Building Resilience in Leadership: Connection, Flexibility, and Perspective
In a world of shifting norms and unpredictable pressures, resilience is a strategic advantage. The way leaders connect, plan, and learn determines whether disruption becomes instability or momentum.
This week, I have been reflecting on three dimensions of resilience that are shaping how we lead and adapt today.
Three Dimensions of Resilience
1. Reclaiming In-Person Connection
The video screen has expanded our reach, but it may have diluted our depth of understanding when it comes to the people side of leadership. Sporadic screen time cannot replace the nuance of hallway conversations, shared meals, a walk, or spontaneous collaboration.
If we want to truly understand our teams—what motivates them, what drains them, and what inspires them—we must prioritize intentional, in-person moments.
2. Planning for the Unplannable
Customer needs shift. Markets surprise us. External forces reshape even the most thoughtful plans.
Resilient organizations build flexibility into their planning processes—not only contingency plans, but cultures that expect disruption and treat it as a source of innovation.
3. Learning from the Edges
Tangent businesses—those adjacent to our own—can serve as powerful mirrors.
How are those industries responding to similar pressures?
What experiments are they running?
Looking sideways activates the wisdom found at the periphery.
This Week’s Ripple Effect
Resilience is sustained through connection, flexibility, and curiosity. It requires leaders to stay engaged with people, open to change, and attentive to signals beyond their immediate field of view.
This week, choose one action:
Schedule a walk or coffee with someone you usually see only on screen.
Invite a customer or frontline team member into a planning conversation.
Reach out to a peer in an adjacent business and ask what is working for them right now.
Resilience is not about endurance alone. It is about staying connected and adaptable in real time.
