Building resilience

Leaders need to build resilience—their teams’ as well as their own—in order to thrive in today’s times.

- LISA J KOSS

The breadth of change for leaders and their teams during the global pandemic has been dramatic: what we are doing, how we are working, when, and of course, where. During my hundreds of hours of coaching this past year, I have watched executives adopt significantly new and different routines and gain confidence over time. Broadly speaking, many challenges have been met. But I have also found that success in adapting as team leaders in these times has much to do with the leaders’ ability to shore up their own and their teams’ emotional and psychological reserves—to build resiliency.

Building resiliency includes viewing leadership as an experience instead of a role. Leaders consider their impact in each conversation, relationship, and meeting. What makes an experience satisfying will depend, in part, on the individual. But in these challenging times, reducing stress and overwhelm is critical to help teams focus and stay productive.

Given the preponderance of meetings leaders and teams are facing lately, here are four ways leaders can create satisfying experiences and build everyone’s resilience— including their own: