I spent many years working with athletes. Some of those athletes were what we would call “tough” while some were “soft.” Reflecting back this toughness we were examining is the same as the resilience every leader needs to continue leading at a high level.
What is resilience?
When I looked up the definition I found “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, toughness or the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape, elasticity”1 This means that whether we are leading ourselves or others we need to have toughness and elasticity to lead effectively. How can we develop this resilience? 
Have a Team
No matter what we do a team is essential. A little league coach is more effective and can handle the difficult players and parents when he or she has an assistant. This teamwork becomes even more important the bigger the vision. Coaching little league is one thing, but leading a multi-million dollar organization requires a much different and larger team in order to be effective and stay in the game.
To do something great you need resilience and a key to that resilience is your team. As leadership expert John Maxwell says in his book The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork:
“One is too small a number to achieve greatness.”
Adaptable Thinking
In his book The New Toughness Training for Sport author and sports psychologist Jim Loehr discusses how undisciplined thinking can “kick our emotional targets far out of range.”2 What does this mean for leaders? Effective and resilient leaders must exercise what Loehr calls “tough thinking.”
By tough thinking I do not suggest we stubbornly hold to our ideas. When necessary this is true, but we must also be adaptable and willing to change our plans when necessary. On the other hand, when difficulties come tough thinking helps us stay focused. Loehr puts it this way:
“Tough thinking will keep you from panicking when things get crazy, calm your temper when you make the unthinkable mistake, and prevent you from surrendering when the battle appears lost.”
Resilient leaders adapt, are tough, and have the discernment to know in the situation which is needed.
Growth Minded
I won’t go into the details of defining a growth mindset in this blog, but you can read a little bit about it here. What I want to highlight is resilient leaders demonstrate agility in their thinking. They adapt and adjust as challenges come.
Imagine of a star running back. He sprints straight ahead one direction and quickly adjusts because of an obstacle in the path. This agility is rooted in a mindset that says “there is a way, I/we just have to find it.”
After reading these three aspects, which do you need to focus on to improve your resilience as a leader? Need help thinking into this? Contact me today for a no cost to you thinking partner session. Lead well.
© 2020 Wheeler Coaching Systems, All Rights Reserved
- https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/resilience retrieved 6/21/20
- Loehr, James. The New Toughness Training for Sport. Plume Book. 1994
