In times where change becomes a process, sometimes unavoidable, it becomes pertinent to strengthen our capacity to adapt. One way to do this is to increase your resilience or improve the way you handle stressful situations.
“Hardy” leaders have a strong sense of commitment to life and work, greater control of situations and are more open to change and challenges. Although they are not “immune” to the harmful effects of stress, as they have greater resilience, they will be strongly resilient, as they tend to interpret stressful and painful experiences as a normal aspect of human existence.
The development of your resilience among leaders and the incentives drawn from a robust work environment, set the necessary stage for success in organizations.
Demonstrate a strong sense of commitment, control and challenge when responding to stressful circumstances:
Stress can be relevant and important in certain situations, at least to promote the opportunity to learn and grow. Employees usually observe their leaders and tend to follow their example. So it’s important that it be visible. Show passion for the work and interest in those who do it. Thus, it shows the importance of who does it and how they know how to do it.
When crisis or challenging situations arise, these can be golden opportunities for leaders to demonstrate resilience when reacting to stress.
It’s important to design a calm approach. Assess the situation, form an action plan, and show interest in learning from the experience.
As a group, discuss mistakes and failures in a positive way:
Do we usually accept responsibility for our mistakes and try to learn from them? Or do we blame others and avoid responsibility (and learning)? Generally, leaders build resilience by setting high standards while treating failures as opportunities to learn and improve.
Make your team succeed by providing them with recognition, awards and opportunities to reflect and amplify positive results (such as photos, company stories, awards for best employees or teams).
Provide opportunities for constructive performance feedback:
It should open the “door” to opportunities for growth and learning as soon as appropriate. Make sure you have the right team members who accept your feedback and are eager to take constructive action when necessary.
Setting reasonable goals and standards of achievement can also help keep employees more interested. Here, it is also important to show that, as a leader, you are open to comment and change. This means you can offer your team meaningful opportunities to express their own opinions.
Offer opportunities for socialization and interaction on and off the job:
In the work context, provide comfortable areas where workers can meet informally, such as cafeterias and break rooms. Sponsor activities with outside teams, such as sports competitions, community and charity projects, or even professional development trips. They also serve to build organizational cohesion and social commitment.
The support of co-workers is also considered an important factor in dealing positively with stress and reinforcing the capacity for resilience.
Use these tips to build a work culture where dealing with stress constructively and resiliently becomes the norm.
Original article: Build “Hardiness” Into Your Organizational Culture
