“If knocked down, I will get back up every time. I am never out of the fight.” - Navy SEAL Ethos
This is one of many mantras we live by in the Naval Special Warfare community. It sounds great. It’s motivating. It’s authentic. For us. But this mindset is tough to apply in a civilian business organization. In our research at TakingPoint Leadership - and in working with organizations across the globe - we’ve found that resilient teams aren't created by simply having the belief they need to be more mentally tough and adaptive during times of change. There is so much more to it.
Today's leaders are - and have been - leading in unprecedented times, due to COVID, a potential economic downturn, social unrest and the need for technological transformation all acting as major sources of adversity. Many organizations have been required to rethink and even transform aspects of their business models to continue to provide value to customers. Business model transformation and innovation doesn't just happen; it is envisioned and unlocked by resilient leaders in these organizations who thrive in the face of challenges posed by adversity. None of which is easy.
Resilient leaders have the ability to sustain their energy level under pressure, to cope with disruptive changes - whether those changes are intentional or not - and adapt on the battlefield. They bounce back more quickly from setbacks than less resilient counterparts and overcome major difficulties without engaging in dysfunctional behavior. But what about everyone else in the organization? Developing resilience in employees is just as critical.
While we tend to naturally develop certain levels of resilience over time, the most resilient teams and leaders are intentional in how they cultivate grit and an adaptive mindset. The challenge, however, is that leaders have a tendency to be more resilient than employees layers below them due to rank and tenure in their career path. They are also involved in making key decisions and therefore have a more clear understanding of the strategy and the “WHY” behind the associated priorities. Typically, the deeper you dive into the organization, this message gets muddled and clarity skewed - which places undue strain on the teams and people responsible for execution.
2 Resilience Pitfalls
- We tend to think of resilience as a personality trait. I conducted extensive research on this topic for my recent bestselling book Embrace the Suck: The Navy SEAL Way to An Extraordinary Life. Often, resilience is discussed as something individuals either possess, or do not. It’s true that some people have “trait-like” stability in their resilience, but when we only think about resilience in this way, we place sole responsibility on employees and ignore the organization’s role in providing appropriate support.
- Organizations have a tendency to place a “stigma” on employees experiencing emotional challenges. This was a long-time obstacle in the special operations community leading to the fear of seeking help. Operators don’t want to get pulled off the battlefield so they suffer in silence. Organizational resilience efforts should not associate resilience with the absence of negative emotions during hard times.
Both of these pitfalls lead to a lack of leadership accountability for taking care of our team members. For protecting and supporting them.
The Relationship Between Resilience and Engagement
Leaders also often believe that their most engaged employees are also their most resilient employees. This is not necessarily the case. This is a reasonable assumption - but one that must be challenged. We came across some very interesting research on this topic completed by ADP Research Institute and MIT Sloan in 2022. This analysis included organizations across twenty-five countries and involved 26,000 participants.
One key conclusion was that only 14% of workers were fully engaged (about the same as other research over the years), and only 15% of workers were highly resilient. Here’s how the breakdown looked:
- Just Coming to Work & Highly Resilient: 5%
- Just Coming to Work & Vulnerable: 80% (YIKES!)
- Fully Engaged & Highly Resilient: 10%
- Fully Engaged & Vulnerable: 5%
So, one could conclude that any workforce can have team members that are highly resilient but just “showing up” and doing the bare minimum. There are many factors that would impact this of course. The most significant leadership challenge this research uncovers is the conclusion that the largest portion of the workforce is both disengaged and vulnerable. This poses a huge challenge when it comes to navigating organizational change.
Here are three areas leaders must consider when seeking to better understand the root causes of - and solutions to - resilience challenges.
Challenging the Assumptions
As shown above, leaders must continually challenge their assumptions on what is driving fear, vulnerability, and disengagement. I used to be a big believer that “change” was a significant driver of fear and disengagement. And in many cases, poorly managed change definitely is. But according to the same study mentioned previously, this isn’t always the case.
Employees who reported five or more changes at work, were thirteen times more likely to be highly resilient. This is the good news! This suggests that it's not necessarily the changes themselves but the importance for leaders to communicate the WHAT and WHY effectively. This is the common challenge.
The Impact of Accountability and Trust (or lack thereof)
The topic of accountability comes up with every organization we work with. As does trust. You can’t have trust without accountability and ownership at all levels of the organization. But Accountability and Trust - arguably the most important culture pillars for high-performance teams - are byproducts of so many other elements of operational excellence - change leadership, process, structured communication, role clarity, proper planning, flawless execution, and a clear mission and vision to connect with.
When organizations lack clarity and accountability in one or more of these areas, resilience will be taxed. And when trust-building is prioritized, resilience flourishes. According to the ADP Research Institute and MIT Sloan research, when employees completely trust their team leader, they are fourteen times more likely to be fully engaged. And when they completely trust their colleagues, team leader, AND senior leaders, they are a whopping forty-two times more likely to be highly resilient!
The Critical Importance of Empathy
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the “Navy SEAL mindset” doesn’t necessarily apply. Our resilience stems from the most challenging special operations training and selection program in the world. Oh, and of course the job itself. Since, we can’t put our employees through evolutions like SEAL Hell Week, how about practicing an appropriate level of empathy?
Not all employees want to be labeled as resilient. They don’t want a pat on the back for getting back up after getting knocked down. They’d prefer not to get knocked down! They need support networks. Resources. Clarity on strategy and priorities. They need leaders to address toxicity and lack of diversity in the workplace. They want to believe they are part of something bigger than themselves, a shared sense of purpose, and an environment of psychological safety. Our research shows that above all else, “politics” in the workplace is actually the biggest drain on resilience. Basically, people problems!
So, when it comes to leading more effective resilience efforts, here are three questions leaders must ask:
- Question 1: Can the adversity be reduced or removed?
- Question 2: Are all employees experiencing this adversity in the same manner?
- Question 3: What role can I play in supporting employee resilience?
At the end of the day, all of the “burdens of command” start at the top. So here are five attributes of resilience all leaders - and teams - should practice to be in a state of continuous improvement.
5 Resilience Traits Leaders and Teams Should Practice
Radical Candor. The philosophy of Radical Candor — Caring Personally while Challenging Directly — is based on Kim Scott’s NYT’s bestseller Radical Candor. The way people communicate, give and receive feedback, and share information dramatically impacts resilience. For better or worse. So, open up the lines of communication and build a culture where everyone not only has a voice but is expected to use it. The ability to engage in respectful conflict. And an environment of learning and continuous improvement.
Improvisation and Innovation. Resilient leaders and teams have an ability to improvise and are not afraid of redesigning systems, processes, and rules to accommodate new external and internal realities. They do not embrace a “this is how we’ve always done it” mindset. They understand that in a crisis, business processes might need to change on a dime or be adapted and scaled according to new requirements. They welcome the chance to innovate and design the future in the midst of a crisis.
Inclusive Collaboration. There are pros and cons to collaboration. The main con is that it takes time. Sometimes decisions need to be made and action taken. In a high-performance team, when appropriate - all are included in elements of planning and execution. Leaders champion diversity of thought which allows for a broader degree of insight into what works and what doesn’t. Don’t forget to enlist feedback from the front lines when developing plans of action and implementing change initiatives.
Values Over Velocity. Resilient leaders and teams never sacrifice integrity and values for growth and goal accomplishment. They use values as fuel for making better, more aligned decisions and ensuring they are always moving the team towards fulfilling the organization's vision. When leaders stray from the values and guiding principles (assuming they are authentic), they tend to fall short of meeting objectives.
Bias Toward Action. Resilient teams do not see obstacles or tough decisions as paralyzing events. They tend to spend much less time in the bunker of denial and analysis paralysis and move more quickly towards action-oriented thinking.
Resilience is a powerful tool and mindset in any aspect of life and work. So, be intentional about how you go about developing this attribute in yourself and your team. No matter where you fall within the organizational structure!
