Building Resilience

Life happens. Even in non-pandemic times, we face difficulties, and change of any kind can throw even the most adaptable of us. But this is different. Added to our usual life events, the changes required by the global pandemic have added a WOW factor that has shaken us all. I'm not sure about you, but I've discovered I need to be a bit more resilient.

The American Psychological Association defines resilience as "the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, tragedy, or significant sources of stress." Easier said than done, right? Here are some easy things we all can do:

• Have a strong support network of positive people who you can turn to for help -- even if it's just to listen to you on a Zoom call.

• Set life goals, then reward yourself when you reach them. Personal goal achievement builds self-confidence, which in turn builds resilience.

• Take care of yourself. When we're feeling stressed, many of us don't eat right or exercise. Do your best to keep your body strong, and don't overlook your mental health. Consider meditation, yoga, mindfulness, or prayer to keep centered.

• Do something for someone else. Not only will you be helping someone in need, you should get satisfaction from the experience, which will boost your overall well-being. 

• Look for ways to inject humor into your routine. Laughing is so good for us. It enhances oxygen intake, stimulating your heart, lungs and muscles, increases endorphins, cools down your stress response, and aids muscle relaxation. So remind yourself that enjoying a good chuckle can brighten your mood and help you deal with your challenges just a little better.

• Keep things in perspective and focus on the future as much as you can. Remember times when you faced a difficult situation and came through it.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who faced a lot of adversity and exhibited tremendous resiliency, said, "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I lived through this horror, I can take the next thing that comes along."

And so can you.

I Just Can’t Stop

It was a plea for help. A letter seeking workplace advice after the writer was placed on a performance improvement plan, and he knew the cause of his problem.  This employee often stays up very late at night watching sports, then has difficulty getting to work at 7:00 am the next morning for the start of an early shift. He exacerbates this habit by listening to sports radio all day. The advice that was offered—find a new job or a new hobby or habit.  What? While interesting, the advice doesn’t address the problem.

I’m not a therapist, so I can’t diagnose the problem, even if I suspected some sort of addiction may be involved. It was clear, however, the employee was not in denial.  He acknowledged he couldn’t stop his behavior.  If the problem had been presented to me, I would have asked, “Does your organization have an Employee assistance program?” 

Employee assistance programs, or EAPs, are a tremendous resource for organizations.  An EAP professional can help employees with problems affecting their lives and work and can help managers by assessing a situation and preparing them to address the problem with the employee so the outcome is positive for everyone. 

Of course, in the situation described above, the employee was aware that he had a problem.  That makes it easier to steer him in the right direction. Let him know that the EAP is a resource and explain how to contact them. 

However, that’s not always the case.  An employee may be in denial. Then what’s a manager to do?

Describe the behavior, to both the EAP professional and the employee, in detailed terms. Be specific about the behavior that is causing concern. Provide the employee explicit, quantifiable facts that are hard to refute. For example, “On Monday, you yelled at your co-worker in a tone of voice that was threatening. Several co-workers witnessed and reported it.” This helps to break through the employee's denial that a problem exists, and lets the employee know that you have noticed something. At this point you can offer the EAP as a resource.

When you’re speaking with the employee, keep in mind that you are not a therapist or healthcare provider. Avoid diagnosing the root of the problem. Leave this to the professionals. Your job is to focus on maintaining proficiency and productivity of your department.

Love of Learning—A Life-Long Challenge

I am honored to be one of more than 6,000 volunteers at The Smithsonian Institution.  As a docent at The Smithsonian American Art Museum, I conduct video conferences with school children and adults across America.  We share the art that tells America’s stories in two-way video conferences where I can see them, and they can see me along with the works of art I choose to show.

The Smithsonian Institution named a new leader in 2019, and the ceremony was both informational and emotional.  Many of the distinguished speakers talked about the new Secretary, Dr. Lonnie Bunch’s, passion for learning, and that’s what The Smithsonian is all about.

At a time when learning doesn’t seem as valued as I think it should be, it was refreshing to hear speakers at the ceremony, including Chief Justice Roberts, talk about the importance and the power of life-long learning.  We need to continue to learn both as individuals and as business leaders or in whatever vocation we’ve chosen. And, the best part of learning today is that it has never been easier.

Consider how easy it is for anyone to listen to a podcast while sitting in traffic while commuting or while on a long road trip. Think about what’s available on YouTube—not just to entertain us but to inform and educate us and our children.

As business leaders, it is extremely important that we provide development opportunities to our employees. They want to expand their knowledge, and we need to make it easy for them to take advantage of the learning that will make them better at their jobs and better as people. Employee development is a powerful engagement and retention tool.

Developing the skills and abilities of our employees does not necessarily mean sending them to training, or bringing training in-house. While training can be valuable, we need to open our minds to what other ways we can encourage our employees to love learning.

Here’s a challenge for you: Be an example to your employees by letting them see you expanding your skills and knowledge. They need to see you reading books and articles. They need to see you attending industry events where learning is emphasized. They need to see you demonstrate your love of learning.  I hope you’ll accept this challenge and make 2020 a year in which you revisit your own love of learning and motivate others to do the same.

And, if you’re in DC for any reason, take time to visit us at one of the many Smithsonian instillations.

Barbara Mitchell