Developing Personal & Team Resilience

In today’s unpredictable and disruptive business environment, resilience is an increasingly important skill for leaders at all levels, but what does developing resilience look like in practice? How can an individual leader work to develop their personal resilience while also empowering their teams to do the same? 

For this livestream learning event, moderated by Bryan Benjamin, Executive Director of the Ivey Academy, we’re joined by three Ivey Coaches: Alicia Saint, Nancy Dewar, and Shakeel Bharmal. Together, our panelists will discuss the complex challenges involved in building resilience as individuals and within teams and share advice for how to overcome them, drawing upon their collective experiences working with diverse leaders.

Other ways to listen:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify Podcasts

Additional Resources

Developing Agility, Team Resilience and Balanced Leadership to Thrive in a Time of Uncertainty by Shakeel Bharmal (LinkedIn Article)

How to Measure Resilience With These 8 Scales by Positive Psychology (Article)

Real Leaders: Ernest Shackleton Leads a Harrowing Expedition by HBR IdeaCast (Podcast Episode)

Radical Candour in 6 minutes with Kim Scott (Video)

Radical Candour Podcast

Q&A

During the livestream event, we had many audience members asking questions in the Q&A segment and could not answer them all live. Here, with the help of our panel of coaches, we share insights on some of the questions we didn't get to in the session.

Q: Are there tests/assessments that can measure resilience?

There are many leadership and personality tests that can help a leader get a clearer sense of their resilience and potential weak points. Here are some examples shared by our coaches:

• TiLT365 Personality Strengths Test (Assessment Tool)
• Adversity Quotient by Peak Learning (Assessment Tool)
• Hogan Talent Development (Assessment Tool)
• Centre for Creative Leadership 360 Degree Benchmark (Assessment Tool)

Q: How important is it for leaders to have a daily meditative practice to build personal equanimity and become able to walk-the-talk with internal resilience?

Developing your resilience is a highly personalized process without a prescriptive, one-size-fits-all approach. For some leaders, perhaps daily meditative practice is necessary for their development, but that doesn’t mean it is crucial for others. Further, what practices might help an individual be resilient throughout one challenge might not be as effective in a different context.

Critical reflection and intentional exercises in resilience are important for leadership development, but that will look very different on each individual. What’s most important on this journey is getting to know yourself and understanding what works for you. Assessment tools and working with a coach can be a really helpful ways to understand what your personal approach to resiliency practice should look like.

Q: Any advice for leaders who have members of the team who don't take any accountability for themselves when it comes to resiliency?

Building resilience in teams and how team members show up is highly context-dependent, so our recommendation is to take the time to reflect upon why those individuals might be struggling to take accountability with resilience. Some questions worth considering are:

1. As a leader, what level of resilience do I expect from my team, and is that level of resilience sustainable? 
2. As a leader, how am I supporting individuals to develop resilience? Is my approach to facilitating this growth compatible with each team member’s individual needs and personality?
3. Do I create an environment that invites individual team members to express vulnerability when they experience challenges? Do I approach these discussions with compassion and really try to understand their perspectives?
4. If an individual seems to really be struggling to understand their own role in their resiliency (or lack thereof), are there ways I can help them develop a sense of accountability? For example, using assessments such as the ones listed above might be a great first step in helping them understand what skills they need to develop further.

Podcast transcript coming soon.