The challenge with resilience lies in its connection to adaptability, the capacity to adjust to new circumstances, particularly those beyond our control. As leaders, we frequently encounter changes demanding not only a shift in mindset but also alterations in our operational approaches, occasionally necessitating the acquisition of new skills. Some of these situations may thrust us into zones of discomfort. Resilience, as a psychological trait, equips us to navigate these circumstances more effectively.

Navigating tough decisions requires a reservoir of resilience and I find solace in my company's value of doing what is right even if it is hard. With time, I have discovered the power of sitting with uncomfortable emotions. It may sound unconventional, but I've even gone so far as to schedule a good cry! This intentional acknowledgment of emotions has helped me in keeping my resilience intact. Another strategy is consistently reminding myself of the larger purpose behind these tough decisions. If the future looks bright, I am fine enduring the immediate discomfort. Sometimes, all it takes is changing the narrative, even if it’s in your own mind.

Techniques like meditation, deep breathing, and self-reflection can enhance emotional regulation and adaptability, key components of resilience.

Resilience is critical, especially today. Too many think it's about being tougher or stronger. In fact it's not. It's more about understanding your own internal working and being able to adjust when you see yourself falling out of balance. Understanding this gives you the balance to navigate change, live a healthy mindset even under pressure and even enjoy change.

Resilience is the ability to adapt and bounce back from adversity, trauma, or stress. When faced with tough choices, resilient individuals can; - maintain a positive outlook, - manage their emotions, and - persevere through adversity. They are better equipped to handle the stress and pressure that often accompany difficult decisions, enabling them to make thoughtful and rational choices even in the face of adversity.

Maintain a journal to reflect on your emotional reactions, problem-solving strategies, and outcomes when challenging situations occur. This journal can serve as a valuable tool for self-assessment and improvement.

Senior leaders need to have a clear understanding of the organization's mission, vision, and long-term goals. This involves developing and effectively communicating a strategic vision for the organization. This ability to think strategically is integral to assessing and enhancing resilience, as it allows leaders to foresee challenges, adapt plans, and maintain alignment with the organization's core objectives. This strategic foresight is crucial in navigating and rebounding from adversities, thereby demonstrating and building resilience.

1. Self-Reflection and Awareness Reflect on your past experiences as a leader and assess your emotional responses, problem-solving skills, and ability to maintain composure during challenging times. 2. Seek Feedback from Others Ask for honest feedback about how you handle adversity 3. Assess Your Coping Strategies Are your coping strategies conducive to build resilience or adjustments are needed. 4. Analyze Your Decision-Making Under Pressure Consider instances where you had to make critical decisions amidst adversity and evaluate the outcomes. 5. Evaluate Your Adaptability are you open to new ideas, willingness to embrace change, and ability to lead through transitions.

Psyhcological capital is often an overlooked key mtric of resilience. Resileince also shouldn't be seen as the ability to get head down and weather the storm, instead. For leaders, this means creating a culture where resilience is about how you consistently having the energy and motivation to overcome complex challenges with a high degree of emotional intelligence (often the first thing to go when we're tired/drained), leaning on a number of techniques and approaches depending on a given situation. This is psychological capital and can be assessed easily and accurately by adopting Martin Seligman's PERMA model.

As well as external tools and feedback, internal reflection can be a good barometer for your levels of resilience. This takes a degree of honesty, and self-awareness, so be prepared to ask yourself questions as to what you're concerned about, what reactions you're expecting, whether you've considered the matter fully. Be aware that your resilience levels may change, so before any tough decision, it's a good idea to check in on how resilient you feel, and what may be affecting your resolve.

At 12, I witnessed my father’s sudden passing from a stroke. This pivotal moment taught me three life-altering lessons. Be Authentic: At his crowded funeral, I realized that as time passed, only my small family remained for memorials. It was a lesson that everyone is engrossed in their own lives. This revelation freed me to embrace my true self, understanding I’m not the world's focal point. Gratitude: His abrupt loss taught me life's fragility. I learned to deeply appreciate what I have, knowing anything can be lost in a heartbeat. Perspective: While peers fretted over minor issues, I challenged them, “Is your father alive?” This grounded my outlook, teaching me to differentiate between life’s trivialities and its profound losses.

Reading helps boost your resilience skills. When you know more, you understand change is normal and everything is possible. Learning different perspectives from authors give you a dynamic thought process.

Like any skill, resilience needs practice. Then practice more. With every tough decision made, reflect on the results of decision and what could be done better, differently, the same, or not at all the next time. Start with tough yet small decisions. You don't need to start with life/career/business altering decisions to build resiliency. Take one of your own WWADIs (Way We've Always Done It), even if it's working, and make a better way without relapse. Build on the successes and learn from the undesired results (please note, I didn't say mistake or failure on purpose).

Building self-awareness is crucial, as understanding one's communication style significantly impacts team dynamics. Developing effective communication skills, particularly active listening, fosters trust and strengthens team relationships. Improving decision-making and problem-solving skills involves nurturing critical thinking and confidence in making data-driven decisions. Lastly, building stronger relationships with team members through regular meetings, supportive feedback, and trust-building activities is essential for a resilient leader. These strategies not only enhance individual resilience but also contribute to a more cohesive and resilient team environment.

Self-acceptance is forgotten development work for most of us; and it is often the most important. Without self-acceptance, we often cannot maximize self-awareness and fixate on thinks we cannot change instead of investing in our strengths,

I remember getting some advice in my twenties which has always stuck with me when I’m at an important crossroads - Don’t focus on making the right decision. Make a decision and focus on making it right. I find myself returning to it at critical moments. It doesn’t take away the stress of making the decision but helps me to remember that, once made, it’s important to spend time and energy to follow through and make happen whatever I’ve decided.

We are refined not defined by the things we go through, and so as we face adversity and learn to forge forward we learn how to navigate tough decisions and through that practice we are provided poise.

As a leader, our resilience is interdependent with our teams and organisation. When we are thriving, they are thriving - and vice versa. There is no mention here of focusing on others; authenticity and compassion come to mind. Tough decisions are likely to affect our people but when we lead from our values and within a culture of care and appreciation, we are all more likely to remain resilient.

How does incorporating resilience into your decision-making process enhance your ability to navigate uncertainties and adapt to changing circumstances? Start by aligning your decisions with your core values and goals, ensuring they truly reflect your priorities. Assess risks and benefits using appropriate tools to weigh different options. Once a decision is made, implement it with a clear action plan and timeline. Establish feedback loops and monitoring systems to track progress and outcomes, allowing for adjustments as needed. This structured approach not only ensures informed decisions but also strengthens your resilience by fostering adaptability and learning from outcomes.

it is essential for senior leaders to develop and apply a set of key competencies. These include strategic thinking for a clear understanding of the organization's mission and goals, digital literacy to comprehend and utilize the latest technologies effectively, and the embracement of lifelong learning to stay abreast of new trends and technologies. Additionally, adopting a customer-centric mindset ensures decisions align with customer needs and preferences, while effective change management skills are crucial for guiding the organization through transformation. These competencies are vital for resilient decision-making in a rapidly evolving business landscape.

𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: Acknowledge the outcome, whether it’s positive or negative. 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Analyse the decision-making process and the result. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: Identify lessons learned to inform future decisions. 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Make necessary changes based on the outcome. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: Stay positive and persistent, even if the outcome was not as expected. 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: Seek advice and support from mentors or peers. 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴: Focus on the next steps and future decisions.

We crave leaders who courageously own their decisions (and/or mistakes) instead of blame-shifting. It models for others that it's ok to take risks and supports a culture where resilience is rewarded. 1. Acknowledge your role in the decision (better to hear it directly from you). 2. Be willing to change the decision, in the face of new information. 3. Engage your team - solicit their feedback

"Acknowledge that you made the best decision you could at the time, and recognise that you can't control everything." This phrase is essential for leaders to acknowledge. Often, there are no clear right or wrong decisions, especially in complex business situations, and one should not be paralysed by this. Take courage that you have considered and have sought counsel as much as possible, and make a decision, whatever that decision is. From there, learn from it, pivot if necessary and move on. Inaction, driven by fear of making the wrong choice, can be more costly than making a decision that turns out to be suboptimal.

These competencies enable leaders to effectively cope with both the positive and negative outcomes of their decisions. Strategic thinking helps in aligning decisions with the organization's mission and long-term goals. Digital literacy allows leaders to leverage technology in decision-making processes. Embracing lifelong learning ensures leaders stay adaptable and informed. A customer-centric mindset ensures decisions are aligned with customer needs and preferences. Lastly, effective change management skills are crucial for navigating and adjusting to the outcomes of decisions, fostering an environment of resilience and adaptability.

As a human we need to acknowledge this that "It is me who makes decision.", this will have great impacts on what we will think in the future about our decisions, and note followings: - Try bad decisions on really small things in your life , just before you made it you need to refer to above note. - After each decisions give yourself this right of being wrong because you are a human.

1. Step back and understand the implications of NOT making the tough call. There is generally a worse outcome waiting. 2. Make the decision using data, a rationale decision. But execute it with respect, dignity and care, never wavering from the original decision. 3. Look after yourself and those making the change. Leaders making the change can often struggle, just as much as those impacted by the change.

I've learned more from making mistakes that I ever have from getting it right. Once when I was very new in a senior leadership post, I made a very difficult call. It was the right decision, but I communicated it in totally the wrong way - I hadn't fully put myself in the shoes of the people affected by the decision. That was a BIG lesson for me - and helped me to make and communicate tough decisions far more effectively in the future.

Some of the areas not included in the article are: 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Be kind to yourself when outcomes are not as expected. It’s part of the learning process. 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: Understand that results may not be immediate and may require time. 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲: Don’t let fear of making wrong decisions deter you from making decisions at all. 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: Stay present and focused, avoid overthinking or worrying about future outcomes. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: Consider seeking advice from a mentor or coach to help navigate tough decisions.

Resilience in the face of tough decisions is less about the external challenges we face and more about the internal narratives we construct. The story you tell yourself during these moments can either empower or hinder your decision-making process. Recognize the difficulty of the situation, but frame it as an opportunity for growth. Tell yourself, "This challenge will help me develop new skills and perspectives." Imagine a positive outcome. Visualizing yourself successfully navigating the tough decision can boost confidence and resilience. Learn from the Past: Reflect on past successes and how you overcame obstacles. Remind yourself of these experiences to reinforce the belief that you can handle current challenges.

CliftonStrengths is an amazing tool to leverage to explore both your development and build resilience at the same time. It allows you to know yourself better and focus on how to build on the best parts of yourself.