You don't need superpowers to be a resilient leader
If you’re like us, you’ll appreciate the DC Comics reference above. Despite not having any superpowers himself, Batman is still fighting crime in the same league as Superman and the Flash. Likewise, you don’t need to be the ‘perfect’ leader and have all the answers right away.
Particularly during times of change and crisis, your team needs support from you as a leader. In this newsletter, we’ve asked for help from our business psychologist partner, Hazel Anderson-Turner.
“Life throws challenges but with patience and resilience, you can convert every challenge into a new opportunity to grow.”
(Amit Ray)
Supporting your team through transitions
Whether you’re leading a change programme, or coping with the effects of Covid-19, here are Hazel’s top three tips for supporting your people through transition:
1. Normalise the discomfort
2. Encourage forward planning
3. Make ‘asking for help’ an expectation
Watch the video below for more detail.
Google's Head of Global Resilience: Tips on avoiding burnout
Lauren Whitt, head of global resilience at Google, explains that the risk of burnout is lower in people with higher resilience. She shares six tips that people at Google use to develop resilience, including the T.E.A. exercise.
See six ways to develop your resilience
Resilient leaders like you
Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop
The Body Shop’s mission statement is “to dedicate our business to the pursuit of social and environmental change.” Roddick built a successful business whilst retaining an ethical stance, overcoming difficult challenges such as surviving on a shoestring budget, a local funeral parlour objecting to her business name, and criticism over valuing environmental projects ahead of products and customer satisfaction.
Arianna Huffington
Founder of the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington is a resilient business woman. After collapsing from exhaustion in 2007, she changed her attitude towards wellbeing and redefining success. She left HuffPost in 2016 to launch Thrive Global, a media company that tackles burnout and workplace stress. Huffington speaks more about ‘thriving’ on Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People podcast.
Martin Luther King Jr., activist of the American civil rights movement
Alongside the iconic ‘I have a dream’ speech, Martin Luther King Jr. led a series on non-violent campaigns to achieve civil rights and won the Nobel Prize in 1964. To achieve this success, he remained resilient in the face of adversity such as long days of tiring work, numerous arrests, and violent attacks.
Read more about Martin Luther King Jr.
No Hard Feelings
Leaders need to be resilient for themselves and their team to bring out the best in people and provide better services for your end users. In the book, No Hard Feelings, Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy promote the importance of tackling emotions at work. They provide practical advice for becoming a more creative, collaborative & productive team through harnessing emotions.
Here are four practical tips from the book about leadership:
“1. Show vulnerability when assessing a difficult situation, but present a clear path forward.
2. Become a student of the people you manage: avoid telling people what to feel, listen carefully, and manage individually.
3. Prioritize yourself and seek support from other leaders to avoid emotional leaks that negatively affect your reports.
4. Understand the challenges you and others may face in leadership positions and take steps to reduce them.”
(Fosslien & Duffy, pg 229)
No hard feelings: Emotions at work
(and how they help us succeed)
“A must-read that topples the idea that emotions don’t belong in the workplace.”
(Susan Cain, Ted Talk speaker & Author of Quiet)
“The work with managers has been very successful… Ad Esse have helped them start their journey to becoming effective leaders.”
(Kam Basra, Head of Transformation at Citizen Housing)
We all need to ask for help sometimes. That’s why we’ve partnered with Hazel Anderson-Turner, a business psychologist who can help support your people through transition, provide coaching and strengthen the resilience of your team.
To discuss how a business psychologist could support you in making a successful transition, email hello@ad-esse.com.
Hazel Anderson-Turner,
Business Psychologist
Working with the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic, Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service, and other service providers, Hazel has over 15 years’ experience in business psychology.
Partnered with Ad Esse Consulting, Hazel can help you to understand what influences the behaviour of your employees and support leadership resilience.
Working with Hazel