Integer Leadership Consulting

How does one stay hopeful in the midst of what is one of life’s most stressful experiences: unemployment? There are factors that, if they are in place, make the resolve to press-ahead a-bit easier. Conversely, if they are not in place, finding enough hope to maintain belief that reemployment is possible can be extremely difficult to come by.

The 9/7/09 online edition of the NYT had a very informative editorial by Michal Luo addressing the formidable head-winds that beat against many of the unemployed. When the Bureau of Labor Statics reports early each month on the unemployment numbers, it includes a group described as “those who have stopped looking for work” or more simply, “discouraged workers.”

As Luo noted, “These are people who have looked for work at some point in the past year but have not looked in the last four weeks because they believe that no jobs are available or that they would not qualify, among other reasons. In August, there were roughly 758,000 discouraged workers nationally, compared with 349,000 in November 2007, the month before the recession officially began.

But even this figure is probably an undercount of the extent of the jobless problem in this country. There are about 1.4 million more people who are not in the labor force than when the recession began. Some of these are retirees, stay-at-home parents, people on disability and students. But it is also rather likely that many of these people have given up looking for work at least partly because of economic reasons as well.”

What is it exactly that leads a one-time active seeker of reemployment to grow discouraged? Luo quotes the responses of four individuals in his article.

“There are thousands of people applying for every job I’m looking at, and potential employers won’t even give me the courtesy of acknowledging I applied. The entirety of that causes me to not bother. It’s a waste of my time and theirs.”

“The meeting with the interviewer has lasted 10 minutes. The man did not even open a folder in front of him to study MR. Rucker’s resume. Ray Rucker came home, sat down in his living room with his suit still on and wept.”

“The process of searching for work and coming up empty left Jenny Salinas feeling spent. “I was just discouraged, fed up and angry, feeling like my career had betrayed me.””

Tatjana Jovanovic-Grove, a biology researcher at a prestigious research institute in Belgrade, said this, “I stopped looking because that feeling of being rejected again and again is hard, It’s just like somebody punching you in the face.”

In the world of unemployment, looming discouragement is the scourge of the hopeful job seeker. It appears quite clear that most us have no idea of the depth and breadth of this discouragement or depression that exerts its insidious grasp around the throat of hope. Yet, though this is reality for millions which, by itself, should take your breath away, there are vital steps that can be taken to mitigate and keep-at-bay discouragement-creep.

First, acknowledge that this interim period is exactly that…an interim period. Though it feels permanent and immovable, it will change at some point. Seasons give way to still more seasons which are new and offer new expressions of hope and possibility…hold on to that with all your might.

Second, acknowledge that the search for reemployment is both a sprint and a marathon. This process has been characterized by many as brutal and potentially debilitating. In other words, be a ruthless realist and prepare yourself for the long haul. In this saturated labor market it may well take you longer than 6 to 12 months to land on your feet. Keep in mind that “good fortune” or “good luck” in the job search process is where opportunity meets preparation. In other words, those who appear most “fortunate” in this process are looking constantly for opportunities (networking, calling, emailing, “showing-up and following-up”) and engaging in constant personal preparation (expanding skill-sets, acquiring new professional/technical skills, attending workshops, enrolling in the local community college for continuing education, volunteering, and interning).

Third, surround yourself with solid friends…this is absolutely and unequivocally indispensible if you plan to get through this season of unemployment. Those who have no advocates or champions are the ones most at risk of sliding into a more permanent depressive disposition. Sometimes, the only voice that can keep you going are the voices from beyond yourself reminding you to keep moving, to take one more step, to believe.

Fourth, network, network, network. Get on Linked-In (www.linkedin.com) or another networking program and extend your professional network (www.xing.com; www.ryze.com; www.ecademy.com).

Fifth, nurture faith and belief. Explore and get involved in a faith community that can connect you to support, encouragement, and hope. Much of the empirical research I have examined relating to surviving involuntary job loss mentions the meaning of a faith community for those who are dealing with the discouragement of unemployment.

Sixth, sleep, eat, and exercise. These are the no-brainers for staying internally balanced but are often the first to get expunged from a routine. Whatever you do, take care of yourself first so you can take care of the business of finding work.

When you go to bed at night, when your mind refuses to turn-off at 2:30 am and stress and fear loom large, and when you wake in the morning, remember Churchill’s famous quote, “Never, never, never, never give up.” And with all due respect to Churchill’s quote, when it comes to persevering in the search for employment, I would add at least three more “nevers.”

Press-on….

Jeffrey

For those of you who visit the Integer Leadership website often, you know I am particularly focused on understanding the psychological impact of involuntary job loss. I am beginning the research phase of my Ph.D work and am requesting your help in locating the right individuals for my study. If you are interested in learning more about this research, please read on. Thank you! Jeffrey D. Yergler

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I hope this email finds you well and enjoying what remains of the summer.

I am beginning the research component for my doctoral dissertation at Gonzaga University. My focus is on the posttraumatic growth process for organizational leaders impacted by involuntary job loss. Specifically, I will be researching the psychological impact of and recovery from the experience of being laid-off, terminated/fired, or being forced to resign. As we all are aware, with the ominous increase of unemployment over the last 18 months, many people, at all levels of the organization, have been profoundly and often negatively impacted by involuntary job loss. It can be and often is a devastating experience and one from which it is difficult to recover.

I am writing to you because I would greatly appreciate some help in locating individuals who would be willing to be confidentially interviewed about their involuntary job loss experience. Though I describe in brief below how you can assist me, I have attached a Word document that goes into more detail about the background of my research, the type of people I am looking for, and how you might help me locate them. Please take the time to read this information.
Again, the success of this research will require your thoughtful referrals. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email at: jdy@integerleadership.com .

If you are willing to make a referral, I very much look forward to hearing from you.

Gratefully,

Jeff Yergler

A Brief Description:

I’m doing confidential research on mid- to senior-level leaders in business, government, or non-profit organizations who, in spite of involuntary job loss have somehow moved through the experience or are in the process of recovering. It is my hope that my time with these individuals may be of mutual benefit as I hope to encourage and support them as they describe to me the details of their involuntary job loss experience. Furthermore, my ultimate goal is, through this research, to offer help and hope to others who encounter the devastation of involuntary job loss.

All aspects of my interactions with those you might refer to me will be held in the strictest confidence and will be reported anonymously as a part of this research project.

The Characteristics I Hope To Find In The Individuals You Refer To Me:

1. At the time they experienced involuntary job loss, they were employed as middle- to senior-level leaders in their organizations.

2. As a result of their job loss, they experienced psychological and emotional distress and disruption. They might have also experienced collateral damage involving family, friends, and long-held views of “the way the world works.”

3. After some period of time had elapsed from the experience of their job loss, they began to engage in an intentional reevaluation their lives, their work, and perhaps their purpose in life.

4. As they reevaluated their situation over time, they experienced personal growth and showed evidence of a new and deeper understanding of themselves, their work, and their purpose in life.

5. They are now more settled and grounded in their lives. They are reemployed in some capacity where they are contributing professionally and leveraging the insights gained from their experience of involuntary job loss.

How Can You Connect Me With The Individuals Who Meet The Five Criteria?

Once you are reasonably sure that someone you know has most likely experienced the five criteria above, I would ask you to approach them with thoughtfulness and respect. Because this can be a-bit awkward, I want to suggest the following steps.

1. Explain that you have been approached by a student (whom you know) who is doing research as part of his Ph.D. program at Gonzaga University. His research focuses on the experience of involuntary job loss.

2. Explain, in your own words, that their experience of involuntary job loss (based on the five criteria mentioned above) as much as you have been familiar with it, would appear to qualify them for the study.

3. Describe in your own words the significance of this research: to better understand the experience of involuntary job loss and how individuals can grow as a result of it. You may use this piece of information and/or the attachment to brief them on the research if that helps.

4. Based on what you have explained to them ask them if they are willing to consider being involved in the research. If they agree please inform them that the researcher would be eager to speak with them by phone or email.

5. If they agree to speak with the researcher and to be considered, inform them that you will contact the researcher and provide him with only their first name, their phone number, and/or their email.

6. Call or email me with their first name, phone number, email, and any additional information that would be helpful as I make initial contact with them. I will then initiate contact.

Thanks so much for your assistance. Please be assured that I will do my best to make this a positive experience for all involved. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Jeff Yergler

For More In-Depth Background Related to this Reseach, read below:

Jeffrey D. Yergler, Ph.D. Candidate

Ph.D. Research Introductory Description for Participant Referrals

Dissertation Topic:

The Posttraumatic Growth Process for Organizational Leaders Impacted by Involuntary Job Loss

Doctoral Program in Leadership Studies

Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington

August 18, 2009

What Is The Significance Behind My Research?

Involuntary job loss is a major problem in the United States. As of May 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that a total of 9.4% or a total of 14.5 million workers are unemployed. Approximately 65.4% or 9,546,000 represent those who have lost permanent jobs and those who have completed temporary jobs. Of this number, 6,140,000 (not seasonally adjusted) workers experienced involuntary job loss. The experience of involuntary job loss can be psychologically, economically, and relationally devastating. An individual’s family, friends, and professional colleagues can be impacted as well. Gaining insight about how to help people better understand the impact of involuntary job loss and move through this experience is extremely important. Such insight will provide a kind of “road map” to help the newly unemployed negotiate the often traumatic experience of involuntary job loss. Additionally it is hoped that this research will provide organizational leaders, human resource professionals, outplacement counselors, therapists, family members, and valued friends with vital information that will shed needed light onto this process.

Why Am I Writing You?

In 2004 I began the Ph.D. program in Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Over the last five years, my research, writing, and much of my course work has focused on organizational leadership and the psychological trauma and personal growth that can result from involuntary job loss.

As part of my dissertation, I am conducting research to more accurately assess and understand the psychological trauma generated by involuntary job loss, as well as how individuals can grow through that trauma to a place of greater understating regarding themselves, others, and the world around them. The title of my dissertation is: The Posttraumatic Growth Process for Organizational Leaders Impacted by Involuntary Job Loss. As I will describe below, I am requesting your help to locate the participants I will need for my research.

Why Is Involuntary Job Loss Important To Understand?

When organizational leaders, those in middle- to senior-level management positions in their organizations, experience involuntary job loss, they are laid-off, terminated/fired, or forced to resign by senior management. This job loss is “involuntary” because these individuals are forced to leave employment against their will. Regardless of the reason(s) that informed the decision to end the employment relationship, they are forced out of the organization, sometimes with little, if any, warning.

For some, being involuntarily terminated represents “no big deal.” For a variety of reasons, they are eager and ready to move on. Often these individuals will have the psychological, economic, and social resources required to weather the period of unemployment. However, for others who are involuntarily terminated, their experience can be marked by a severe and prolonged period of psychological and emotional distress. Family, friends, and colleagues can be negatively impacted by the job loss. Threats to one’s economic stability can quickly emerge. Perceptions about one’s own worth and the way one views and understands life and the larger world can be profoundly reshaped by the experience of involuntary job loss.

What Type Of Person Am I Looking For In This Research?

Some never quite recover from the psychological and emotional struggle resulting from involuntary job loss. Though they may be educated, experienced, gifted, and talented, their perspective of themselves, others, leadership within organizations, and the way they view the world in general is negatively nuanced as a result of their experience.

Yet others thoughtfully make their way through the devastation of involuntary job loss. While they too experience the psychological trauma of losing their jobs and the economic, social, and self-worth challenges that often accompany this loss, they eventually find their way forward to a place of new understanding, new confidence, a new depth of self-awareness, a new appreciation of others, and a new affirmation of their contribution in the organization and the larger world. These individuals do not “fight, claw, and scratch” their way back to “the top” motivated by anger, vindication, resentment, and the desire to “win” and to “stick it to the man.” Rather, motivated by their pain, a sense of shame, and perhaps a perceived sense of failure, they seek to understand their job loss, then move forward to new insights and vocational possibilities for themselves. Despite monumental “head winds” and a significant amount of collateral damage caused by the experience of involuntary job loss, they emerge from the experience different people: wiser, more self-aware, more thoughtful, more appreciative, and more eager than ever to contribute to others through some organizational context. I am looking for these individuals!

What Are The Specific Criteria Used To Identify Those For Whom I Am Looking?

With the above as background, I am asking for your help to locate the individuals who will qualify to be involved in my research. These are people who you know. You have been familiar with their experience of involuntary job loss. Though you may not know all the details of their experience, you are familiar enough with them to know they come very close to meeting the five criteria below:

1. At the time they experienced involuntary job loss, they were employed as middle- to senior-level leaders in their organizations.

2. As a result of their job loss, they experienced psychological and emotional distress and disruption. They might have also experienced collateral damage involving family, friends, and long-held views of “the way the world works.”

3. After some period of time had elapsed from the experience of their job loss, they began to engage in an intentional reevaluation their lives, their work, and perhaps their purpose in life.

4. As they reevaluated their situation over time, they experienced personal growth and showed evidence of a new and deeper understanding of themselves, their work, and their purpose in life.

5. They are now more settled and grounded in their lives. They are reemployed in some capacity where they are contributing professionally and leveraging the insights gained from their experience of involuntary job loss.

How Can You Connect Me With The Individuals Who Meet The Five Criteria?

Once you are reasonably sure that someone you know has most likely experienced the five criteria above, I would ask you to approach them with thoughtfulness and respect. Because this can be a bit awkward, I want to suggest the following steps.

1. Explain that you have been approached by a student (whom you know) who is doing research as part of his Ph.D. program at Gonzaga University. His research focuses on the experience of involuntary job loss.

2. Explain, in your own words, that their experience of involuntary job loss (based on the five criteria mentioned above) would appear to qualify them for the study.

3. Describe in your own words the significance of this research: to better understand the experience of involuntary job loss and how individuals can grow as a result of it. You may use this piece of information to brief them on the research if that helps.

4. Based on what you have explained to them, ask them that if they are willing to consider being involved in the research. If they agree please inform them that the researcher would be eager to speak with them by phone.

5. If they agree to speak with the researcher and to be considered, inform them that you will contact the researcher and provide him with only their first name and their phone number, and/or their email.

6. Call or email me with their first name, phone number, email, and any other information that would be helpful as I make preliminary contact with them. I will then initiate contact.

Your Referral is Critical To The Success Of This Research!

I’ll be honest. I have received a few of these emails over the years from doctoral students who were requesting my help in one form or another. As I read the background information and what they were asking, I was immediately “put-off” by the work and time requirements that my participation would cost me if I agreed to participate. Now, as a Ph.D. student myself who is asking very busy people for their help and some of their time, I better understand how very important your help is in order to make this research successful.

If you are debating whether or not you have the interest and/or time to help, I would ask you to ponder the one question that has compelled and propelled me in this study: How can we offer hope and help to those whose lives have been massively disrupted and even devastated by the experience of involuntary job loss? Fundamentally, at its core, this research is about offering hope and help to those who are so often cast adrift by the effects of unemployment.

You can help me make a difference. My dissertation represents much more than the final requirement for obtaining an advanced degree. It represents the means by which I believe I can offer encouragement, support, and practical wisdom to those who are trying to find their way through one of the most difficult and darkest seasons of life. This is both head work and heart work for me.

If you need any additional clarification or have any questions, please email me at: jdy@integerleadership.com.

Thank you…..

Jeffrey D. Yergler

Here’s a helpful article that emphasises the importance of gaining emotional control after an involuntary job loss. It’s extremely difficult protraying a postive, confident image when your life is unravelling due to unexpected job loss. Furthermore, though Korkki is helpful here, she may be underestimating the difficulty of recovering psychologically from the devestation of involuntary job loss.

AFTER a layoff, your self-esteem and personal relationships may take a hit. Your bank account and quality of life may both spiral downward. You may not even be sure you can pay your mortgage or rent.

Just hearing “I’m here for you” can mean a lot to an unemployed person, Dr. Molitor said.

How do leaders build stability during unstable times? How do we human beings find security in the midst of insecurity that comes from unpredictability? Before we can do anything for others as leaders, managers, colleagues, friends, or family, we must settle this issue for ourselves, in our own minds and in the depths of our hearts.

The fact is is that life is unpredictable, unstable, erratic, uncertain, unforeseeable, fluctuating, and often capricious. In other words, we don’t know what’s coming our way, when it will come, or the manner in which it will arrive. I’m not a pessimist. My close friends would call me an indomitable optimist. Yet, there is great wisdom and not a little anxiety that comes from making room for the fact that life happens with our agreement or not. And when life unfolds it can be vicious and damaging as well as beautiful, ennobling, and beneficial. Try as we may to stack the odds in our favor, the bottom line is that life will happen regardless of how hard we seek to set the odds in our favor. This is tough to digest.

Janoff-Bulman (2004), in her excellent research into the ongoing impact of trauma, noted that random victimizations that are perpetrated against us or which simply happen to us as the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time (insurance terminology would call the latter “acts of God” which means natural disasters) can leave us, over the long-term, with a complex sense of stability and instability, meaningfulness and meaninglessness. Even though trauma can leave us more anxious and aware of the incomprehensibility of life, it can also leave us with a sense of gratitude and a willingness to engage in life. We can be terrified yet we can also become life affirming. As Janoff-Bulman observed, “From a recognition of human mortality and fragility in the face of an uncontrollable, arbitrary universe, survivors reevaluate life and enthusiastically embrace living. By realizing the real and ever-present possibility of loss, survivors create value in their lives” (p. 133). Survivors of trauma understand this complex juxtaposition where others, who refuse to acknowledge it, may embrace an attitude of learned helplessness or perhaps embrace a form of prayer for protection and vindication.

I have always been captivated by the thought that prayer does not change God but rather changes us. This makes sense to me. It seems that prayer is often viewed as a defense against the calamities and vagaries of life. This is to say that if we pray enough and with the right heart and intentions then we shall be protected. If, on the other hand, we fail to “dial-in” the right formula and “life happens” we may easily feel that we simply got it wrong in the first place or deserved what we received. I see this differently. If prayer changes us, and I believe it does, then reflection and pondering upon the mysteries of life should at the same time ground us in the reality that we are just as susceptible as the next person who feels no need to pray to any higher power. When “life happens” we should not be thrown ultimately and finally into skepticism, rage, and doubt, although this may well be our initial response, but rather deeper into the conviction that God is at work in all dimensions of life…even in the face of traumas that impact us psychologically, emotionally, and professionally.

This is a thought-provoking editorial on the moral dilemma of organizational layoffs. The question is this, “Does the organization laying off employees have a moral obligation to those employees?” This is clearly a vexing question. Some would argue that, in fact, “no,” organizations have no moral obligation to employees when those employees must be involuntarily laid off in order to preserve the performance of the business. Others would disagree saying that, in fact, “yes,” organizations do incur a moral obligation to their employees that supersedes the performance of the enterprise.

Whether or not a company has a moral “obligation” to their employees experiencing involuntary job loss may not be the real issue here. A publically held business enterprise is first of all obligated to its shareholders. Business decisions must focus on profitability (considering that all decisions about what leads to profitability have been ethically based) for those who have vested interests in performance. A business also has moral obligations toward fair and just compensation as long as employees are retained. A healthy organizational system will often generate healthy morale which can lead to greater efficiency and productivity.

But what about “after” employees are terminated? Are there moral obligations then? My opinion here is that while business enterprises are not automatically morally obligated to their job losers, they should choose to obligate themselves willingly in order to ensure that those who are terminated are treated with dignity, value, worth, and esteem. If a business takes on this type of a moral obligation with those terminated, they will take concrete action to mitigate, as much as possible, the economic and psychological impact of the job loss that takes the organization “well beyond” what is reasonable and appropriate.

How a business provides for the well-being of terminated employees is the issue here. Driven fundamentally by a desire to preserve its reputation, a company can do what it knows it must do (the minimum) in order to prevent bitterness and public backlash. However, it can go beyond what it knows it should do to respond to what it feels is a deeper moral imperative: to preserve the well-being of its former employees. Job loss research consistently shows that employers who go above-and-beyond what is minimally required for terminated employees contributes significantly to the well-being and “hope” of those employees. Reemployment seems to be a smoother process when a job loser leaves a former employer with gratitude despite the difficult decisions that have been made. Conversely, significant bitterness is generated when employees perceive that they have been tossed aside like a useless piece of human debris.

While a company is not morally obligated to those it terminates, it should consciously choose to obligate itself morally to provide support and care for those who are asked to leave the organization. This is the greater good. . .the higher road. . . for both the terminated employee and the employer.

I came across this article this morning as I prepared for one of my human relations in organizations classes. Gilbert, based on my own research on psychological trauma and posttraumatic growth, is not only accurate in his assessment but very helpful for those who work with post-secondary students and who are in a position to counsel adults dealing with potentially traumatic experiences.

One component of our cognitive framework that is affected by psychological trauma, using a cognitive schema model, is coming to terms with the reality that though we have believed in our ability to control and predict our environment, it is simply no longer possible or even tenable. The schema or fundamental assumption that we can control and predict our lives creates a sense (or illusion) of safety and stability. Unpredictable and uncontrollable trauma ruptures that fundamental assumption. Furthermore, it is my contention that though there is no psychological trauma present in our lives, our environment…our culture…can insidiously and incrementally eat-away at this assumption thus creating a nagging sense of unsettledness and ambiguous stress.

Gilbert notes that much of the rising tide of anxiety in our culture at the moment is not the result of not having enough money but rather not being able to predict what is coming around the bend. Though both issues are a source of stress, the latter, according to Gilbert, is particularly unsettling.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Seventy-six years ago, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took to the inaugural dais and reminded a nation that its recent troubles “concern, thank God, only material things.” In the midst of the Depression, he urged Americans to remember that “happiness lies not in the mere possession of money” and to recognize “the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success.”

Our national gloom is real enough, but it isn’t a matter of insufficient funds. It’s a matter of insufficient certainty. Americans have been perfectly happy with far less wealth than most of us have now, and we could quickly become those Americans again — if only we knew we had to.
________________________________________

Daniel Gilbert is professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of “Stumbling on Happiness.” More of his writing and videos of his appearances can be found at his Web site (www.danielgilbert.com/).

One of the reasons that termination and unemployment exacts a toll on one’s psychological well-being is that we are too deeply connected to our work. In addressing the psychological meaning of employment, Freud (1930) observed that work was man’s strongest tie to reality and its reversal, unemployment, can loosens man’s grip on reality. Following Freud’s line of reasoning, Jahodia (1982) stated that the “psychological needs met by employment are probably deeper and more enduring than the institutional arrangements to which we have become accustomed as satisfying them” (p. 61).

When one experiences involuntary job loss, a number of psychological stressors are activated. The more meaningful our work the more disruption occurs psychologically. The more meaningful the work coupled with the length of time we have been engaged in that work, again, the greater the likelihood that psychological disruption will unsettle our sense of well-being. The process of appraisal and coping with this loss is determined by the amount of harm/loss and threat that the job loss represents (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).

Notice the massive increase in mental stress that often results during periods of job loss as reported in the media. The last 15 months, we have witnessed dramatic increases in the disintegrating mental state or mental homeostasis of those who have lost their jobs and as a result overwhelming mental health help lines. The issue is that for many, they have lost far more than employment and the resulting economic crises that can quickly follow. For many, they have lost a significant source of existential meaning. Freud was right…we are deeply connected to our work, more so than we may understand. What have we lost beyond actual employment? We have lost a sense of purpose (I work therefore I am) and we have a diminished sense of value (we are worth less as an unemployed person in a culture that worships productivity and professional contribution).

One might suggest that because the West has put far too much emphasis on the meaning of work, the subsequent identity attachment that is framed around employment as a result can be deleterious to well-being. The work becomes “the soul” and when work is lost the soul loses it’s way…it’s true north. Could it be, then, that our own culture’s propensity of attaching inordinate meaning and significance to work is ultimately destructive? In cases such as involuntary job loss and the resulting psychological repercussions, the answer may well be “yes.”

If you are or know someone who has experienced involuntary job loss, develop a new appreciation for the larger existential issues you (or they) are confronting. At times such as these, let us find ways to rally around those who have been “existentially wounded” by unemployment and do what we can to be a constant reminder that fundamental value and worth far surpasses the matter of employment. This is a difficult to message to hear when one is psychologically traumatized by the magnitude of this type of loss. Nonetheless, perhaps the crisis can be an opportunity to redefine our sense of meaning and purpose.

Jeff

The untold story about involuntary job loss is that individuals take a tremendous psychological hit. The USATODAY link, though somewhat dated at this point, begins to go into greater detail. The work of the Gallup-Healthways index (http://www.well-beingindex.com/) as well as the Usatoday story (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-03-11-stress-poll_N.htm) presents data that supports the precipitous decline of the psychological health of those who are impacted by job loss.

With massive unemployment (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm) one can only image the psychological disruption that is taking place in the lives of those who have been involuntarily terminated. What most of us see are the individual stories of those who are struggling to make-ends-meet financially. What is often not seen and even less understood is how forced unemployment undermines psychological health.

The work of Janoff-Bulman (1992) on shattered assumptions helps us to understand just how psychological disruption takes place when one is confronted with, for example, unexpected unemployment, that leaves a person feeling victimized and vulnerable.

The good news is that the work of Carol Ryff (1989) on well-being has proven to be a promising resource that offers excellent insight into the problem. Ryff takes an approach that excites me as an instructor. Ryff and Singer (2003) observe that while there is much to be learned about fostering and facilitating resilience, public education and community intervention programs should capitalize upon opportunities that employ the tools that promote resilience. We need to begin to marshall our best resources around this issue - especially academic, professional and technical knowledge, coupled with an understanding of how to apply the cognitive and behavioral tools that promote and embed resilience. As instructors we have a responsibility to give our students their best shot at success. The question is, “How do we make that happen?”

A Strategy for Promoting Resilience with Adult Learners

While instructors can pick and choose among different resources to construct a resilience curriculum, they may well be frustrated by the lack of coherence and theoretical alignment of this approach. It is tough to piecemeal such a vital teaching construct as resilience. I believe I can offer some helpful insight drawn from my own sometimes frustrating experience.

I consulted with Dr. Carol D. Ryff (see the aforementioned and references) sometime ago asking her the question, “What key research would you suggest I review that focuses on the way that adults learn resilience?” Dr. Ryff’s response to me was exactly what I was looking for. She believes that the research on promoting well-being can be closely linked to promoting resilience. After consulting with the research Ryff had referenced (Fava & Cuini, 2003; Fava, Ruini, Rafanelli, Finos, Conti, & Grandi, 2004) and additional resources that were referenced in other related research (Ryff, 1989a; Ryff, 1989b), I designed a curriculum utilizing content from these sources and focused the teaching and discussion on the critical themes of well-being as indicators of resilience. These themes, drawn from Ryff’s work (1989) on well-being were: self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life and personal growth.

Embedding Resilience within the Conversation About Strengths

At Olympic College we run a two-day, two-credit course called Improving Human Effectiveness which utilizes the Gallup Institutes’ resources on strengths. I incorporated into this course the curriculum on well-being. Day one, entitled Discovering your Strengths: Getting Clear On What You Bring To the World, focuses on introducing students to the concept of strengths building. We interpret the Strengths Assessment, connect strengths to academic and career planning, and then apply a strengths strategy within organizational settings. Day two, entitled Building a Strong Life: Creating an Environment Where Your Strengths Can Flourish, focuses on the larger life-context in which the students can successfully live-into their strengths. The fundamental rationale in this approach is that, while it is important to identify and operationalize your strengths or “signature themes,” it is equally important to nurture the personal practices that foster resilience and to intentionally create larger supportive networks. Only then can a person withstand the stiff resistance and intimidating challenges that consistently occur and often undermine the energy needed to apply a strengths strategy in and out of the workplace.

Sample Schedule of the Improving Human Effectiveness Course

Day 1: Discovering Your Strengths: Getting Clear On What You Bring To the World
1. Welcome, Purpose, Agenda, and Introductions
2. Introduction to Strengths and Positive Psychology
3. Trombone Player Wanted segment 1: So What’s Stopping You from Discovering Your Strengths?
3.1. Exercise and Discussion on Peak Performances
4. Trombone Player Wanted segment 2: Do You Know What Your Strengths Are?
4.1. Understanding How Strengths Work: Talents, Skills, and Knowledge
5. Trombone Player Wanted segment 3: How Can You Make The Most Out Of Your Strengths?
5.1. Designing Your Academic and Career Strategy With Your Strengths In Mind
6. Trombone Player Wanted segment 4: How Do You Cut Out The Weaknesses?
6.1. Identifying the Obstacles Of Living Into Your Strengths
7. Trombone Player Wanted segment 5: Why Is It So Hard To Talk About This?
7.1. Maximizing Your Strengths in the Organization and Work Setting
8. Trombone Player Wanted segment 6: Why Can’t This Last Forever?
9. Concluding Thoughts

Day 2: Building a Strong Life: Creating an Environment Where Your Strengths Can Flourish

1. Why Strengths Are Only Part of the Equation of Succeeding Personally and Professionally
1.1. Reflection: Identify Your Greatest Barriers to Your Personal and Professional Growth.
2. Building Well-Being and Resilience Into Your Life: The Key to Living Into Your Strengths
3. The Five Critical Factors that Promote Resilience
3.1. Dispositional Optimism
3.2. Healthy Environments Which Foster Empowering Habits and Entrepreneurial (possibility) Thinking
3.3. Supportive Champions and Advocates Who Promote Coping and Self-Disclosure
3.4. Creating Social Capital
3.5. Identifying Reflective Physical Environments
4. The Six Dimensions that Promote Personal Well-Being
4.1. Self-Acceptance
4.2. Positive Relations With Others
4.3. Autonomy
4.4. Environmental Mastery
4.5. Purpose in Life
4.6. Personal Growth
5. Commitment and Conclusion

Summary

There is much more work to be done in the area of promoting an understanding of well-being and resilience with the students in our community colleges. The unique mission of the community college creates the kind of learning environment where academic learning can be strategically connected with the insight needed to survive and excel in an increasingly difficult world. To teach in this environment, working with these students, toward these critical ends is both a responsibility and a privilege!

Understanding and Experiencing Resilience

Resilience is defined as a dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity (Luther, Cochiti & Becker, 2000). Positive adaptation means the ability to adjust or respond to adversity in such a way that emotional and cognitive equilibrium is maintained. Instead of being completely derailed or paralyzed by unanticipated and difficult circumstances, one is able to understand and rally the resources necessary to move through crises successfully. My own experience with significant adversity has convinced me that adapting to sudden and unexpected setbacks does not come naturally for most adults, especially those adults who have not learned coping skills during critical developmental periods such as childhood and adolescence. It must be learned and incorporated into one’s approach to daily living. The question then becomes, “How do adults learn resilience?”

Research on Adults and Resilience (macrolevel domains)

The research on resilience formally began by studying resilient children, specifically, how children who were subjected to adverse family situations (such as poverty, uneducated parents, mental illness, alcoholism and divorce) managed to negotiate these significant barriers and emerge as successful adults (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1998). This line of research which focused on the benefits of adversity signaled a fundamental shift in developmental psychopathology from a preoccupation on deficits or pathology to a focus on strengths (Lepore & Revenson, 2006). In her landmark longitudinal study, Werner (1989) showed evidence that, while a majority of children who experienced extremely difficult environments developed behavioral and learning problems, a full third matured into healthy and well-adjusted adults. The characteristics which created this capacity to move through adversity included strong social skills, building on successive coping successes, a stronger sense of self-efficacy and self-esteem (Rutter, 1987; Garmezy, 1985). In other words, as some children learned to manage adversity, they tended to become more confident and skilled at continuing the practice into adulthood.

Lepore and Revenson’s (2006) evaluation is very helpful in further understanding what facilitates resilience in adults. They identify five domains or research trends that figure prominently in resiliency. The first domain is dispositional optimism which is defined as “the stable, generalized expectancy or belief that one will experience good things in life and that future outcomes will be positive” (p. 31). Dispositional optimism is expressed in the following ways: the willingness to try harder, the ability to reframe negative experiences in more positive ways, the tendency to discover benefits in adversity and to remind oneself of those benefits (Affleck, 1999), knowing when to jettison unattainable goals or even worldviews that no longer apply and look for new ones and a strong social network of relationships providing enhanced social resources (Lepore & Revenson).

The second domain is resilience-promoting environments or how key social influences surrounding the individual promote resilience. Lepore and Revenson (2006) suggest three environmental qualities that advance the development of resilience: environments that encourage physical and mental health; environments that champion normative development; and environments that cultivate social cohesion and social capital. I have found evidence aplenty that underscores Lepore and Revenson’s emphasis on the importance of environment. Many students, while seeming to possess the necessary drive to perform well academically, are often surrounded by toxic and acrid environments which can dismantle academic focus and vocational aspiration. This should serve to remind those of us who teach that many factors beyond the classroom may influence, even mitigate against, a student’s academic performance.

The third domain is safe social environments that promote coping. Lepore and Revenson (2006) note that individuals who have access to others with whom they can self-disclose are more resilient than those who do not. This accessibility to supportive others and subsequent self-disclosure builds a strong social network in which the individual can be encouraged, explore alternatives for action and alleviate emotional distress. When students have champions and supportive advocates, as opposed to consistent interaction with people who are indifferent or even hostile to their success, they stand a far greater chance of flourishing in and beyond the classroom.

The fourth domain is social capital or the presence of institutional structures rooted and grounded in the community which are available to resource the individual (Lepore & Revenson, 2006). Religious institutions, community organizations, strong schools, cohesive neighborhoods, available health care and a responsive social service network can provide supportive and timely resources to the individual facing life’s turbulence. When the resources are visible and accessible within a community, they foster the development of resiliency by offering dynamic and timely “social connections and a synchronization of resources” (Lepore & Revenson, p. 34). For example, for both members and community visitors, religious organizations offer emotional and monetary support, spiritual counsel, relational networks and meaningful connection to outreach or “mission” enterprises, all of which promote a sense of personal significance and worth. Habitat for Humanity is another example where community volunteering connects a person with a worthwhile mission and also with other like-minded individuals. The point here is to understand how meaningful activity strengthens a person’s sense of purpose and value.

The fifth domain is the physical environment. While this domain has not been thoroughly researched, Lepore and Revenson (2006) remark that it holds promise in promoting resilience. I agree. Specifically, natural surroundings which are conducive to self-reflection can be conduits of rejuvenation and restoration. A sanctuary - a safe and generative place to which one can retreat, focus, self-disclose and consider options for personal growth - may foster resilience.

These five domains serve as important factors that can catalyze the emergence of resilience. Based on my experience in the classroom, regardless of whether or not these five domains are in place (and often times they are not), students benefit greatly from simply understanding the potential value of these key factors. It is important to note here however, that the research on how to teach resilience to adults is lacking and inconclusive. The scholarly studies I have reviewed are fundamentally descriptive; they focus only on explaining the characteristics of resilience in children and/or adults as well as the life experiences that lead to the emergence of resilience. In light of this, my concern has been to identify information on resilience and intervention. The question I wish to resolve is: How do we facilitate in adults the acquisition of new tools which hold the potential to break through personal and environmental barriers that sabotage tenacity and slacken the will to succeed?

Best,

Jeffrey