Do you really want to be resilient?
What's the healthy way to approach the push for resilience without burning out?
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This post was originally published in September 2023.
The term "resilience" gets thrown around a lot these days, especially as individuals and organizations navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
“We need to be more resilient”
“Our teams need to be more resilient”
“We should look to build our personal resilience to help us deal with todays world”
What do we actually mean by “resilience”?
Does it mean your ability to keep going despite everything? mmm, that feels rather dangerous and unhealthy.
Does it mean your organisation’s ability to keep going despite everything? That feels a little better. So we need to be careful with our definitions here and the approach we take when we say we “need to build resilience in our team”.
It's important to recognise that resilience manifests differently at the personal and organisational levels. Confusing the two can have serious implications for mental well-being and operational efficiency.
In this blog post, we'll explore the differences between Personal Resilience and Organisational Resilience, the dangers of conflating them, and actionable steps to enhance each.
Personal Resilience: More Than Just "Toughing It Out"
Personal Resilience refers to an individual's ability to manage their mental well-being through healthy habits and coping mechanisms.
It involves developing strategies that enable you to face challenges head-on while ensuring that your mental and physical health aren't compromised. So its about being aware of where you are, how much you can absorb and staying within the limits of what you can personally handle at a given time.
This will be different for everyone.
The Dangers of Misinterpretation
Misunderstanding the concept of personal resilience can be detrimental. Some people interpret resilience as the need to keep pushing through obstacles, no matter the cost to their mental health.
This misconception can lead to burnout and other serious health issues, as the individual may ignore the body's signals to slow down or stop.
Actionable Steps for Personal Resilience
To nurture your personal resilience there are things you can do. These actions would be very different if you were considering organisational resilience. Consider the following:
Regular Rest: Make time for breaks and take leave when you can.
Sleep: Prioritise getting enough restful sleep.
Interests Outside of Work: Cultivate hobbies and activities that bring you joy.
Health and Nutrition: Make healthy eating and exercise a part of your routine.
Energy Management: Understand what rejuvenates you and what drains you, and plan accordingly.
Organisational Resilience: A Collective Endeavour
Organisational Resilience, on the other hand, pertains to the collective ability of a team or organisation to adapt and continue delivering results, irrespective of external challenges.
A Holistic Approach
A resilient organisation does not rely solely on the individual resilience of its team members.
Instead, it establishes processes and a culture that help maintain operations, even if an employee needs to take time off for personal reasons. The organisation should have contingency plans that include cross-skilling and flexible resource allocation.
By building a culture where team members are able to shift across and cover for important tasks you immediately have an organisation that is more resilience while allowing an employee to recover.
Actionable Steps for Organisational Resilience
To build organisational resilience, you should be considering:
Cross Skilling: Ensure that no single person is the linchpin for critical operations.
Team Flexibility: Equip team members to cover for each other in case someone is unavailable.
Supportive Culture: Create an environment where individuals feel supported, both personally and professionally.
Clear Prioritisation: Have guidelines for prioritising tasks when it’s impossible to maintain every workstream.
Unified Vision: Establish a clear organisational vision and purpose that guides all priorities and actions.
Recognising the difference
It's crucial to recognise that Personal Resilience and Organisational Resilience are two distinct types of resilience, each requiring a different set of strategies for improvement. While personal resilience emphasises individual well-being and self-care, organisational resilience focuses on creating robust systems and a supportive culture.
By understanding the nuances of these two types of resilience, we can better equip ourselves and our organisations to navigate the complexities of modern life, without sacrificing well-being or efficiency.
Your teams AND your shareholders will thank you.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the discussion below.
8 Stoic Don’ts For A Better Life
Another gem from Ryan Holiday that we should pay attention to.
And if you want some very simple advice on how to combat stress check out this podcast episode:
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Martin
I think the ability to tell people to go f*** themselves (politely and with love) is a core life skill for resilience.
You make some excellent points here about nurturing individuals and organisations. I do think there is a little more crossover though - personal resilience can also be developed through learning/skills acquisition and prioritisation/better decision making. And self care is also important for teams.