Hard-won Wisdom and Ways Podcast

Episode 2: Incubate Resilience in Teams (for Leaders and Managers)

Hosted by: Catherine Flavin
Featuring: Dr. Maria Sirois and Dr. Rob Fazio

Crises magnify behaviors and experiences. A little good can be exponentially positive. Likewise, the little frustrations can feel outrageously bad. To effectively lead your team, you need to incubate positive experiences for your team and reduce/eliminate stress for your team where you can. To be an effective and resilient leader, practice these five behaviors:

Celebrate small gains every day
Connect with, care for and challenge your people
Share and positive past experiences with your team and leverage results
Take a pause each day for your own respite and recovery
Stay connected to the people who can positively influence and engage you, as well as hold you accountable for not moving towards negative/destructive behaviors

To be an effective and resilient leader, avoid these common leadership pitfalls during times of crisis:

Getting caught in the deception that others are doing this better. Stop comparing yourself to others. Stay focused on your mission, job, results, and strengths.
Missing the learning moments. Recognize that some of this is trial and error, new ways of doing things will be required, and new roles will be taken on at home and work. Use these as opportunities to learn quickly.
Attacking leadership. In times of crisis, it’s even more important to operate as one team. Attacking leadership and blaming others is destructive and will only make things harder.