Resilient Leadership

Resilient Leadership

The American Psychological Association defines resilience as the ability to quickly bounce back from changes, challenges, or traumatic events. Furthermore, the recovery process can affect intense personal growth. Employees rely on its leaders’ resiliency during turbulent times…they want to be assured that the company they work for will remain competitive, grow, and thrive.

In high pressure situations, resilient leaders accept difficult challenges; they think outside the box, create a crackerjack team, and create effective solutions—all without mistreating or disrespecting others. 

Generally speaking, resilient leaders are calm under pressure and avoid projecting tension onto others.  Instead of dwelling on human errors, they view mistakes as learning opportunities.  They communicate confidently in times of crises.  Also, they maintain important support networks to prioritize their mental and physical well being.

If you want to improve your resiliency as a leader consider this: 

1. Never stop learning.  Mental toughness and fortitude work hand-in-hand.  Resilience is a character trait that requires exercise to grow stronger.

2. Increase self awareness.  Learn to identify your stress triggers and how to manage them.  Focus on your wellness and your workload.  Improve your delegation skills to avoid feeling overwhelmed.  Maintain a healthy lifestyle through wellness rituals such as exercise, rest/sleep, and work life balance.

3. Build positive relationships.  Foster a strong network of trusted supporters who offer varying perspectives and skills.  They can also be a source of emotional well being by providing empathy and reducing feelings of isolation.

During times of calamity, leaders have a responsibility to be tough, empathetic, wise, and resilient; if not, their company will fall into the hands of competitors.   

In the comments below, share your best practices for improving resiliency and remember…make it a great day!

The ‘People-Pleaser’ Personality at Work

The ‘People-Pleaser’ Personality at Work

To paraphrase Merriam-Webster, the act of people-pleasing is driven by a myriad of psychological motivators and saying “yes” when you really want to say “no”.

Here’s why people-pleasing is a detriment to your company’s growth:

* On the surface, a people-pleaser may give the appearance that all is well, however, he/she actually may be overwhelmed, stressed, and on the verge of burnout leading to costly errors and omissions which will evenutally impact the profit margin. 

* The tendency to give everything to others coupled with fear or disappointment will drive a people-pleaser to over-commit and land up falling short of meeting client expectations.

* Because they operate from a space of sacrifice, resentment can grow if management does not acknowledge their sacrifices or offer “acceptable levels of praise”.  

For these reasons, it is important for supervisors to pay careful attention to all employees’ non-verbal cues.   Make a point to be empathetic and to encourage employees to give self-care.  Foster a company culture that rewards extraordinary efforts for all employees.

A myriad of professionals have opined the answer to business success.  A sure answer to business failure is trying to please everybody.

Let’s talk.  We welcome your input for managing people-pleasers in the comment section below. 

In the meantime, make it a great day!

Internal Communication Has Critical Impact on Business

Internal Communication Has Critical Impact on Business

Photo Provided by Pixaby

What’s one of the best ways to foster creativity and growth in the workplace?  Dismantling silos and building internal bridges.

Members of various corporate C-Suites are beginning to recognize that silos are a major factor that prevent companies from hitting growth and profit targets.  Not only that, they understand that silos are partially responsible for key employees not reaching their full potential and losing them to competitors.  

The term ‘silo’ has been used in the corporate arena for the last 30 years.  It is borrowed from what we know as farm silos which store grain for farmers.   When you look at farm silos, they have no windows, they have limited points of entrance, and in older silos, the grain cannot be easily extracted.  How ironic.  The instrument that is used to store a product to sell at a later date for profit is the same instrument that obstructs the full life and fervor of the farm.  The same is true when applied to companies.