What Adversity Taught Me About Resilience

More than ever, adversity is a hot topic right now. In our current economic, political, and social landscape, adversity is being felt to degrees we really haven’t witnessed before. And while the majority of people might see that as a negative, I see it as a launching pad to developing a missing ingredient in today’s leadership culture—resilience.

Not only do leaders need to possess resilience for themselves, but they need to demonstrate it for their teams. Unless we can work through tough times and setbacks together and overcome, we’ll be unable to lead efficiently in this current climate. While leaders tend to love challenges and can be motivated by them, how do we develop resilience as a result?

Adversity can serve as a catalyst to force you to adapt to change, overcome obstacles, lead by example, maintain focus, build trust, and manage stress. When you intentionally choose to face adversity with a growth mindset, resilience will develop. When you choose to face adversity with a fixed mindset, insecure leadership develops instead.

When I’m facing adverse circumstances, my natural tendency is to exhibit frustration, irritability, and insecurity, and to focus on how inconvenienced I am. This fixed mindset doesn’t grow me as a leader—rather, it sets me back and renders me ineffective (and even irrelevant). But when I pause and choose to have a growth mindset instead, I build grit and fortitude; I’m able to see the areas of personal and corporate growth that can occur.

More importantly, it builds a foundation of resiliency for the next setback. The next time adversity comes along (because let’s be honest, it will), I can look back at how I and my team grew during last time, and that changes my perspective, as well as my plan of attack.

Resilient leaders view times of adversity as learning opportunities to seize instead of landmines to avoid. When leaders make mistakes, we use that experience to improve our skills and help us avoid those mistakes in the future. And as you learn from them, you’ll become more resilient.

A growth mindset in difficult times helps us face challenges, understand and work through setbacks, and develop a positive outlook. It allows us to stay motivated and helps us endure – but not just endure… it helps us endure with direction. And resilience.

Looking for more corporate leadership insights?

Every week, Maxwell Leadership’s staff of industry-leading growth and development professionals releases free leadership resources for the benefit of you and your team. Our Executive Leadership podcast offers expert insights on today’s most pressing corporate leadership topics, while our Maxwell Leadership podcast highlights transformational influence.

About the author

Chris Goede, VP with Maxwell Leadership, is a seasoned leader, communicator and coach with an impressive track record spanning over two decades. With a rich history of starting, growing, and leading companies, Chris is a transformative force in the sphere of leadership development and high-performance team building.