Personal Resilience by Eamonn Eaton

When you look at the definition of ‘resilience’ it’s not surprising that this is a topic that has emerged within individuals and teams that I am currently working with.

Taking everything that has happened over the past year into account, one challenge that we have all faced is our ability to recover quickly and continue to perform in a fluid and complex environment. Our personal resilience has been stretched and tested.

As we move into 2021, one particular team I am working with has decided to explore this at an individual and team level. Everyone has gone through a challenging and difficult year in 2020 and this team is no exception. What sets them apart from other teams is that they recognise the importance of recharging their batteries and building and enhancing their individual resilience to help them continue to operate as a high performing team in this constantly fluid environment.  

Through a combination of self-reflection questionnaires, individual coaching and team sessions we are exploring and building a shared understanding of the factors that underpin Personal Resilience. We are looking at the link between Emotional Intelligence and Resilience and building action plans for personal development to improve how the team members handle stressful situations. Our aim is to support the team members in how they approach personal and professional relationships in tough situations.

Taking this approach has brought a number of benefits to the team.

1. Awareness is the first step to change. Having the conversation about resilience has allowed the team members to openly discuss how the challenges of the past year have impacted them.  This is the foundation for moving forward.
2. One of the most important factors underpinning resilience is how you frame the situation in your mind. The intervention has created a dialogue where individuals can reframe challenges and find a way to work to manage and overcome them.
3. Team members see how they can work together to become a support when someone’s resilience needs a boost.
4. Resilience is a dynamic and interactive process. By engaging in the process the team have increased their understanding of how taking action and managing how they engage with their environment helps them influence their level of resilience.

Personal Resilience is a core capability that’s in demand today.  Building resilience helps individuals and senior teams lead their People and business at a sustainable pace, and helps avoid personal or team burnout. From the work I am doing, I can see the importance of helping people assess their own resilience levels and developing strategies and tools to strengthen personal resilience. I firmly believe that more and more teams should be exploring this to help manage and lead in the new normal.