According to a Forbes article published at the onset of the COVID pandemic, people leaders across all industries are facing similar challenges for their teams and themselves. Using the Resilience Institute’s combination of Bounce, Grow, Connect and Flow, leaders and employees alike can learn the essential skills required to thrive in an uncertain and changing environment.
But first, what do Bounce, Grow, Connect and Flow mean when discussing resilience?
The ability to Bounce means to recognise resilience failure and to regain optimal function. In other words, when you aren’t operating at optimal performance, bounce is detecting what is happening and committing to getting yourself back on track.
We Grow when we look after ourselves mentally and physically via self-care, adopting and maintaining positive habits that permeate throughout our personal and professional lives. Ensuring good sleep and a healthy diet helps to give us a positive outlook, which translates into staying calm under pressure, countering negative thoughts and reducing impulsivity.
When we Connect we enter a state of union, be it a physical, emotional, cognitive or spiritual connection. With ourselves, others or even with nature, Connection is a powerful skill in the resilience toolkit that allows us to have heightened emotional intelligence (EQ), empathy and self-awareness.
We enter the Flow state when we have a strong concept of effective, engaging and skilful responses to challenges. In Flow you are “in the zone” and have deep focus, achieving optimal performance and situational agility. Like top athletes who get “into the zone” when competing, the Flow state sees us operating at our peak.
How do I balance being an inspirational and comforting leader while continuing to push on performance?
Connect and Flow. It’s essential that your team know and trust that you are empathetic to their individual circumstances, whether you front a team of one or one thousand. Empathy and Emotional Literacy are two facets of connection that all great leaders possess. Combined with Flow, you can practice Situational Awareness and Agility that lead to optimal performance. Some days are harder than others and if your team feels safe knowing that they won’t be punished on difficult days where they aren’t as productive, they will work to make up the productivity on their better days. It’s a balance of give and take, of trust and of Connect and Flow.
How can I respond to countless questions from managers and frontline workers when no clear answers exist?
Bounce. Reduced revenue, reduced working schedules, redundancies. Some industries have been hit harder than others but very few companies have been immune to some sort of reductions. No one can have all the answers but it is possible to instill confidence in others even when you don’t know what’s around the corner. Tactical Calm helps people understand that panic and anxiety are not the only options in uncertain times. Just like how fear can easily spread from one person to the next, so too can calm radiate throughout the team. Even if events do have less than ideal outcomes, Tactical Calm and Bounce show your resilience.
How do I maintain my visibility and influence in the organisation with limited interaction opportunities?
Grow and Flow. By adopting a Growth Mindset and building a comprehensive Personal Plan you can be prepared for the interactions and opportunities that arise, regardless of whether they are in person, in a virtual meeting or over email. Just like how if you think of a red car you begin to see red cars everywhere (called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon or Frequency Illusion), if you prepare yourself for opportunities, visibility and influence then you start to see those chances arise and confidently step into them.
How do I continue building my personal brand within the company without appearing self-centred?
Flow. By finding your Optimal Performance and understanding Situational Awareness you can continue your personal development while still being empathetic of others. Personal success and emotional intelligence are not at odds with each other but are intricately linked. Equally, by demonstrating an ability to deliver on your objectives during times of turmoil can be an inspiration to others.
How can I keep my team engaged while working remotely?
Resilience training. Bounce, Grow, Connect and Flow are greater than the sum of their parts and a resilient team is one who collectively works together in all areas. With the right training, entire teams can help each other stay engaged and supported no matter what is thrown at them. What’s more, a team that has collectively gone through resiliency training together can use that common ground to remind and support one another with best practices.
Founded in 2002, The Resilience Institute has been training people and corporations Bounce, Grow, Connect and Flow by bringing together modern preventative medicine, positive psychology, emotional intelligence, and neuroscience. By delivering high impact, practical, evidence-based and integrated Resilience training, clients have built healthier bodies, achieved greater levels of emotional intelligence and have developed stronger minds, bringing their tremendous performance benefits of resilience to work.
Now with an app available on Android, iOS and the web, users can measure, learn and achieve their resilience goals from anywhere. With micro-learning video and audio sessions, daily goal tracker and an AI-powered chatbot, resilience training has never been more available.
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