“The leaders I met, whatever walk of life they were from, whatever institutions they were presiding over, always referred back to the same failure something that happened to them that was personally difficult, even traumatic, something that made them feel that desperate sense of hitting bottom–as something they thought was almost a necessity. It’s as if at that moment the iron entered their soul; that moment created the resilience that leaders need.â€
Warren Bennis
Our second guide dog puppy that we raised named Elmo made a transition in his education from “special education” to “recreation” after he didn’t pass the challenging formal training program. In learning the reason why we found out that he didn’t recover from “stress” and although the most loving, smart and well-behaved puppy he wasn’t cut out to be a guide dog for someone who was sight impaired.
Each of us in our lives have experienced “challenge” whether it is with our family, finances, health, work, children or other stressors. Each of us moves through these life situations in three stages and sometimes we tend to get “stuck” on one of these for a very long time.
RESILiENCY STAGES
Understanding Stage
The Understanding stage is characterized as spending time, energy and tasks on gathering information, researching and learning more about the situation you are facing and taking time to truly understand more about your experience. It might include researching on the Internet, consulting with others facing similar, if not, identical situations and consulting with experts who are involved in the area.
This is an important stage that many individuals spend a great deal of energy and time to help get a more accurate perspective of what is affecting them or their loved ones. Although one may continue to expend additional energy to gather more information over time, most individuals acquire enough at some point n their research to satisfy their “need to know more†and move on to the next resilience stage.
Managing Stage
The Managing stage is characterized as spending time, energy and tasks on learning new techniques, initiating and practicing new behaviors and trying new coping approaches to manage the specific situation facing you. During this stage, individuals might employ a wide variety of cognitive, emotional and behavioral coping techniques to “get a handle†on managing the stress and unpredictability of their situation.
This is an important stage that many individuals will find helps them “rebound†and cope more effectively with the unqiue stressors of the situation they are facing. Individuals in this stage may feel more confident, empowered and optimistic that they can handle more effectivley handle and manage their day-to-day challenges.
Growth Stage
The Growth stage is characterized as spending time, energy and tasks on redefing what is important in life, identifying the benefits from coping with the difficult situation you are facing and giving gratitude for the positive aspects of your life.
Individuals in this stage typically redefine their relationships and put more energey into those that are the most satisfying and enriching. Individuals in this stage spend more time doing things that they are most passionate about and begin to explore and act on their “signature†strengths and interests as well as have an enhanced sense of self-efficacy (i.e., believing that they can deal with just about anything). It is also a stage where individuals begin to reflect on the meaning of their lives and what is important to them (i.e., more spiritual).
How resilient are you?
If you want to find out how you handle life stress and challenge, we have a new assessment called the Resilency Stage Inventory. Just contact me and I will be happy to send you a copy–it’s brief (10 questions) and self-scored! Be well….
[tags]guide dogs, seeing eye dogs, Guide Dogs of America, leadership, executive coaching, performance, layoff, social support, mastery, expertise, kenneth nowack, ken nowack, nowack, Envisia Learning, deliberate practice[/tags]
Ken Nowack
Kenneth Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PSY13758) and President & Chief Research Officer/Co-Founder of Envisia Learning, is a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. His recent book Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It is available for free for a limited time by signing up for free blog updates (Learn more at our website)
