Resilience

There are many things that are similar. But, not many things are the same. Our fingers are different, the people we meet are different, the situations that we encounter are different. All of us know that each day of ours is not the same. Then, why do we expect our performance to be the same year after year?

Every day is new for us and completely different from the earlier one. We go through the day and, at times, come out well. Other days are just really long days and we struggle through them. This will be the same with regard to our performance too. Some years will be good and some will not be. That does not mean that we have become low performers. We need to just go through the lean times and bounce back. As I said earlier in another blog of mine, it does not matter how many times you fall. What matters is how fast do you get back on to your feet, dust yourself off and move on.  In the journey of our career which could be 40 years, there will be significant ups and downs. We need to manage that. And to do that, what we really need is resilience.

Many years ago, my friend and I were talking when the company we worked for got a new CEO. He told me as to how many CEOs had come and gone and the company still survived. It had been a bit difficult to change the original culture of the company though things had changed.  Though he did not say it, I could hear him say, "The CEO is dead...long live the CEO!!!"  Yes, he had seen many changes at the top and had survived and had worked for few of them. I then asked him as to what was it that he had that made him survive so many leaders, their likes and dislikes, the changes in direction the company had to take because of each of them, the confusion within the company ranks, etc. He smiled and said, "Resilience, my friend".  You need enough energy to see this one through and get to the next one!!!

I found that very funny and annoying too.  Why do I need to stick around if I get a lousy boss or a boss who does not see eye to eye with me? I can just find another job within the company or outside of it and move on. Again, he smiled and told me that sticking around and managing when things are changing constantly is one of the most difficult things to do. He said if there is so much uncertainty all around, things can be difficult and frustrating. However, he had learnt to live through those. It was because he loved the company very much. He liked coming in to office everyday. He wanted to stand by his team because circumstances were difficult. And, most importantly, he knew that harsh winters give way to a lovely spring and a beautiful summer.  Just like we change clothes to meet the seasons so that we feel comfortable, we need to change some of our mental clothes.  This, he called, resilience.

 

As weather patterns change, we need to survive. We wear thicker or thinner or more or less clothes, switch on an air-conditioner or a room heater, wear a cap, carry an umbrella...we do so many things to physically protect ourselves. What do we do to survive change within organizations? We don't seem to change to mentally protect ourselves. We continue to behave the same despite changing circumstances. So, how do we develop this approach to change based on the changing requirements?  You could turn around and ask me - is survival the end game or the only game you need to play? Don't you want to stand up and call out poor management as and when that happens? Don't you want to fight the system if you feel only wrongs are getting done?  Yes, while all this is necessary, it is essential to survive to be able to do these effectively. And for that, we need to be flexible and show some resilience. 

 

Our ability to weather the storm (as they would call it) is built through character, personal courage, the passion for work, the love for the organization and the care for our colleagues.  All these put together create a mental toughness in us. It comes with training and some in-born tenacity.  It does not allow us to give up...there is always a larger cause that we see that is more important than the situation in hand. The larger cause could be the passion, the love, the care and these are supported by the character that we build in ourselves.  I call this resilience.

 

I am sure each of you has your own definition of resilience. What ever it is, I believe that it is essential to be resilient to make things happen in organizations.  Go ahead...build that resilience and be the change.