Resilience & vulnerability in change: two sides of the same coin?
I’ve been thinking a little about the relationship between resilience, vulnerability and change, partly prompted by attending a Business Chick's Brene Brown breakfast while spending time at a client site going through major restructure activity.When it comes to coping with workplace change, resilience is an attribute that benefits people in a huge way. Physically and emotionally resilience pays off and at an organisational level, it assists the maintenance of productivity during change.
How do you build resilience?
The things that come immediately to mind are the following points.
- Work at being optimistic
- Take stock of your strengths and achievements
- Focus on flexibility – play with the idea of letting go
- Flip fears for opportunities
- Invest in your career development proactively
- Pay attention to emerging trends
- Celebrate successes and achievements
- Set goals / review existing goals
- Think about circles of control, influence and concern
- And finally, embrace vulnerability
Why vulnerability? When I think of the opposite of resilience I think of brittle. Rigid. Will crack under pressure and tension. Looks strong on the outside, but the face is set in a permanent grimace. Resilient people smile, their faces are relaxed. And Brene Brown talks of the culture of “lock and load” where we armour up emotionally to prevent people from seeing what we fear (our faults, failures and uncertainties). It strikes me that resilient people are comfortable with people knowing that they are work in progress and they ask for help. They have no need to “lock and load”.So at this point I’m trying to work out if vulnerability and resilience are two sides of the same coin…or if there’s something missing here…Any thoughts on this? Would appreciate the help thinking about it!BTW - for really good reading on resilience in change head over to Darryl Conner's series on the topic.