Resilience

In today’s difficult business environment, resilience is a very important skill. It is the valuable endowment of the leader who is dexterous, well-versed, and experienced.

This leader is growth-oriented and has a purposeful mindset. He is courageous, consistently builds the internal strength of his organisation, and plans ahead of the success curve.

He is always above the inflection point of the elasticities of demand and price. Also, his can-do attitude and bounce-back ability are never overwhelmed by consumer elasticity, inflation, necessities and non-necessities, as well as earning calls.

The internal strength of his organisation is stable, supported by dynamic platforms, general relativity, and consistent pragmatic approaches.

There is this theory of conceptual objective reality needed for resilience that I always love to discuss. In optimising scheduling and timelines, meeting deadlines, and objectively analysing task (or responsibility) dependencies, organisations can achieve goals and rise painstakingly, on a daily basis, to develop well-designed and effective systems.

By systems, I mean daily routines and patterns, aligning actions with values and growth. Also, building momentum through team interactions, as well as checkmating the psychological barriers of anxiety and the underhand resistance of toxic employees.

I will always prescribe the Critical Path Method (CPM) for the smart leader. You must always stay on top of the sequence of dependent activities in your organisation. The leader must possess and effectively deploy strong interpersonal skills.

The leader must also proficiently manage the profound distinction between an employee’s role and his job. Teaming, not just teamwork, is central to winning in the workplace. You “team” functionally with specific responsibilities. Employees must be encouraged to bring to the table the best versions of themselves. They must compete collectively and always go the extra mile. The leader must also be a dependable source of positive energy. Teams must consistently stretch beyond their comfort zones.

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Experts have described pattern recognition, anchored on intuition, as the leader’s “armour” in the workplace. No wonder generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is using this effectively to achieve efficiency and increased productivity. Through the “Mental File System”, the leader’s mind filters what he sees and notices. These form the basis of his decision-making strategy to enable performance. The leader’s mental file system sharpens pattern recognition and thereby makes both himself and the organisation smarter.

The leader also identifies mistakes through systematic pattern recognition. This enhances his organisational ability; he learns from mistakes and promotes accountability. Leadership is not just about gut ability and willpower, but also introspection.

Let me also discuss problem-solving skills in the workplace as a panacea for resilience.

The key is effective interpersonal communication, as mentioned earlier. This skill is effectively utilised through the leader’s impact and excellent organisational abilities. The leader must constantly work on his critical thinking skills — that is, his ability to break things down into details.

He must also deliberately encourage individual employees to “get noticed at work for the right reasons.” He must unlock opportunities. Employees must be heard and be able to differentiate themselves credibly.

There must be visibility around values and expertise without being self-promotional. Each employee must generate effective influence at work through values, work ethics, and meaningful accomplishments.

The workplace must intentionally invest in relationship building. Employees must reach out to one another and genuinely be helpful among themselves. The platform for a healthy workplace, great relationships, and influence is trust. An organisation-wide network with regular check-ins is very critical to inner alignment, trust loops, and a cohesive work environment.

Also, employees should be encouraged to ask questions in order to share ideas and build smart social proof for valuable, credible, and worthwhile perspectives and ideas. The workplace must be active, not passive, strategic in differentiation, and deliberate in positioning coalitions.

There will always be shifts in approaches or functional daily strategies, with a good grasp of the Customer Value Chain. We must break down the entire customer experience. For instance, what are the daily triggers of customers’ needs? How do they search and eventually arrive at desirable solutions?

How do products and services get to them? Do they arrive on time to deliver the needed value? Are our values delivering the expected experience? Do we provide satisfactory support?

The leader and apostle of resilience must constantly examine the scenarios around his ever-changing environment. He must be prepared if contrary scenarios impact his projections. He must think ahead and navigate the relevant scenarios. He must also explore possible futures in the present. He shapes his legacy through everyday actions, and he remains constantly audacious with the aces always up his sleeves.