Resilience In The Workplace

Resilience is forged in the fires of adversity, and many of us have encountered adversity over the past year more intensely than ever before.

When it comes to any kind of personal or professional growth, meeting our basic needs first is the best way to see results. The fundamental idea is to act incrementally and consistently in order to see improvement over time. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs holds that there are five categories of human needs that dictate a person’s behaviour and motivation for behaviour. At the base of the pyramid are our physical needs which concern basic self-care including eating, sleeping, physical exercise and a healthy support structure. As mundane as this may sound, we need to build awareness around our energy expenditure and energy recovery in order to build physical & mental strength, emotional well-being & an ability to stay motivated in times of adversity. Paying attention to our basic needs is essential in building any kind of meaningful resilience.

I often find myself in conversations about what “resilience” really means? Ultimately there is a large spectrum, but a key point is to see times of adversity as a space to experiment with our capacity to cope. It is through experimentation and taking time out to reflect that we can learn from the experience and transition into a more adaptable human being. In an ever-changing world, adaptability and flexibility are tagged as skills for the future. I am particularly passionate about helping clients build their resilience in order to shift away from ‘survive to thrive’ in the working world.

Many of us can become overwhelmed by change, and that is completely understandable. Outcomes are often judged on a framework of right & wrong or success & failure but if we are able to remove the evaluation dynamic we will find we are able to properly capitalise on our experience. There is also something to be said for reflection and taking the time to acknowledge personal growth. We often don’t afford ourselves the time or space to do this, but a quiet moment of reflection can reveal inner strength, big or small, that we should learn to celebrate and cultivate. Only through reflection and re-engagement are we able to find the beauty of our own resilience.

Use this simple tool to help you remember the key points:

1 A + 5 Bs

• Awareness: take time out to act, reflect and learn
• Body: look after it, feed it, exercise it, rest it.
• Belonging: who do you turn to? Build these relationships.
• Brain: allow yourself to learn and experiment with new tasks and challenges. This helps build new neural pathways which allow you to think outside of the box (habits). Learn to use different parts of your brain and stretch your comfort zone.
• Beliefs: become aware of the thoughts in your head and how they affect your self-belief and self-esteem. Learn to appreciate the small, everyday things to give you a sense of equilibrium.
• Breathe: this will connect you to the present moment and give you space to recover.

Resilience is not merely a synonym for toughness. It is an attitude that incorporates skillfulness and strength of character. There is a myth that people who feel nothing are resilient, when in fact the people who feel deeply but get back up when they are knocked down are the truly resilient ones.

By Carly Kay, internationally certified integral coach. www.blueskycoaching.co.za