Can Leaders Afford to Mistake Endurance for Resilience?

You might even think that endurance and resilience are the same things, so, let’s look at the definitions of both;

• Endurance is the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way.
• Resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties.

So, with those definitions we now understand that endurance is about performing despite sustained or continuous pressure. And resilience is about designing systems so people don’t break under this sustained or continuous pressure.

I’ve encountered that many organizations don’t develop resilience; they simply have the expectation that employees must endure more. The consequence is a calamity of exhaustion disguised as dedication. I’ve encountered teams appearing committed but are running on fumes. I’ve encountered managers talking about the wonderful agility of their staff, and when you really think deeply about this, what they are really celebrating is overwork or burden that hasn’t yet crumpled or fallen to pieces.

On a personal basis, I know that endurance feels good at first because it looks like progress. I’ve experienced it.  In my manufacturing business (years ago) the team worked late and long at times to meet deadlines. Sadly, we may call it resilience, but with repetition it becomes the culture. The staff learn that being dependable means being constantly available.

What is the reason for this?

This mistake happens because managers (like I was) have a focus only on measuring effort. Managers see their staff coping well and suppose that the system is strong and working well. But the reality is, the more this team depends on courageous effort, the more fragile the team becomes. When the same people keep absorbing up the stress without support, the business/team quietly feeds the burnout.

If you who want to build resilience, you need to stop focusing on your staff’s ability to recover. You will need to start giving attention to your staff’s skill to take on stress. That means you are going to have to shift the attention from motivation, to how decisions are made in the way work is structured, and finally how your staff can begin to create their own recovery process. Here’s are a few suggestions on how that should look like;

• Incentivize prevention, not firefighting. Remember true resilience shows up before the crisis hits. Recognize the people who spot problems early, and manage risks quietly. As you know crisis prevention will never create remarkable stories, but it builds a calm environment that lets innovation begin to thrive.
• Lead with resilience. Resilient companies begin with managers who pattern balance in their life and work. Leaders like this show their teams what is truly prized or important and whether staff recovery is important or even allowed.

To conclude I have a few questions;

Are the strongest teams those that bounce back the fastest or those that don’t need to bounce as often?

Are good managers those who build real resilience into environments where people can recover, share the strain, and keep learning?

Are good managers those who understand that resilience is a system of action not a hoped-for personal characteristic?

To find out more on how you and your team can become more resilient contact me, Tim Gibney at 519-539-2267 or email me at tim@theresiliencedoctor.com