Resilience.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of the secrets to survival, both professionally and personally. \u00a0It\u2019s what\u2019s gotten you to where you are, and it\u2019s what will help define who you will become.\u00a0Looking back at some of the toughest situations you\u2019ve endured, you may have felt there was no other choice. It was a natural instinct. And while it\u2019s true that resilience can come innately, it\u2019s also a learned skill.\u00a0Instead of leaving resilience up to chance, considering strengthening those muscles by choice. How can we lead a more resilient life, and lead a more resilient team, in the year to come?<\/p>\n
A Core of Confidence<\/strong><\/p>\n Everyone has an inner critic. Who do you compare yourself to, and why?<\/p>\n Although comparison can create competition and competition can fuel achievement, it\u2019s a balancing act. While constructive criticism can deter certain behaviors in the short-term, positive reinforcement is generally better for shaping new and lasting behavior. It\u2019s also at the core of creating confidence.\u00a0As a leader, recognize that criticism doesn\u2019t increase competency. You are simply sharing what not<\/em> to do, instead of what to<\/em> do. Imagine a child learning how to ride a bicycle. Which environment shapes a more confident future cyclist: pointing out each time they fell down, or pointing out what they did to stay up?\u00a0Confidence increases productivity and causes you to choose more challenging tasks, which make you stand out amongst your peers. You naturally create a more cohesive workplace environment; confident people celebrate the accomplishments of others as opposed to insecure individuals who try to steal the spotlight and criticize others in order to prove their worth. Speaking first and often (a sign of high self-esteem) makes others perceive you as a leader. In fact, over-confident people are more likely to be promoted than those who have actually accomplished more.The fact that successful people tend to be delusional isn\u2019t as bad as it sounds; our belief in our own eminence is what gives us confidence. Even though we are not as good as we believe we are, this confidence actually helps us become more than we would have otherwise.<\/p>\n A Fondness for Failure<\/strong><\/p>\n Consider failures as beginnings, rather than endings. You\u2019ve probably learned more from failures than any other source of wisdom. Teach yourself, and your team, to focus on the data and facts. Embrace failure’s value as a teacher, get curious about the information it provides, and be open to where it leads you next.\u00a0You may even find you fail less when you don’t fear it.\u00a0Failure is either redirecting or reaffirming. If failure caused you to take a different path, it\u2019s because you saw it heading towards a dead-end. (Yay!)<\/em> If failure caused you to get back up and keep going, it reaffirms you are committed to a goal and it\u2019s worth fighting for. (Yay!) <\/em><\/p>\n The Power of Purpose<\/strong><\/p>\n We have the freedom to choose our actions, our profession, our financial needs, and the path of our life. Each day is not about what we have to do. It\u2019s about what we get to do. Strength can come from the recognition that there is a bigger purpose, a desire to make a difference, and a need to have a higher meaning behind the choices we make.<\/p>\n Spend time focusing on this for yourself personally, and with those you lead. Some points to ponder:<\/p>\n The purpose of life is not to be happy.\u00a0<\/em>It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate,\u00a0<\/em>to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2013 Ralph Waldo Emerson<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Steps for Success<\/strong><\/p>\n Teach the importance of:<\/p>\n If you wake up suffocated by the list of things that need to get accomplished today, start with getting up and brushing your teeth. When you feel anxiety over an important deadline, make a list of things that need to be done and do just one of them. If your email inbox is exhausting, unsubscribe to a few distribution lists that you never signed up for. Stop longingly looking at pictures of other people\u2019s photos on social media, and spend that time scrolling through your own pictures and cherished memories instead. Don\u2019t focus on the big things; start with the littlest and decide where to go from there. Take an action, any action. Manufacture your own momentum.<\/p>\n Have an appreciation for your history. What are some of the toughest things you\u2019ve experienced? How did you get through them? You probably already know quite a bit about being resilient, just haven\u2019t stopped to admire it.<\/p>\n Remember: you\u2019ve got this. The person who has gotten you through the toughest parts of your life? It\u2019s you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Resilience. It\u2019s one of the secrets to survival, both professionally and personally. \u00a0It\u2019s what\u2019s gotten you to where you are, and it\u2019s what will help define who you will become.\u00a0Looking back at some of the toughest situations you\u2019ve endured, you may have felt there was no other choice. It was a natural instinct. And while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sra-updates"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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