Integer Leadership Consulting

Why do leaders need resilience in order to lead effectively? Because the work of leadership is difficult and often challenging to the point where a leader’s personal resources are exhausted. When exhaustion sets in so often does frustration and despair. If this sense of emptiness becomes a chronic state it can create a sense of defeat and impact-insignificance which then further erodes a leader’s ability to influence organizational vision, people and processes.

If you’re not sure what resilience means, take a moment to ponder this. Ryff and Singer (2003) defined resilience as “the capacity to either maintain or regain multiple aspects of positive psychological functioning in the face of difficult life circumstances or demanding transitions” (p. 185). Ryff and Singer tracked individuals confronting behaviors within the context of “naturally occurring life challenges, such as normative life transitions, critical and unexpected events and chronically occurring difficulties” (p.185). The dominant resilience question that guided the work of Ryff and Singer as they explored behaviors across these contexts was, “who stays well in the face of challenging events” (p. 185). In a similar approach, Carver (1998) defines resilience as denoting “the capacity to recover from a downturn to a former state of relative well being” (p. 247). This “bounce-back” capacity can improve over time as repeated instances of challenging events produce less severe downturns and increasing quicker recoveries (Carver, p. 248). Experience with disruption over time, as Carver views it, actually leaves individuals more capable of repairing the disruption than they were when they first encountered the disrupting event (p. 249). Masten, Best, and Garmezy (1990) define resilience as “the process of, capacity for, or outcome of successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances.”

These definitions of resilience suggest that, for leaders, you get stronger or more “immunized” against steep downturns the more you actually experience them. Resilience means that you regain your footing and regain your professional balance and equilibrium as you confront the challenges that knock your knees out from under you. Resilience does not mean you are impervious to setbacks. Rather it means you experience the full emotional impact of setbacks and the discouragement that comes along with those setbacks, yet, you work to recover and regain your perspective. Furthermore, the more you slog through the experience of working out of the difficult seasons the more capable you are of dealing with them when they confront you down the road. May this be good news for those leaders who are seeking to catch a glimpse of how to rightly perceive (or cognitivley understand) and recover from the setbacks that come with the territory of responsible leadership.

Best,

Jeff