RAINMAKERS
Resilience At Work
By Dr. Clifford Ferguson
I
n short, resiliency affects our ability
to ‘bounce back’. At work, resilient
people are better able to deal with
the demands placed upon them,
especially where those demands might
require them to be dealing with constantly
changing priorities and a heavy workload.
Resilience is not a characteristic gifted
to some individuals and not others. The
key here is that resilience is not a passive
quality, but an active process. How we
approach life, and everything it can
throw at us, has a massive impact on our
experience.
Resilient people do more of the things that
help maintain that responsiveness, and it
is relatively easy for those of us who are
feeling less resilient to develop habits that
will increase our ability to perform under
pressure, and perhaps more importantly,
to live better despite circumstances that
try us to the limit.
“Why is it that some people thrive in the
face of challenge and adversity at work,
while others panic and withdraw into
themselves? And why is it these same
people who appear to get ahead while
others tread water, or slowly drown in
turbulent waters of life?
Most people think that a combination of
intelligence, long working hours and lots
of experience allows people to thrive in
potentially hostile working environments.
In fact, it is those with resilience who
cope best with challenges like constant
organisational change and upheaval,
impending staff cutbacks, looming
deadlines, argumentative meetings and
incessant competition from business
rivals.
The good news is that although some
The ability to cope well with pressure, adversity
and uncertainty relies on developing behaviours,
thoughts and actions. Anyone can learn these
habits and create strategies to help increase re-
silience and hardiness.
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people seem to be born with more
resilience than others, those whose
resilience is lower can learn how to boost
their ability to cope, thrive and flourish
when the going gets tough.” (Centre for
Confidence and Well-Being, 2006).
How to develop resilience
The ability to cope well with pressure,
adversity and uncertainty relies on
developing behaviours, thoughts and
actions. Anyone can learn these habits and
create strategies to help increase resilience
and hardiness.
Resiliency experts say that people are
helped by a particular pattern of attitudes
and skills that helps them to survive and
thrive under stress.
“Simply put, these attitudes are
commitment, control, and challenge.
As times get tough, if you hold these
attitudes, you’ll believe that it is best to
stay involved with the people and events
around you (commitment) rather than
to pull out, to keep trying to influence
the outcomes in which you are involved
(control) rather than to give up, and to try
to discover how you can grow through the
stress (challenge) rather than to bemoan
your fate.” (Maddi and Kkhosshaba, 2006).