Why We Love Change Resilience (And You Should, Too!)

Let’s see why change resilience is essential for leaders and organisations

Resilience is about coming back stronger and more capable from adversity. Those who have developed true resilience welcome change as an opportunity for learning and growth. Resilient people are not immune to the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world, yet they get less disrupted. They move through change swiftly and tend to be more productive and positive during times of uncertainty.

Resilience is the ability to adapt well in the face of a change, adversity or significant stress.

When non-resilient people encounter obstacles, they find it hard to identify internal and external motivators. Change always triggers the question: ‘What’s in it for me?’ (WIIFM) - a clear sign that our motivation gets tested.

According to Prosci, your team's desire to change is the most tricky stage for a leader to influence. We believe that your best shot at building a change-resilient organisation is to employ the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory, developed by E.M. Rogers in 1962 and start with yourself. Or how Qantas would say: "Please place the mask over your own mouth and nose before assisting others.”

Change resilience is…

...closely related to the letter C!

Dr Ginsburg, child paediatrician and human development expert, proposes that there are 7 integral and interrelated components to resilience – competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping and control.  S. Maddi et al. fund that control, commitment and challenge makes us harder.  Other social sciences studies suggest three core principles of resilience are control, coherence, and connectedness.

For us, resilience is the ability to adapt well in the face of a change, adversity or significant stress. We cultivate it as our change survival trait. Resilience allows us to bounce back after hardship rooted in the belief that change is a valuable journey to a place you and your peers have never been before.

Three tips to quickly boost your change-resilience

Putting things in perspective helps us build resilience, change perception and choose our response.

Here are three tips to quickly boost your change resilience, when S#!t hits the fan:

More from our Blog

easter egg challenge

The 1-2-3-Easter Egg Challenge for 🥚-ceptional Change Leaders

conflict

How Leaders Can Transform Workplace Conflicts into Creative Solutions 

conflict management

Transform Your Change Management Approach: Lessons and Tools from Our Biggest Webinar Yet!

change management planning

Level Up with the Right Change Management Solutions: Tips and Resources to Make the Transition Easier

organisational change capabilities, golden gate bridge

Understanding the Basics of Change Management: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Organisational Change Capabilities

change capability framework, business, leadership skill

The Essential Steps for Implementing a Comprehensive Change Capability Framework

Mindfulness

Research reveals that mindfulness can help you develop greater resilience. Your brain needs to feel calm and safe to make sense of the world and solve problems effectively. It's easy to practice mindfulness and prepare a simple exercise at the ready for the next surprise. 

Why we love change resilience and you should too- mindfulness
Why we love change resilience and you should too- visualization

Visualisation

We combine vision board, visualisation, and visualisation walks to calm your mind when resilience is needed. Visualise how you achieve your goals AND how you overcome challenges. This mental preparation influences your capacity, speed, flexibility and confidence to change.

Plan

Practising Rapid Change Planning frees up your mental space for purpose- and result-oriented actions. It's a practical way to reduce the noise in our heads and focus on rapid actions.

Why we love change resilience and you should too- plan

Successful change leaders reframe how they see change.

One of the most helpful tools in building resilience as a leader is to reframe a situation.

You can prime your brain for resilience. Athletes like Tiger Woods and Muhammad Ali have been using visualisation for decades to improve performance. In Ohio, exercise psychology research reported that the brain patterns activated during a workout are similar to those during visualisation of the same workout. Mental practices are proven to increase motivation, confidence and motor skills.

When Change Leaders are resilient, they can adapt and overcome their natural stress responses. Instead of being overwhelmed and feeling victimised, they choose to stay motivated and keep a positive mindset. That gives them a sense of control. They commit and desire the future state. These Leaders rise to the challenge, driven to find business and personal growth opportunities during times of uncertainty.

eva-headshot

Eva is one of the masterminds behind Approach Services' blog and The 6 Cents of Change. She is an innovator, trainer and change manager. Her work has been published in the Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research. In her spare time, she enjoys camping with her two little boys and permaculture gardening.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter The 6 Cents of Change and follow us on LinkedIn to learn more!

Scroll to Top