I want to share a story.
I’m working with Mary Beth, who has decided to change job, after almost 25 years with the same company. Talking about timing. Nonetheless Mary Beth has decided to try something different, disregarding the comments of her colleagues, the most kind of which is “she’s crazy”.
Mary Beth is over 50 and in the last few years, she felt out of place, disengaged and stuck in a repetitive job that no longer provided learning. Two months ago, she resigned, shocking her boss, who thought of her as a wise, no nonsense professional.
Unfortunately, the role Mary Beth was to take in a startup, disappeared on the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and she is now jobless. The last time I talked with her she still a high sense of purpose and hope that somehow, she will get out of this situation in a better position. She literally told me that “being without safety net is the best thing that could happen to me”.
Mary Beth is the perfect example of resilience.
Resilience is the capability to bounce back when things don’t go as planned. We all possess this quality to a certain extent; some people are more capable to make the most of it.
Resilience helps us to keep our commitments, reach our goals and manage difficult situations whilst learning from them.
I’m not talking about superheroes. I’m talking about being able to show our human side, understanding and accepting our emotions. Once we do that, we can develop strategies to better cope with the unexpected.
Prof. Cary Cooper of Manchester University in his book Building Resilience for Success has identified for components that help increase our resilience:
- Self-confidence – the firm belief in own capability to overcome difficulties
- Social support – counting on a strong relational network
- Adaptability – understanding and learning from own mistakes
- Purposefulness – setting clear goals and overcome obstacles
How do you rate in resilience? Give yourself a score between 0 (not at all) and 5 (very good) for each of the 4 components and discover where you could improve.