Personal resilience is a critical trait and it’s important to remember that having resilient people around you is critical, as well. One of the best things you can do for yourself and your business is to build a group of people who are resilient, both as individuals, and as a working team.
Helping others grow into a more resilient team requires time and patience. However, there are some things you can do to increase your team’s resilience and help them to grow in their ability to weather storms individually and as a group.
1. Openly discuss difficulties. Adversity helps people to bond. When you acknowledge the difficulties your team is facing, you help the entire group to recognize the challenge they face and the work they are putting in. This creates great pride in success. When your team is proud of their successes, they are willing to try even harder to reach the next level.
2. Create dependency. Help your team to depend on each other. This creates trust and camaraderie among team members. This bond helps people work harder and helps them to pick each other up as they fall down.
3. Celebrate big. Facing adversity together creates a bond, but this will only go so far unless you remember to celebrate the wins together. As people see what they can accomplish as a team, and are celebrated for it, they are more willing to face the next big challenge. They know that they can accomplish more together than separately, and they can’t wait to rise to the next level.
4. Be part of your team. It’s important to lead, but it’s important to be down in the trenches, too. Make certain that you never ask a team member to do anything you’re not willing to do. A strong, resilient leader creates a strong team.
Give your team time to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses as they grow together. Give them challenges to take on, and help them to face their failures and grow from them. Over time, as each new challenge leads to bigger and better success, they will become a team that can take on even the biggest adversity and succeed.