Today I’m back with another tip in our series on how to build greater emotional resilience in your people. And the strategy is to show them that crises are normal and routine.
Show them that crises are normal and routine
The key word here is that you need to show them. In other words, if you handle a crisis well, you’ll build their emotional resilience. Now let’s think that through for a moment.
Back in Strategy #7, I told you to be role model of healthy working practices. Now I’m asking you to be a role model for how to behave in a crisis. When things go awry, and they will because that’s just the way the world works, you can either panic and react, or you can calmly evaluate options and determine how to mitigate the damage. If you panic and react all the time, then you’ve just told your people that this behaviour is normal and acceptable. And they’ll do the same. Which means no emotional resilience.
On the other hand, if you can be deliberate about keeping your voice calm and staying even-tempered, then you’ve demonstrated that crises are okay, they’re normal, they’re commonplace, and they just need to be dealt with. By showing great emotional resilience, you’ve helped your people do the same.
Even better, take steps to be proactive and head off situations before they become crises. You’ll build even greater resiliency in your team members.
Remember, not every crisis needs to be a drama – show your people how crises can be normal and routine, and without even trying, you’ll build emotional resilience in your people.
Emotional resilience is a skill that is learned just like any other. But for some, it comes more easily. I’d love to hear about your experiences with emotional resilience, either yours, or perhaps in someone else. Please share your stories by adding a Comment below.
If you’d like to access previous videos in this series, you can access them here.