Here’s an updated extract from my book; The Really Resilient Guide by me, Andry McFarlane, discussing what resilience is:
“When I’ve looked at resilience in popular culture, it appears heroic, like climbing Mount Everest against all the odds. For most of us, real- life resilience isn’t quite as dramatic. It’s the ongoing daily quest to survive and thrive through life’s challenges and opportunities. We may not climb actual mountains, but the obstacles we learn to overcome may have felt mountainous at one point.
In my experience resilience is…
A. Grit.Keeping going. Having staying power and persistence. It’s about digging deep and finding inner reserves of strength at times of challenge, change or stress.
B. Adaptability is ‘an ability or willingness to change, in order to suit different conditions.’ This is similar to flexibility but includes learning to blend in by adapting behaviours, or perhaps modifying your conversational style to be better heard.”
….”REALLY RESILIENT features (for sustainable resilience)
I’ve come to believe that what is missing in most resilience-building processes is:
A balance between collaboration and individual resilience-building work
Self-awareness – the foundation of resilience
Well-being – a fundamental resilience “In my view, employers share the personal responsibility towards your resilience (these basics might or might not to be upheld by legislation). Examples include Health and Safety, Duty of Care, mental health and well-being services, anti-discrimination practices, RESPECT and co-creating a good working culture, and good HR partner relationships. “
In addition, it is in our connections and interdependence that we become sustainably resilient – ‘faster alone, further together’ the phrase goes.
To find out more about resilience workshops and resilience and wellbeing coaching for your staff, drop me a line: andry@thelearningmoment.org
About the author: Andry Anastasis McFarlane is an Executive Coach, Trainer, Consultant and author with over 15 years’ experience of running a UK Learning and Development Business. She is a qualified teacher and qualified and highly experienced executive coach and mentor. She has worked as a Senior Lecturer in FE and an assessor in HE. Her work on The Really Resilient Guide has been featured on BBC Radio and iMagazine. Andry has set up a variety of organisational mentoring and coaching schemes. She has designed and delivered manager as coach programmes for over 15 years.
This article has been kindly repurposed from The Learning Moment and you can read the original here.