Be Courageous! Put People First

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We have now spent over two years dealing with a global pandemic. While we can see some hope in the future as more and more people get vaccinated, people are reaching their limits.

Companies are struggling, organizations are floundering, and government agencies are feeling the strain. When this is over, a few organizations will stand out as having thrived despite the crisis.

Based on my experience with U.S. Embassies in crisis, I predict that those successful organizations will all have one thing in common. They are putting their people first. They are prioritizing the well-being of their workforce over profits, products, or policy. They understand that in a crisis, it's the people who make things happen. It's the people who find innovative solutions and solve the toughest problems.

In a crisis, leaders must prioritize the safety of their employees, even when it's hard. Over the past few weeks, I've heard from dozens of employees who do not feel safe in their workplace. Their supervisors tell their employees they care, but their actions say otherwise. They limit telework because they aren't comfortable with remote supervision. They don't fight for masks and hand sanitizers for essential staff who must take risks by coming to work. They won't pay the salaries of employees who are sick or in self-quarantine.

Employees who do not feel safe will quickly check out. Even the most self-motivated employee will lose their energy just when you need it the most. After the crisis, it will be difficult or impossible to rebuild trust, leaving teams fractured and less capable. Staff may become bitter and cynical, which erodes team resilience and limits productivity.

In contrast, when people feel safe, they will often perform exceptionally well under stress. Some will remember the crisis as a highlight of their career. U.S. Ambassador Peter Bodde demonstrated the power of putting people first when a devastating earthquake hit Nepal in 2015. Realizing that the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu was one of the safest buildings in the city, he allowed all embassy staff (American and Nepalese), their families, and their pets to move onto the embassy compound. This move was unprecedented, and he didn't ask Washington for permission. He knew he was taking a risk, but the safety of his staff was his top priority.

Ambassador Bodde’s team exceeded expectations in their ability to assist and protect U.S. citizens and achieve U.S. foreign policy goals. Staff told me that they have fond memories of their time in Nepal, even though they lived and worked through two major earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks.

If you are a supervisor, take a few minutes and ask yourself whether you are putting your people first. Are you making the sacrifices necessary to demonstrate that you care about your staff? If not, ask yourself why. What are you prioritizing ahead of your employees? Identify the barriers preventing you from supporting your people and work to remove or minimize those barriers.

If you’re afraid of the consequences if you prioritize people over profits, products, or policy, remind yourself that courage is taking action despite the fear, not the absence of fear. Commit to being courageous during this public health crisis. You and many others will be glad you did.

What have you done to put people first during this pandemic?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.

Want to Improve Your Resilience? Be Kind

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As the global health pandemic continues beyond two years, many of us are struggling to maintain our resilience. Being kind to others is an easy way to boost your well-being while helping others who are struggling.

This summer,  Bryant P.H. Hui, Ph.D., a research assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong, published the results of an extensive review of over 200 studies on kindness. Hui and his colleagues found a modest but significant link between prosocial behavior and the givers’ well-being. 

Small gestures of kindness are quite powerful for the giver. Hui and his colleagues found that random acts of kindness, such as helping an older neighbor carry groceries, were more strongly associated with overall wellbeing than formal prosocial behavior, such as scheduled volunteering for a charity. Hui thinks this may be because informal helping is more casual and spontaneous and may more easily lead to forming social connections. Informal giving is also more varied and less likely to become stale or monotonous, he said.

Promoting kindness at work can also have a positive impact. A study published in the journal Emotion examined the effects of performing random acts of kindness in the workplace. The study focused on the behaviors of more than 100 employees who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: "givers," "receivers," and a "control" group. Researchers instructed the "givers" to perform five acts of kindness to specific "receivers" for four weeks. The "receivers" and "control" were led to believe the study was about workplace morale and were tasked with discretely keeping track of the generous behaviors they observed.

Both "givers" and "receivers" felt happier and reported higher levels of well-being (less depressed and more satisfied with their jobs) two months later compared to the control. Researchers also discovered that acts of kindness had a positive ripple effect. "Receivers" weren't only paying back the acts of kindness to the "givers," but they also paid it forward, meaning that others benefited, too. "Receivers" in the experiment paid it forward by doling out more acts of kindness than the control group – 278% more.

Other researchers confirm that kindness is contagious. Researcher Jamil Zaki and colleagues found that people imitate the particulars of positive actions and the spirit underlying them. They concluded that an individual's kindness could trigger people to spread positivity in other ways. 

To help you and others thrive during the coronavirus crisis, remind yourself to be kind. If you’re looking for more inspiration on the positive impact of being kind, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has a wealth of information on the science of kindness and how to become a kindness advocate.

What acts of kindness have you done lately? What impact did these acts have on your well-being?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Why You Need to Exercise During a Crisis

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After two years, we are still grappling with coronavirus and figuring out our new normal. We also don’t know what the next crisis will be.

Those of us who maintain our resilience through any crisis will adapt more easily to the unexpected and will recover more quickly once the crisis is over.

Several researchers have found that regular exercise helps build resilience, which is why it's critical to stay active during this crisis.

One study found that aerobic exercises, including jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, gardening, and dancing, reduce anxiety and depression. A literature review noted that working out reduces anxiety, depression, and negative mood, and improves self-esteem and cognitive functioning. Another study found that running for 15 minutes a day or walking for an hour reduces the risk of major depression by 26%. Several studies show that exercise can improve your immune system.

Researchers speculate that exercise is so powerful because it promotes neural growth in the brain and reduces inflammation. Physical activity may create new brain patterns, promoting feelings of calm and wellbeing. Exercise also releases endorphins, which make us feel good. Exercise can help us sleep well, which is known to have protective effects on the brain.

Most experts recommend that thirty minutes of exercise of moderate intensity, such as brisk walking, for three days a week, is sufficient for these health benefits. These 30 minutes need not be continuous; three 10-minute walks can be as equally useful as one 30-minute walk. Even if you don't have 90 minutes each week to exercise, do what you can. One study found that a single, brief spurt of very easy exercise will produce desirable changes in the brain.

If the coronavirus has disrupted your regular exercise routine, think about alternative ways you can keep moving. For example, put on some music and dance for 10 minutes every day. Find a virtual exercise class that keeps you motivated. Go for a solo bike ride or walk around the block.

While moderate exercise is critical during a crisis, avoid over-exercising since some research indicates that stress caused by too much physical activity may be harmful. Consult your doctor before exercising while sick or starting a new exercise routine.

What impact does exercise have on your resilience?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.

Chef Kwame Onwuachi - A Resilience Story

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Chef Kwame Onwuachi’s first restaurant failed after 11 weeks. His failure was very public given his fame as a Top Chef contestant and extensive media attention leading up to the restaurant opening. 

Many people would have struggled to bounce back after this type of failure. Instead, Onwuachi went on to open a popular second restaurant, win a James Beard award, and publish a best-selling memoir.

When I read Onwuachi’s memoir, Notes From a Young Black Chef, I was impressed with his resilience despite overwhelming hardship. He has a long list of traumas, including child abuse, poverty, racism, and hostile work environments. He weathered these and other challenges to achieve his dream of sharing his and other African American stories through cooking.

What makes Onwuachi so resilient?

When I asked Onwuachi where his resilience comes from, he emphasized the importance of "having people in your corner." He explained that he calls a good friend when times are tough, and this social support helps him work through problems. His strong family ties, despite an abusive father, and his ability to build supportive social networks also contribute to his resilience.

Onwuachi is a master problem solver who isn’t afraid to ask for help. He embraces failure as a learning experience, telling an audience that “true failure is not trying.” While hoping for the best, he prepares for the worst, creating systems and spreadsheets that help him manage huge workloads.

Cooking was how Onwuachi found meaning from a young age. In his book, he describes a time when he hit rock bottom and "never felt so alone or so rootless." He was "hungover, strung out, and depressed" and felt the world was moving forward without him. To pull himself out of this funk, he cooked chicken curry, a dish that reminded him of home and real love.

Like his grandfather, Onwuachi promotes racial justice and equality, which gives him meaning and purpose beyond his cooking. In his book, he provides many examples of efforts to combat racism and promote more inclusivity in restaurant kitchens.

Onwuachi’s sense of humor helps him maintain a positive outlook. His interview with Trevor Noah highlights his natural self-deprecating humor and his ability to view adverse events from a more positive framework. 

Onwuachi’s story is an inspiration and a reminder that all of us can overcome trauma and hardship. Like Onwuachi, are you incorporating resilience factors into your life?

Do you have a resilience story you’d like to share?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.

How to Use Root Cause Analysis to Be a Better Problem Solver

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Good problem solvers tend to be more resilient because they don't spend mental energy focusing on issues they cannot resolve. Many people fix only on the symptoms of problems, which means they keep recurring. Skilled problem solvers look for underlying systems and processes to develop strategies that resolve issues for good.

One of the best problem-solving tools is Root Cause Analysis. This tool helps people answer the question of why a problem occurred in the first place. It seeks to identify the origin of an issue using a specific set of steps to find the primary cause.

Root Cause Analysis assumes that systems and events are interrelated. An action in one area triggers a response in another, and another, and so on. By tracing back these actions, you can discover where the problem started and how it grew into the symptom you're facing.

For most problems, you'll usually find three basic types of causes:

• Physical: Tangible, material items failed in some way (for example, the copy machine stopped working).

• Human: People did something wrong or did not do something that was needed. Human causes typically lead to physical causes (for example, no one conducted maintenance on the copy machine, so a critical part broke).

• Organizational: A system, process, or policy that people use to make decisions or do their work is faulty (for example, no one person was responsible for maintaining the copy machine, and everyone assumed someone else was conducting maintenance).

With Root Cause Analysis, you look at all three types of causes. It involves investigating the patterns of adverse effects, finding hidden flaws in the system, and discovering specific actions contributing to the problem. This analysis often reveals more than one root cause.

Here are three simple techniques that can help you conduct a Root Cause Analysis:

Five Whys

Toyota Industries developed the "5 Whys" technique in the 1930s. The method is remarkably simple: when a problem occurs, you want to explore the causal chain. You drill down to its root cause by asking "Why?" at least five times. Here's a simple YouTube video on how the "5 Whys" was used to identify the cause of a problem at Toyota.

Fact vs. Opinion

When problem-solving, identify the difference between what you believe (opinion) and what can be proven true or false (fact). Ask yourself, "do I have evidence to back that up?" and "Do I really know that to be true?" While your knowledge and experience are useful, distinguish between what you think may be happening and what you can confirm as fact. Once you can differentiate between fact and opinion, you'll be able to develop more effective strategies to solve a problem. Check out this YouTube video on the difference between fact and opinion.

Current Reality Tree

A Current Reality Tree focuses on cause and effect to identify the root cause of a problem. You start by listing the undesirable effects (UDE). These are assumed to be symptoms of a deeper common cause. Then you construct a graph attempting to link any two UDE using cause-and-effect reasoning. For example, if the first UDE is that the copy machine jams a lot, you then look for another UDE that caused this to happen – e.g., employees don't know how to use the copier properly. Another UDE could be that there is no training on how to use the copier. Keep linking UDEs until they converge on a single root cause. This YouTube video provides a good overview of the Current Reality Tree.

What helps you get to the root of a problem?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.

Want to Be More Productive? Empower Your Staff to Say No

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One of the most useful resilience skills you can learn is how and when to say "no." Setting boundaries and saying no improves productivity by allowing time for recovery, training, and building relationships with team members.

Unfortunately, many workplaces are “yes” cultures, where saying “no” is discouraged.

In these cultures, even those of us who are good at saying no may hesitate for fear that colleagues will be disappointed, question our commitment, or not view us as team players. We worry that supervisors will penalize us if we say no, even when it means that our work product and personal life suffer.

A "yes" culture can cripple an organization, especially if senior leaders are big idea generators and staff doesn't push back. Leaders can avoid creating a "yes" culture by fostering an environment in which saying no is encouraged and rewarded. Here are some ways leaders can empower their staff to say no. 

Establish a Rating System

Create a list of criteria for scoring possible new projects. When senior leaders propose a new idea, meet as a team to rate the proposal. Use that rating to help prioritize the value of the suggestion. If the score is low, you have an objective basis for declining and explaining that the project is not a priority at the moment.

Evaluate the Cons

Many of us see only the good that can from a new project or idea and forget to evaluate the cost. As a team, list both the pros and cons of taking on a new project. Look at your assumptions, assess the risk, identify the opportunity cost of what will not get done, and encourage honest exploration of what could go wrong. Don't proceed unless the pros outweigh the negatives.

Celebrate Saying "No"

Publicly praise employees who say no. Be open to changing your mind and, when you do, explain why. Point out how a colleague's "no" helped you avoid making the wrong decision. In staff meetings, ask for dissenting views and thank the contributors.

Don’t Have a Default Answer

While always saying "yes" can be destructive, automatically saying "no" will also cause harm. You don't want your team to gain a reputation for always saying "no" and not contributing to the overall mission. Instead, tell senior leadership you'll review the request with the team and respond soon with a thoughtful answer.

Explain Why You’re Saying “Yes”

When you do say yes, make it clear why “yes” in this case is best for the team.

When your team can confidently pass up opportunities that don't generate enough value, you will have the time to say "yes" to those that matter. When your employees feel comfortable telling you no, you'll find they are more capable and productive. They will feel empowered to speak out on other issues as well. For more guidance on how to say no, check out this blog post.

How do you encourage your employees to say no?

 ___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.

Use Photography to Rebuild Your Resilience

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For many of us, COVID-19 has been traumatic. Years of chronic stress have worn us down and many of us are struggling with low resilience. When I was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after my service in Iraq, I used photography to explore my feelings, establish self-awareness, and deal with emotional conflicts. Thanks to photography, I fully recovered.

I’m not the only person who used photography to recover from mental illness. In this powerful TedTalk, Bryce Evans describes how he beat depression through the use of photography. He now teaches people how to use therapeutic photography to learn, heal, and grow.

Several research studies confirm the power of photography for improving wellbeing. One study found that taking a daily photo improved well-being through self-care, community interaction, and the potential for reminiscence. It led to more exercise and provided a sense of purpose, competence, and achievement. Posting the photo online helped people to manage loneliness and grief and to meet new people with shared interests.

Other researchers found that a photography project for women living with HIV/AIDs supported their mental health. It facilitated empowerment and helped women express themselves. It also provided new tools that helped them process past traumas.

Veterans in out-patient mental health treatment who enrolled in a six-week photography workshop reported a positive impact on their recovery. Taking photographs while in recovery improved their personal reflection and organization of thinking. Photography also promoted recovery discussions, communication, social support, and a sense of purpose.

Photography also fosters the five resilience factors in the following ways:

Self-Care

Taking time to recover is essential for taking care of ourselves. While meditation is the best way to rest our brains by focusing on only one thing at a time, I’ve never been able to meditate. Instead, photography is my meditation. Photography is a mindfulness practice that forces me to focus on the present and leaves me feeling calm and rested.

Problem-Solving

Learning to accept what we cannot control or influence is a powerful problem-solving skill. Photography is one of the best ways to develop this skill since we are forced to accept current conditions and adapt our camera settings to create an appealing photograph. When we use our mental muscles to accept what we cannot control in photography, it helps us do the same in other areas of our lives.

Positive Outlook

Reframing is one of the best ways to shift from a negative to a more positive view of any situation. Luckily, photographers reframe all the time. We’ll explore a subject through different frames until we find the most effective photograph. We may take a wide-angle view, or use a macro for a close-up. We’ll look at a subject from different angles to find the most positive image. Learning to reframe will also help us avoid getting stuck in negativity, and instead find a new, more positive way of viewing something.

Meaning and Purpose

Having a passion is a powerful way to bring meaning and purpose into your life. I’m passionate about photography and spend time watching instructional videos, taking classes, and reading books. When I’m feeling stressed, I research possible photography trips or learn a new photography technique.

Social Support

Photographers are great people and a very welcoming community. There are photography clubs and MeetUps in most cities that are easily accessible. Many people take photography tours regularly, making new friends every trip. As an introvert, I find photography related events appealing because I don’t feel as drained of energy afterward.

After a trauma or period of chronic stress, I use photography to rebuild my resilience. Are you a photographer? What impact has photography has on your resilience and wellbeing?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.  

How to Create a Successful Resilience Committee

A resilience committee event

One of the best ways to foster individual and team resilience in the workplace is to form a resilience committee.

Resilience committees can be invaluable because they reflect employees’ needs and organizational culture. They can provide leaders with a more accurate picture of how the staff is doing. And, they often come up with very creative and effective ways to foster resilience across the organization.

For several years I ran a committee that fostered resilience among staff and students at the State Department's training institute. We organized weekly meditation, therapy dogs, Lunch & Learn events, and other activities that promoted resilience and wellbeing.

Here are lessons I learned on how to have a successful resilience committee in your workplace:

Identify a Strong Committee Chair

You need a committee chair who will keep the team functioning by running productive meetings and maintaining focus. It is also crucial that the chair be able to communicate effectively with senior leaders to obtain the necessary resources and support for committee activities. The chair may also need to provide valuable feedback to senior leaders about actions that enhance and hinder resilience.

Recruit a Diverse Membership

Recruit members from various work units, with a range of work experiences, ages, and other demographics. The more diverse your membership, the more inclusive and impactful the committee will be.

Hold Regularly Scheduled Meetings

If you have a recurring calendar entry, resilience committee meetings are more likely to take place. Otherwise, we all get overwhelmed by our day-to-day work, and it is easy to let the resilience committee meetings fall by the way-side. If there is too much time between meetings, you'll waste time regrouping and getting back your focus.

Develop a Mission Statement and Project Charter

It helps to have a mission statement and project charter that identifies the committee's purpose, goals, and stakeholders. This way, when committee members are tempted to broaden their scope, you can use the mission statement and charter to stay focused. It will also help introduce new members to the committee's mission and goals.

Have a Budget

Leadership needs to provide a budget to the committee so that members know how much they can spend on events. A budget frees the committee from having to request funds for every activity, a constraint which can discourage members from proposing ideas that come with a cost.

Brand Yourself

Consider developing a logo and brand that helps promote committee activities. Think about how you can brand the committee to be more visible and influential.

Be Practical

The committee will need to work within resource constraints (both funding and peoples' time). It's better to do a few projects well than lots of activities that overwhelm the volunteers.

Here are things to watch out for that may reduce the effectiveness of your resilience committee:

Inactive Members

You want members who will volunteer to help organize events. Don't let your committee be one with 20 members, only two of whom do all the work.

Move Beyond the Idea Phase

There are hundreds of great ideas for enhancing resilience in the workplace. Committee meetings can quickly become all about brainstorming new ideas. Some members may generate lots of ideas without wanting to commit to the work it takes to implement their suggestions. While having brainstorming is essential, it is critical that the committee transition from ideas to operations so that a few of those great ideas get implemented.

It’s Not a Social Committee

While socializing can improve team resilience, make sure your committee doesn't merely become the social committee for your organization. Only having social events will reduce the group's impact and risk losing its focus on resilience.

Don't Wait

If you think you need a resilience committee, start one. Don't wait for someone else to take the lead. While it takes time and energy to develop a well-functioning committee, the payoffs in productivity and effectiveness are well worth it.

Have you been on a resilience committee? What worked or didn’t work for you?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.

How to Reframe Negative Thoughts

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Human beings are hardwired to be aware of and avoid danger, which means we are often scanning the world for negativity. Negativity is highly contagious, which means you're more likely to be impacted by someone else's pessimistic viewpoint than an optimistic outlook.

We are also more likely to remember negative encounters instead of positive interactions. While our brain stores bad news into long-term memory quickly, we need more time for positive experiences to transfer from short-term to long-term memory. Psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson describes it this way: “The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones.”

Unfortunately, too much negativity will erode our resilience, and since negativity is contagious, it can have a corrosive impact on relationships and group cohesion. To stay resilient, we need to make a conscious effort to counter negative thoughts and focus instead on the positive.

It’s important to acknowledge the negativity since suppressing negative emotions or ignoring bad news will cause harm in the long run. When we spend energy suppressing negative emotions, we often don't have any leftover for more positive behaviors such as exercise or eating well. We also risk an explosion of emotion or moodiness when we can no longer keep emotions suppressed.

Reframing is a simple concept that shifts our thinking from the negative to a more positive approach. Underlying beliefs and assumptions frame every thought. Challenging our beliefs and assumptions by trying out different frames will help us think differently. For example, if I find out that I did not receive a coveted job, my first thought could be that I am not good enough, and my work is undervalued.

By stepping away from that thought and framing the issue differently, I can view this news in a more positive light - my work is excellent; the selected candidate was just a better fit. A long term view may remind me that I've been rejected before and have been very happy with the jobs I eventually received.

A reframe needs to be genuine; otherwise, our brain will stay stuck in a negative frame. If you don't believe that your work is excellent or the selected candidate was a better fit, then don't use those assumptions to reframe. 

Resist the temptation to reframe for others. When someone else reframes for us, it can feel dismissive or communicate a lack of empathy. Instead, ask questions that prompt the other person to reframe on their own. For example, if a colleague complains about their boss, ask them, "what do you like about your boss?" or "how does your boss compare to previous bosses?"

Here are some reframing questions to ask yourself or others:

• What positive things could come from this?

• How could you benefit from the situation?

• What opportunities will this experience provide you?

• What is another way of looking at this?

• How does this look in the long-term?

• How does this look in the short-term?

• How else could you interpret this experience?

• What are other possible reasons this could have happened?

• What can you learn from this?

• What concerned you the most about the option you didn’t get?

What helps you reframe negative thoughts?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.

The Crisis Is Over. Now What?

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In the State Department, I experienced several crises ranging from civil unrest to natural disasters. They usually involved long hours, high risk, and stress levels that were off the charts.

After each crisis was over, we would usually pick up where we left off, thinking everything was back to normal.

But it wasn’t business as usual.

People who had performed admirably during the crisis were struggling and losing focus. Teams that bonded during the emergency were fracturing one or two years later.

While resilience appeared to be high during the crisis, it quickly eroded afterward, leaving individuals and teams struggling to return to regular life. Teams that were cohesive and effective in the emergency started to splinter one or two years later when there were staff changes.

That's why leaders must emphasize fostering individual and team resilience after a crisis.  A focus on resilience will help minimize the harm caused by traumatic events and will contribute to the team's return to normal functioning as quickly as possible.  People and groups may even grow from the experience.

Here are some tips for fostering resilience after a crisis:

Take Time Off

Remind yourself and others to schedule time off work as soon as possible after the emergency to reconnect with friends and family or pursue a passion. Taking time off will also help people process the events they just experienced.

Talk About the Impact

Encourage staff to discuss the personal impact of the crisis. People respond to a crisis differently, and it is essential to hear their stories. Many people tend to suppress the strong emotions a crisis evokes, which is counterproductive. Instead, encourage colleagues to share their feelings.

Don’t Prolong the Urgency

It is easy to stay in crisis mode even when the emergency is over. If a crisis continues for longer than a few months, it is no longer a crisis but the new normal. Intentionally mark the end of the crisis.

Include New Staff

Staff who experienced the crisis have a shared story, and new arrivals in the organization need to hear the story to feel part of the same team. Use memorial ceremonies or other group events to ensure that everyone understands how the crisis impacted the group.

Acknowledge Success

Recognize the hard work and sacrifices people made during the crisis. Be generous with awards.

Ask for Help

If you are struggling to recover from the crisis, consider seeking support from a mental health professional. Encourage team members to seek assistance if they need it.

What has helped you rebuild your resilience after a crisis?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.