How to Lead, Cultivating Resilience

The pandemic has changed our lives forever and we are facing a unique opportunity to look at the world from new perspectives, a more human approach, with a sense of valuing the simplest things, with a greater sense of community, that enable discovering new meanings for everyday challenges.

When the first pandemic wave occurred, resilience depended a lot on a psychological emergency response – the ability of a particular subject or group to face an adverse situation, to be able to overcome it and come out of it strengthened.

When we experience high stress or very challenging situations, our neurobiological mechanisms react by identifying an eventual threat situation. Our system goes into alert and survival mode, releasing adrenaline and cortisol and increasing our heart rate. In this state, we plunge into “autopilot” and repetitive thoughts, fear blocks the extended perspective, breaking the awareness of ourselves and of the others and potentiating disconnection. With the pandemic context, this whole process is exacerbated, compromising our ability to act and decide in a measured, effective, and innovative way.

Now that we are entering a new cycle, with vaccines in full force, leaders need to re-examine their personal resilience, as well of their teams, and cultivate it, which requires some emotional reconfiguration.

Resilience is commonly defined as the ability to withstand adversity and recover from difficult life events. Being resilient doesn’t mean that you don’t experience anxiety, stress and suffering. Rather, it means becoming aware, taking advantage of personal resources and skills, to overcome challenges and solve problems. It is a skill that is trained and cultivated, in a process in continuous development.

As the practice of mindfulness is one of the basic tools for the development of emotional intelligence skills, it has been identified as one of the most useful and effective practices for becoming more resilient.

Managing your own mind and deciding to take control of your destiny and helping others to do the same is the key to finding the mental strength to overcome obstacles and regain energy in the face of challenges.

Alexandra Outeiro
HR Specialist
ABC Sustainable Luxury Hospitality

Proud Ambassadors Global Wellness Institute