavily growth related, so when I found myself divesting a business I was spending all day every day doing the exact opposite - breaking a company up bit by bit. I recognised that I was in an environment doing things that were not filling up my bucket so I was able to find other activities that were growth related to help me find more balance in my life during that challenging period. Those of you who follow me will know I have a mini farm of animals that force me to spend time outside, and that I enjoy gardening. My volunteering work is focussed on growing others through non exec positions in education and career growth. It isn’t by coincidence, it’s all by design.?

Cute picture of my newest arrivals at home, some baby ducks to break up the content incoming....

When you’re a purpose-led leader, you align the personal purpose someone has with that of your organisation. There are benefits to the individual in doing this but also to the company too. A study (Purpose in life as a predictor of mortality across adulthood – Patrick L Hill and Nicholas A Turiano, 2014)?showed that individuals who have a strong sense of personal purpose lived longer, healthier lives and were less likely to get a stroke (52%) and be free of dementia (2.5 times more likely). McKinsey’s study supplemented this by saying that organisations with a strong purpose and high employee engagement directly correlated to company profitability.?

2.??????????Resilience or resourcefulness??

Consider for a moment whether your own frame of reference is leading you to believe that resilience is a proxy for busyness and relentlessness. Instead if you viewed it as being resourceful with the tools at your disposal to help you cope with ambiguity would you change your approach to focus on what you can control and the assets you have available to you, instead of depleting yourself??

When we think about how effectively we use our resources, where we gain energy from, and what we do to recharge ourselves we prevent burnout by protecting the one thing that matters most, our health.?

3.??????????Rest is critical - don’t do more, rest more?

It feels counter intuitive doesn’t it? That we should rest more when the going gets tough. But as Shwartz explains, the more time we spend in the performance zone, the more time we will need in the recovery zone. And we’re back to how we fill our bucket again.?

We have all sat on a plane and listened to the video telling us to put our own oxygen masks on first before helping others with theirs…. The reason is that unless we help ourselves first we won’t be alive to help anyone else. It’s a valuable lesson for leaders to think about - that we must help ourselves before we help others. As leaders we have a responsibility to be there to help our people, therefore we have to consider our own wellbeing a priority if we’re going to be firing on all cylinders when it comes to leading through adversity.

Saundra Dalton-Smith Md’s book explores the 7 types of rest we all need for recovery which range from sensory to mental to spiritual to?https://ideas.ted.com/the-7-types-of-rest-that-every-person-needs/

1. Physical rest -?physical rest means restorative activities such as yoga or massage?
2. Mental rest?-?schedule short breaks to occur every two hours throughout your workday
3. Sensory rest?-?bright lights, computer screens, background noise and multiple conversations can cause our senses to feel overwhelmed
4. Creative rest?-?take in the beauty of the outdoors, including enjoying the arts. You can’t spend 40 hours a week staring at blank or jumbled surroundings and expect to feel passionate about anything
5. Emotional rest?-?courage to be authentic?
6. Social rest?-?surround yourself with positive and supportive people
7. Spiritual rest?-?add prayer, meditation or community involvement to your daily routine

Sleep and rest are not the same thing, although many of us incorrectly confuse the two.

We all need to create a balance where our minds and bodies are well rested. It’s why I practice meditation with my children to help embed the practice early on so they have the ability to understand how to unplug from a society that has become always on.?

It is no coincidence that many of the best leaders I know take time out to journal in order to help them achieve better balance in their lives as part of their daily practices to rest well.?

So what does all this have to do with the energy industry and how we come out of the energy crisis??

Well, we’ve experienced phenomenal levels of change, at pace. The next decade is going to present further change at a rate of knots needed if we’re going to deliver net zero by 2050. And so we need leaders who can understand and navigate well changing environments. We need a workforce that genuinely reflects the customers and communities that we serve so that we can connect deeply with the issues being faced. That means we need diversity, which calls for strong leaders who can create inclusive environments. Not only that, we need leaders who can successfully manage hybrid teams with excellent communication skills and high empathy to support people??with ensuring they work in an optimised way that delivers the right outcomes for the company and employee. That means evolving the workplace to ensure policies support people from all walks of life, and that everyone can genuinely bring their true selves to work to avoid the wasted energy of trying to be someone they’re not just to try to conform or ‘fit in’.?

As we enter a new phase of this energy crisis it means providing colleagues with the right wellbeing support that flexes across emotional, financial and mental wellbeing. It also means providing the frameworks that encourage rest throughout the day, like no meeting zones or core meeting hours. And importantly, ensuring that support networks are available at all levels of the organisation so that no one ever feels marginalised.?

I really love this visual?showing brain activity of back to back meetings, yet we know we all struggle to give ourselves the time we need to recovery between so we can be more resilient.?

All of this will unquestionably lead to more resilient workplaces which is precisely what we need in order to survive the challenges the energy crisis has presented to date, and will continue to throw in our paths. But beyond the energy sector, there are lessons other industries can take from reimagining resilience.?

Many thanks to Julie-Ann Wyatt for contributing to this article and bouncing around ideas with me. Loved our discussion on the subject.