“Anger is the enemy of instruction.”
– Phil Jackson, Head Coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.
Jackson was a coach of several Hall of Fame NBA players, including but not limited to, Scotty Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and of course, Michael Jordan. His 11 championships are the most by any coach in NBA history. Known colloquially as the “Zen Master,” he was famous for prioritizing mindfulness (before it was trendy,) and meditation. There are very few organizations with as much pressure or demand for success as had the 1990’s Bulls and early 2000’s Lakers, and they did so with a leader at the helm whose main coaching philosophy was founded on mental discipline.
Outside of sports, these conventions still ring true. There are countless leaders, but fewer good leaders, and even fewer great leaders. Being a great leader can be rewarding, but it can also be a tiring and thankless job; when the team succeeds, leaders need to credit the contributors, but when the team struggles, they must take accountability. Great leaders are also responsible for decision making across and within their teams. They navigate tensions, give feedback, and have difficult conversations to keep things moving forward. The list goes on, and the pile stacks up quickly. When the pressure is on and emotions are high, there is no more valuable ability than to reset and find clarity – and someone can never hope to develop that resilience if they cannot acknowledge their own emotions in the first place. Resilience allows leaders to manage these challenges and expectations – and takes them from good to great.
What is Resilience, What is NOT Resilience?
Resilience is tricky to practically define. If you ask 10 different people what that looks like in practice, you’ll receive 10 different answers. There is not one singular answer on what “true” resilience looks like, because great leaders all have different strengths. However, in OKA’s experience, we’ve seen that most resilient leaders have a few key traits in common:
- They’re aware of stress or threat when it’s present
- They have the ability to understand and control how they “show up,” and effect their team
- They accept that any given situation is fluid, prone to change, and a plan may need to change
- They have a genuine belief that they can solve the problem, or at least significantly improve a situation
Resilient leaders adapt, learn, and seek ways to improve. They don’t resist change, overreact to setbacks, or fear challenges. It’s all too common that leaders are promoted because they were effective in their previous position, but many times, those technically advanced employees may not have the resilience needed to manage the leadership challenges they’re facing. This could result in a leader who is a skilled problem solver on their own but struggles to include key players from their team – or worse, a leader who disregards their team entirely until the problem at-hand is solved. Resilient leaders acknowledge their team’s challenges and approach them, without letting stress knock them off course.
Benefits of Having Resilient Leaders
Resilient leaders drive effective organizations. In any field, if you find a succeeding organization, and you will likely have found one with leaders who have endured through a great deal of hardship. Resilient leaders establish an optimistic workplace culture. Problems can and will occur and change happens, but resilient leaders are reasonable, level-headed, protect their teams and people. Resilient leaders expect, acknowledge, and reward hard work. Employees with resilient leaders feel a sense of security and trust their leaders to make the right decision. In a nutshell, building resiliency increases morale, decreases turnover, and drives productivity.
How to cultivate resilience
Resilience is built on a foundation of emotional self-awareness, flexibility, and optimism. Integrating these concepts into your leadership development tools can help you make more great leaders. At OKA, we do so by leveraging the EQ-i 2.0 and the Hardiness Resilience Gauge (HRG). OKA’s main tool to teach resilience is our Emotional Resilience Program. With iterations of 1-day, 3-day, and 3-month, we focus on enhancing a leader’s self-awareness, exploring the building blocks of resilience, and the behaviors associated with hardiness and grit. If you are interested in learning more about how you can increase and develop resilience in your organization or team, reach out to Catherine Germinario (cgerminario@oka-online.com) and let’s talk!
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