The Four Components Of A Resilient Culture
Posted on June 09, 2020 by Cheryl Keates, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
Resilient teams are those who thrive even during difficult times.
In times of crisis, it’s not just the productivity of your team that matters but also the resilience of its members. Overcoming challenges and bouncing back from difficult situations is key to thriving regardless of the circumstances. When employees and the culture in an organization are resilient, stress levels decrease, performance heightens and conflict is resolved more easily. Resilience allows people to get out of fight-or-flight mode quickly and therefore think and act more objectively. One makes decisions from a place of calm and has the ability to find more creative solutions as opposed to being caught in tunnel vision. Creating resilient teams also means people are more likely to leave their comfort zone and try something new without the fear of failing. If failure is perceived as a learning lesson and employees know they won’t get penalized for challenging the status quo, engagement and innovation increase. As with everything else, a resilient culture starts with the leaders and managers who set the tone of how to respond to crises.
Below are the four components of a resilient culture and how to improve them.
Mindset
The mindset of each individual and the collective matters greatly in how teams approach challenges. Our mindset is the lens through which we see and experience the world and therefore determines our pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It defines what we see as limitations and possibilities, and how we make choices. With an ability to consciously choose their thoughts and emotions, teams are able to reframe negative situations to create better solutions. Humans have a natural negative bias since our brain is constantly scanning the environment for possible dangers. The default question is therefore always: “What’s wrong here?”
Leaders who want to develop the right mindset in their teams have to start asking engaging and solution-oriented questions. Reframing challenges allows people to get into creative thinking mode, collaborate and find new solutions. Try posing these questions:
• “What does this teach us, and how can we adjust?”
• “How can we grow from here?”
• “What would an ideal outcome look like?”
• “What do you think we should do next?”
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, control and express feelings adequately. It also allows us to understand other people’s emotions better and empathize with them. In difficult situations, EQ is incredibly valuable. Not being caught up in emotions and acting out of rage, lashing out, blaming others or making irrational decisions means avoiding interpersonal conflict. When stress levels are already heightened, it’s crucial for people to keep a cool head and communicate effectively. A resilient and emotionally intelligent team can recognize when tension has built up and become especially conscious of how to respond to others. When individuals are responsible for the outcome they create through their emotional response to situations, they are more likely to stop, calm down and then respond intentionally. Leaders encouraging teams to think before they act develop a culture detached from the emotional rollercoaster.
Communication
Emotional intelligence determines how people communicate and therefore how they influence each other. Great communication is the foundation of a functioning team that thrives even in times of crisis. It shapes the relationships between people and builds bridges that connect them in a powerful way. Poor communication, on the other hand, creates tension and a negative environment. During times of setback or change, effective communication within a team can make all the difference. Here’s how to improve communication:
• Celebrate wins regularly to shift people’s mindsets, even when things are rough.
• Utilize team collaboration to approach issues with collective brainpower.
• Set aside time for team building activities so people can bond and create trust and empathy for each other.
• Create a space for people to decompress and talk about their challenges and ways to support each other.
Psychological Safety
A safe environment in which team members feel like they can express themselves is the fourth component of a resilient culture. When people are not terrified of making mistakes or being judged, they become more engaged in solving problems and likely to challenge their way of thinking. By creating psychological safety, leaders let their employees help the company navigate through a crisis. People are more likely to report mistakes, give constructive feedback and make suggestions that lead to transparency.
Instilling fear is a surefire way to crush innovation, creativity and flow. Humans in a state of fear or survival are not able to think clearly and objectively. This way of leading a team and driving people to achieve results is not sustainable and creates unhealthy dynamics. Without psychological safety, leadership tends to be controlling and toxic instead of inquiring and mission-driven. Employees are more likely to hide mistakes to maintain their reputation. Innovation is stifled by the need to preserve the status quo rather than people adapting and trying new solutions.
Resilient teams are those who thrive even during difficult times. They are more durable and sustainable than teams that only perform well when things go well. Developing a growth mindset, increasing emotional intelligence, encouraging effective communication and creating psychological safety are the four components of a resilient culture.
