The Oxford dictionary defines resilience as:
“the remarkable resilience of so many institutions”
2. the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.
“nylon is excellent in wearability and resilience”
If there is one thing, we all know, it is that change, and difficult circumstances are something life throws at us every day. Whether it is at work, or in our personal lives, one of the most important and energy consuming efforts is dealing with these curve balls.
There is no Life 101 guidebook, as much as we wish there was. Our option is to learn by seeing and doing. It is one of the main reasons that leadership trainers are now talking about building and diversifying your ‘filing cabinet’. The filing cabinet comprises everything you have seen, heard, experienced, done in your life to date. Exposure to different and conflicting situations expands your thinking, and in turn can give you different views if your mind is open.
If life’s obstacles are out of our control, what then can we do to put some power in our grasp to handle situations and not just be, but feel more resilient and empowered? I took some time to think about what the behaviors, actions, and thoughts were that I have used when dealing with my own issues and trauma’s.
Whether it is work or life, most of the concepts we apply to work programs and projects can be applied to ourselves as well. Over the next few posts, we will dig into:
- Learning about yourself
- Embracing the uncomfortable
- Building your support system
- Enabling your brand & reputation
- Continuous improvement
I cannot remember if it was a Ted talk, or a leadership course at this point, but I once heard, “It is not fake it until you make it… It is fake it until you BECOME it”. Never had I heard something more accurate. To fake it you must emulate some skill, action, or behavior, and over time if you are repetitively doing those behaviors; you are practicing them. At a certain point that practice becomes a part of you, until at some point in time you no longer have imposter syndrome. You are no longer “faking it”, you are doing it!
I hope that sharing what I have learned in this upcoming series will help you on your journey to becoming a more resilient, more authentic leader in your life, and in your career.
Until next week,
Mroy
At a high level this series of posts will include:
Learning about yourself
There is no change without knowing what needs to be fixed. What opportunities/challenges do you need to overcome? Do you have blind spots, or limiting beliefs? How do we find out what these things are?
Embracing the uncomfortable
When you feel uncomfortable after hearing or learning information, what do you do? Feeling overly defensive when receiving feedback, how do you navigate that? In this section I will share examples of times when I have met similar situations and what I have learned.
Building your support network
Find your support group. Finding people to be a part of your support group is different than networking. There may be some individuals who overlap, but in this blog section we will learn about the difference in those who support “YOU” versus those that support “YOUR WORK”. Who is your advocate when you aren’t in the room?
Enabling your brand and reputation
Two of the largest factors in outward success are your Brand, and your Reputation. In this post we will talk about what is within your control and how to arm yourself with these two things. When partnered together this is how you ‘Show up’.
Continuous Improvement
When we learn something, it is not usually one and done, we must continually tend to the behavior and practices that help us grow. The landscape around us is always changing with new and different challenges. What do we do to ensure that we remain relevant and continue to grow?
Check back next week for the “Learning about yourself” post.
Authentic Evolution Journey 