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“To KOAP “…… Achieving organisational goals of high performance and competitive advantage amidst significant change”
Peoples Reaction to Change
Because change you do not initiate is hard, people tend to resist it. This is a natural reaction.
However, when people get stuck in resistance rather than finding ways to adapt (alter the situation and/or shift their perceptions), they can not move forward effectively. Resistance is a way of expressing feelings of discomfort about making a change.
“Resisting change” is not necessarily a negative. In fact, apparent absence of resistance is a warning sign. It may indicate that people do not yet understand the nature or magnitude of the changes they are facing.
Resilient people tend to apply their energy more effectively as they adapt to change.
What is Emotional Resilience
GlaxoSmithKline have defined ‘resilience’ as: “the ability to succeed personally and professionally in the midst of a high pressured, fast moving and continuously changing Environment” and have applied this concept in the company’s work to enhance the effectiveness of individual employees as well as teams.
vielife, who conducted research on emotional resilience using corporate data gathered across the UK via its Healthy Risk Assessment tool, have similarly defined ‘emotional resilience’ as: “the attitude and skill set of an individual allowing them to cope with great efficiency and effectiveness in periods of change and stress.”
Wilson and Ferch (2005) emphasise qualities of mental flexibility and creativity in defining ‘resilience’: “Resilience refers to the psychological ability to let go of old internal structures of thinking and behaving that over the years have given us a sense of stability and coherence; as well, resilience refers to our ability to create and reintegrate new structures of thinking and behaving that provide us a more mature sense of coherence”.
Peterson et al. (2008) have reported evidence of a neurobiological basis for resilient behaviour in leaders: “Resilient individuals are characterised by a staunch view of reality. They are very logical in their interpretations of setbacks—what is in their control, out of their control, and options for taking action. Finally, this brain activity leads to the development of ‘‘realistic optimism as well as the motivational processes involved for pursing the courses of action related to confidence and the strategies devised for overcoming life’s obstacles.”.
A broader definition of ‘resilience’ proposed by Bartley et al. (2006) places greater emphasis on the influence of external influences on the adaptability of employees: “a set of conditions that allow individual adaptation to different forms of adversity at different points in the life course”.
Emotional resilience simply refers to one’s ability to adapt to stressful situations or crises. More resilient people are able to “roll with the punches” and adapt to adversity without lasting difficulties, while less resilient people have a harder time with stress and life changes. We all know someone who seems much better at handling stress or a difficult situation that someone else does. To some degree, emotional and physical resilience are something we are born with. Some of us have always been the “sensitive kind” while others are not bothered by anything. Some of us don’t like rugged physical activity while others can play in the mud all day long! Both biological and social factors contribute to personality development, so there is something about being “naturally resilient” that is out of our control. However, psychological and social research have demonstrated that emotional resilience is something that can be learned or improved upon no matter what level of it we are born with.