Skillsets of a Resilient Leader

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of The United States and one of the greatest leaders in the American history. Concepts of courage, action over words, learning from past failures, whole-hearted work stood as his strongest virtues, preserving strong relevance in the world today. His speech “The Man in the Arena” are some of the most powerful words rendered by a leader to empower his followers. The most famous section from the speech affirms how “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

At the essence of this beautiful delivery, he had elucidated great realizations for men that undeniably form the core of what all resilient leadership ought to look like. As the ending phrase “daring greatly” draws our attention, we have the evergreen Brene Brown creation- the best-selling, self-confidence book “Daring Greatly” that attempts to carry forward the message of Roosevelt. In the core of it, we understand how the most resilient leaders make history by not just showing up every day- even at the face of dejection, persistent failure or multiple disparities, but have the courage to be out there, vulnerable to circumstances, willing to risk yet being fearlessly empathetic towards the world around. ‘Daring Greatly’ is the courage to be vulnerable- that transforms the way we live, love, parent and lead.

As we read more stories of leaders who have ignited a revolution of their own through their actions alone, we have some common skills that all of them hold at their heart. These five skills that motivate resilient leadership and help built a confident presence for one, are yet however simple life lessons to abide by-

1.    Courage to be out there- Courage is living a life true to oneself, to take risks and pave the way for others to follow. When life is all about individual perceptions, the choices one makes and the consequences of the same- being courageous is a choice. This quality boils down to leaders who can challenge to shatter the shackles of the impossible and show up each day.

2.    Vulnerable and empathetic- Having a sense of empathy for other human beings and all that surrounds them are one big marker of all courageous and resilient leaders. They care to sit on the table, make difficult conversations, illuminate their perspective with the perspectives of others and understand people rather than making easy judgements. As they say “Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.”

3.    It is not a lone ride- Truly great leaders understand the power of community. They seek to unite people together, create common goals and move forward together. They possess this extra-ordinary gift to be able to lift people out of their personal benefits to pursue objectives of collective good. They are one in the community, who lead all to growth along with them, not making the success journey only about themselves.

4.     Self-improvement- Winning doesn’t always look like outperforming other people. Sometimes it’s just outperforming yourself from yesterday. The wisest leaders do not fall to the rat race, instead choose to grow in their own pace, challenging their own limitations and working on all that can help them get better each day. Healthy competition is the ones they have with themselves- winning being only synonymous to self-improvement and the abundance of growth!

5.    Time- Perhaps the key to building resilient leadership starts with practicing patience. “It takes 10 years to become an overnight success” marks the Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone. The strongest leaders harbor the courage to look beyond to the future of things and to the bigger picture, not losing heart at the immediate let-downs. You give life to what you give energy to, and thus, efforts bring results, however delayed they seem to be!