What kind of leader are you? Can you think of a few words that describe your leadership style and the overall type of business leader you currently are? Things like “Strong, compassionate, talented, and confident” will often come to most people’s minds. But what about resilient? At Technalink, we believe that the best leaders have numerous traits and talents that help them stand out as true professionals. And one of the most important traits is that of resilience.
What are we talking about here, exactly? A resilient leader is one who doesn’t break down over a setback, and who doesn’t let unexpected negative events to define them. Resilient leaders instead are able to evolve, grow, and learn from negative events and become a better leader in the process. If you’ve ever spent hours angry or sad over a deal falling apart or a product launch not going the way you’d hoped, it’s worth learning more about becoming a resilient leader.
Obviously, this is really something that can only truly be accomplished through experience, and the more that you encounter setbacks the better equipped you’ll be at dealing with them and overcoming them. However, a few tips can help you down the path to being a more resilient leader. Some of them include:
- Don’t pass blame around. It’s easy to just shift the blame onto someone else, but not only is that setting you up for less respect from your team, but it misses the point of becoming resilient. When you shift blame, you essentially refuse to admit your own mistakes. As a result, you can’t grow as a leader.
- Learn how to grow from each setback. Identify what went wrong and what you can change to improve the situation next time. When you view setbacks as learning experiences, you’ll be better able to grow and become a resilient leader instead of one who refuses to adjust their strategies for better success.
- Don’t be disheartened by setbacks. Instead, expect them. The simple fact is that they’ll happen on a periodic basis and it’s much more important that you be prepared for them so you aren’t completely destroyed when they occur. It’s better to view them as an unavoidable reality and then move on.
- Discuss each issue or setback with your team. They may be able to point out different areas of the business that need an adjustment and that could help avoid similar problems in the future. A resilient leader listens to their employees and learns from them.
Simply put, problems will occur. It’s how you deal with those problems that defines you as a business leader. Keep the tips above in mind and you should have an easier time adapting and becoming the leader that you want to be.
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