UK 
United States
On a glass half-full kind of a day, Thomas Edison’s quote rings true and if only employees didn’t suffer from the inevitable imposter syndrome or a humane smattering of doubts, they would arguably be better off for it. HR Grapevine spoke to three experts to see how to build better resilience.
Sir Chris Hoy, six-time Olympic champion recently announced he has terminal cancer. There’s not many of us that had a dry eye in the house when he did and what’s so remarkable in his outlook is his gratitude for the life he continues to live and his resilience in the face of the ultimate travesty.
What can we learn from his sorrowful news? For employers, it’s how to build that war chest of tenacious resilience when the time comes to dig the deepest – it’s so often lurking in a part of all of our beings. It may be dormant until that very moment that it’s needed. For me, it can be summed up as counting to ten several times over until I fire off a tirade or try to hold off from doing so. It’s the chasm between digging deep and coping – a skill that is often only hardwired from taking the knocks successive times. I am forever saying to my children when these inevitable moments of despair and disappointment come that they do so for a reason to make them withstand life’s gruelling realities. While I whisper sentiments of ‘try not to think about it’ or ‘better luck next time’ – I wonder if those smug parental sayings can occur in the corporate world or if it is dressed up under a different guise and ‘upskilled’ in some other format?
Resilience can be acquired
Penny Hierons is an expert in the area, she even has the noun in her title of work-life balance and resilience coach. “Nowadays most people agree that we are all a combination of nature and nurture. Some of us are probably more disposed to be resilient by nature, our childhood and life’s impact. However, that does not mean that resilience cannot be learned, that we should accept our resilience as a given.”
