Can Leaders and Athletes learn to be more resilient?

Can leaders and athletes learn to become more resilient?

We don't always get what we hope for, expect or plan for. Stressful events, setbacks, and crises happen. Some, events like political or economic turmoil are unexpected and can have an impact on our work and life generally. All these events can create a lot of negative stress, especially if we experience a sequence of stressful experiences and setbacks. For organisational leaders and elite athletes, the stress can be so intense that it can impact massively on performance. We have a word for individuals who consistently and in the long run cope well with stress. We call them resilient. Nelson Mandela as a political leader and Roger Federer in tennis are fine examples of a resilient leader and athlete. What does it mean to say someone shows resilience? I shall particularly focus on some parallels between the practice of leadership and elite sport.

The constant process of adaptation and spring forward

Resilience in leadership and sport is not like steel but more like strong bamboo, it bends and springs forward (not just back). It's all a matter of regaining balance when something or someone knocks you off track and then finding your way to a new and even better track. You bounce back stronger and better because you learn and grow from the experience. Whatever knocked you off track before is less likely to stand in your way and feel like such a tough obstacle again. You will have learned and added to your repertoire of adaptive strategies. So, resilience in leaders and elite athletes is not a matter of fixed characteristics that serve to deflect what comes along. Rather, resilience is a process. It is a matter of constantly adapting and improvising to find better and more creative solutions after a realistic assessment of circumstances has been made.

Find solutions through optimism

The most fundamental choice the leader or elite athlete faces, in the face of overwhelming or unforeseen challenge is: shall I call it a day or carry on? During Mandela’s time behind bars his sustained belief in his cause and personal mantra “the greatest glory in living lies not, in never falling, but in rising every time we fall,” kept him going. There must be a compelling reason to carry on - the organisation’s mission and values for the leader, and the individual athlete's reason for striving in their sport. Recognising and constantly renewing this fundamental, powers the motivation to adapt, change and keep going. There must be a reasonable level of optimism that a workable solution can be found - whether it is repurposing resources, or reforming and motivating teams, for the organisational leader or game plan adjustments, or technique improvements for the tennis player.

Of course, changing courses and plans need to be thought through and risk assessed. Ultimately, commitment to new directions involves facing one's reasonable fears, associated with poor outcomes with courage. The capacity to do so is the hallmark of the successful leader and successful elite sportsman. It is precisely this sort of planning, risk assessment, and courage to face fear and commit, which helped Federer overcome a series of defeats at the hands of Nadal. Accomplishing this through introducing to his game a strategic on court repositioning and taking Nadal’s topspin forehands head-on (on the rise) with devastating effect.

Resilience is learned

Speaking from my own experience, three of my most accomplished career highlights followed shortly after significant setbacks. Notably, my most important career title followed 4 weeks on from restarting after a fractured hand accident (playing cricket) which led to reflection, introspection, and thorough analysis. This resulted in innovative practice, a difference in attitude, more freedom in decision making, and ultimately success. Research strongly supports that for resilience to grow we need to overcome adversity.

The adaptive mindsets, and behaviours, which underlie the processes that we refer to, as resilience, can be learned. This learning is helped by genetic and biological factors and supported by the stress suppressing 'inoculative' effects of overcoming early adverse experiences as noted by Brenda L Martini in ‘Leadership and Resilience’ (ResearchGate). But the capacity to adapt is mostly shaped by positive habit formation based on self-awareness, skills development to promote self-efficacy, and mindful control, of one's emotional responses to situations.

Yes, our capacity as leaders and athletes to adapt, spring forward, progress and become more resilient can be learnt!