Forbes magazine recently identified resilience as the “it thing” to allow businesses to learn from the past while building the future.
Forbes’ article, aptly titled The Resilience Factor, says, “The combination of historical knowledge and creative, active foresight is at the core of building resilient systems. As they eye a path toward recovery, the vast majority of business leaders are already factoring resilience into their equations.”
As a resilience keynote speaker, even within the most cutting-edge, energetic businesses, I see the lean towards resilience strategies (YES!) but a lack in direction of how to build a strategy that is sustainable and geared toward longevity. This lends to a culture that is chaotic, resistant to change, and one that struggles to adapt.
Why Is This True?
If we dig deeper into Forbes’ take on resilience, we can see that their recommendations for building in resilience are steps many organizations should have already taken to begin with.
For example, when businesses were asked what they did to boost operational resilience, 66% of leaders cited streamlining their decision making as the number one thing they did that brought improvement. Did COVID change the way they streamlined? Perhaps. But, as anyone who’s heard my resilience keynote knows, if you’re taking this step to begin with, when upheaval strikes, you’re already standing on a solid foundation to accelerate forward – to do more than just survive – but to be change-proof.
My point is this: businesses are not required to re-engineer the wheel in moments of crisis. Their job is to keep it rolling, because the wheel has been maintained and the path ahead is clear of debris. The mad scramble to do something bold only happens because a resilience strategy isn’t already built into the plan for sustainability.
Now, can all crisis and chaos be avoided? Absolutely not. But, it’s in these moments, where we learn the importance of having this pre-built protection and foundation – so when a crisis comes to call – we know what to do. As I always say “Develop resilience before you need it”. Hindsight is insightful, foresight is intuitive – and that’s where a business really wants to be, on the foresight side.
Resilient Humans Stay Put Longer
When we talk about longevity within a business, sometimes we forget about human capital and the importance of building resilient leaders and teams. At resilience keynotes, audiences hear me talk about ideation, innovation, and how our people can shift the needle more than anything else. Not only do resilient human beings stay put longer, the businesses they are a part of do too.
It All Comes Down to This
Waiting for things to happen to your business is the exact opposite of resilience. You can choose chaos or you can choose resilience, which lends to a calm, innovative culture operating ahead of the curve. If you’re ready to begin building that culture, let’s talk. Reach out to me at Team@AdamMarkel.com to schedule a complimentary Resilience Consultation. Together we can build a resilient world, one person and organization at a time.
Not sure where you stand on the resilience scale? Take this free assessment to find out.
