3 Things Resilient Leaders Do Differently
There's no doubt that leading a team in times of uncertainty requires major resilience.
Leaders are expected to be the “calm in the storm” for their employees during times of change.
Without a strong personal system for cultivating resilience, leaders can feel worn out, irritable, and won't be the best resource for their employees.
What does it mean to be resilient and why is it important in times of change?
Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from something difficult. To know how to cope despite setbacks. To know how to not “overcome obstacles” but rather to achieve in spite of the obstacles. It is an emotional strength that helps feed performance, productivity, and overall well-being.
Over my 17 year career in HR, I've had the privilege of working with amazingly resilient leaders. Here are 3 things I find resilient leaders do differently, setting them apart as more effective leaders for their teams, especially in times of uncertainty.
#1 - Establish a Strong Peer Network
Resilience is not about going it alone, especially while we’re experiencing difficult and frequent changes at work. Peer support is a highly effective way to cultivate resilience. “Peers” are leaders in our network who are facing similar challenges and can provide advice and support so we aren’t re-creating the wheel all the time. They can be leaders at our companies (on the same hierarchal level as us) or someone outside our organization that we trust to maintain confidentiality.
Peer learning can be simply a periodic Zoom call/catch-up session or it can be something more formal like establishing a “peer learning group” with specific objectives and a set meeting schedule.
Establishing a network with our peers is one way to avoid oversharing or poor boundaries with employees we lead. It provides an outlet for processing emotions and problem solving so that we are better equipped to be strong for employees.
To get started, ask yourself - Who do I know that is going through similar leadership challenges? What is one action I can take to establish peer support right now?
#2 - Practice Vulnerability with Boundaries
There is a difference between empathizing with employees to create a container for processing change vs. oversharing with employees and adding to their stress. For Brene Brown fans out there, she talks about how to be vulnerable with boundaries, in her book, “Dare to Lead.” The best way I can describe vulnerability with boundaries is by way of example (Hat tip to Ms. Brown). Here is what a leader could say to their team to simultaneously acknowledge the team’s/leader’s fear and at the same time alleviate rather than add to the fear:
Example #1: What to say about a specific process change
“I wanted to meet as a team to talk about the recent change with XYZ process. I know there is a lot of concern and uncertainty around this change right now and I know that is causing a great deal of worry. I will share everything I can about the change with you. I want to spend the next 30 minutes talking about the changes and all of the questions we have as a team. I want the outcome of this meeting to be a list of questions that you have about the change. I will do my best to answer what I can now, and we will keep this list of questions visible as a team over the coming weeks, knowing that it will take some time to get questions answered. Our questions and the answers may evolve over time and that’s ok. I commit to continuing to work with leadership and with you all to smoothly implement these changes. We are in this together and as your leader, I am here to support our team during this time of change.”
Example #2: What to say to establish trust as a team during a time of rapid change
“I know there is a lot of change taking place right now and it’s causing a great deal of worry. I am feeling it too. I am asking everyone to stay connected and lean into our work as a team during this time. I know it is hard to deal with so much uncertainty and to still move forward with producing work that makes us proud. I want to spend the next 30 minutes talking about what a supportive team looks like so that we know specifically how we are going to operate during this time of change. Specifically, what does support from me look like? What does support from each other look like? What are helpful/supportive behaviors? What are not? Let’s each take a moment to write down one thing we need from this group in order to feel okay sharing and asking questions during this time of change, and one thing that will get in the way.”
#3 - Make Wellness a Priority
As leaders, we sometimes forget that without our own well-being, we won’t be able to best serve our clients or employees. Solid wellness practices not only help us cultivate resilience, they lead employees to do the same. Employees are more likely to establish good boundaries and prioritize wellness if their leader is doing the same thing for themselves. Priortizing breaks and incorporating wellness activities, such as “walking meetings” into your day are just two ways in which you can model good self-care/wellness.
To get started, ask yourself - What is one way I can set better boundaries and prioritize wellness this week? What is the impact to the team’s performance if I don’t set good boundaries and prioritze self-care?
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