I’m jazzed! Meaning, for you non-theater, under-40 type folks, I’m really excited! Here’s why.
If you’ve read the last few of my posts, you know that last week I hosted The Resilience Think Tank for the first time ever. It went great, and we were able to get the full (minus zoom bombers thanks to our amazing editor) recording posted and send out some highlights to that list of people already.
What you may not know is why I came up with the idea to have a deep dive conversation into resilience every month and hire folks to help me create, polish and publish it each month without charging a penny for it. In truth there are about 7 reasons, but the very top, most important reason?
I have so much to learn about resilience! Don’t get me wrong – research and data are useful and I’m digging into those all the time. But so much advancement comes through talking to smart people in intentional ways about meaningful topics.
What I learned this week is this: these leaders all coalesced around the experience that creating resilience in your work team requires excitement. You have to figure out why you’re doing what you’re doing as an organization, communicate that mission, hire people who align with that mission, keep them focused on that mission and get them to evangelize (great word for building alignment and excitement) to others about what the work is for and why it matters.
As someone who runs a v e r y small business, I’ve never had to think too hard about that before. But when I think about organizations of which I’m a part, or larger initiatives I’ve volunteered for, I see that this is true. Then I checked, and the science backs it up.
But I kept thinking all week about the fact that I don’t see any research to show that individuals require excitement to be resilient themselves. And then, after talking, thinking, reading, I realized…
We don’t require excitement but we do require purpose. For ourselves, purpose is enough. As long as we understand why we need to navigate a change, how it will help us stay aligned with the life we want, that’s enough. Excitement is needed when we’re trying to get others on board, when we want to motivate a group. But really, both come to the same strategy:
Resilience requires pursuing your purpose.
Now, I have two questions for you:
- Is there a change that you’re navigating and it would help to remind yourself (and others) of WHY you are making the change that you are?
- Is there a topic that matters to you as much as resilience matters to me? If so, who could you get into conversation with to deepen your understanding of that topic and get you thinking in new or more useful ways?
Comment and answer either or both of those, I learn from you all the time and I’m eager to know!
All my best,
Dr. G
