Resilience is a powerful word. It is a common pretext in the military and sports sectors. In business, especially during the current pandemic, resilience has emerged as the forefront of any company and its employees to endure the profound changes in our daily lives.
Since the pandemic began, businesses have shifted to a different outlook to remain progressive and survive the volatile economic landscape. Many look towards being resilient.
The American Psychological Association (APA) describes resilience as a process of adapting to a situation when faced with significant adversity. Profound personal growth is often associated with this process.
In the article “7 Strategies to Built a More Resilient Team” by Keith Ferrazzi, Myra-Clare Race and Alex Vincent, it discusses four characteristics of the teams; resourcefulness, candour, compassion and empathy, and humility. I believe they bear truth in many ways, as I share similar lenses as someone who often works with and leads a team.
So what separates a resilient team from the rest?
Resourcefulness
A resilient team is a resourceful one. No matter the circumstance, it’s important for each member to be ready and discuss an alternative to the problem with what’s available at hand.
Candour
When leaders display openness and impartiality, it creates an environment where each member feels appreciated. Their ideas hold weight. They are valuable members of a team. Resilient teams display candour as it demonstrates how solutions can be created when everyone is encouraged to share their thoughts without repercussion.
Compassion and empathy
These two traits often go hand-in-hand. Empathy, without compassion, can leave someone feeling exhausted. Compassion, however, entails cognitive skill. It provides an individual with a sense of self-awareness, to be able to recognise what others are going through without being overwhelmed. When team members genuinely care about each other, they seek to elevate the team as a whole.
Humility
Humility is a quality borne from being modest. Resilient teams are not afraid to ask for and receive help from one another. It’s important moving forward in the process as we never know what someone else’s struggles could be.
As someone striving to be an effective leader, it’s worth keeping in mind that resilient teams are also a direct result of those leading them. I wish to add that people skills are one of the essential traits of a leader. It’s vital to know your people, gauge their needs and understand their wants for their immediate community. Learning about their expectations of self, their family, culture and values are critical to building resilience in your team.
The article further explains how resourcefulness when dealing with difficult problems contributes to building resilience. It refers to the creative capabilities of a team. As an organisation, we can create supporting tools and materials to enhance cooperation and support among each team member. However, we believe that success lies within each individual; what’s their driving force, what’s their purpose, what makes them tick?
Acknowledging this will catapult any leader’s and organisation’s initiatives to build resilience among its people. SynergenOG recognises that, thus, we have created buddy systems, “seal-teams of cross-functional units” with different skill sets to achieve this reality.
Working closely together builds a sense of camaraderie, where a person is judged by their performance and level of trust instead of failure and success. Leaders must display these traits openly and confidently to enable an ecosystem supporting and building resilience.
It is a journey filled with challenges and doubts. We fine-tune the initiatives, with everyone’s input, and continue to want to be and do better.
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