Resilience

A Topic in Personal Leadership

Resilience is defined as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, or significant sources of stress.”

In other words, resilience is an individual’s ability to bounce back after a challenging life event. Resilience is not an attribute that people either have or do not have, nor does it suggest a lack of emotional distress.

Resilience can be thought of as a combination of behaviours, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and strengthened over time.

Some factors that have been identified as contributing to emotional resilience include:

  • Having caring and supportive relationships within and outside of the family
  • The capacity to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out
  • Confidence in your personal strengths and abilities
  • Good communication and problem-solving skills
  • The capacity to manage strong feelings and impulses
Recommended Courses

These courses are ones recommended by B.C. Corrections to fulfill the competencies for the topic of Resilience.

Lead Yourself First
At the core of being an effective leader is the knowledge of who you are in order to lead authentically. In this course, learners will gain a deeper understanding of their personal leadership style and its impact on others (From: JIBC; Mode: In-person, scheduled course; Next offered: n/a)
Additional Resources

Look here for a random selection of additional audio, video, and readings to expand an understanding of Resilience.

Leadership Resiliency: Handling Stress, Uncertainty, and Setbacks
This article from the Center for Creative Leadership maintains that stress and difficulty in the workplace cannot be avoided, but that becoming more resilient, maintaining equilibrium under pressure is one of the most important skills for mid-level managers to master (online article).
Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Researcher Brené Brown outlines how being vulnerable is the route to having more in life that we all seek--  love, belonging, and joy. In this book she shares how rising from the things we might consider failures is what makes us most resilient (book).
Being Well Podcast: Introducing Resilience
In the this episode of of the Being Well Podcast, psychologist and best-selling author Dr. Rick Hanson starts a series on Resilience by showing its importance of Resilience and how we can begin to grow our own resilience (podcast episode).
Most Leaders Don’t Even Know the Game They Are In
This is visionary leader and speaker Simon Sinek's keynote address at the October 2016 Live2Lead conference. In thirty-five minutes he makes a case for the importance of empathy and perspective as key attributes of successful leaders (video).
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy
Written by Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg and Wharton psychology professor Adam Grant, Option B is a very practical and personal book about building resilience and moving forward after life challenging setbacks (Book).
See All Resources for Resilience
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