Three Doorways to Resilient Leadership

I am not a religious woman.

My church is in the tall grass, the wild wind and the wide blue sky.

My faith is unconventional but my core belief is strong: Life is Good.

No matter how many lying and corrupt Illinois governors come and go in my lifetime, as low as the Dow may sink, and as scary as the future may seem, I am firm in my belief that Life is Good.

Buzzword: Resilience

The latest buzzword in leadership development circles is “Resilience.”

It’s a buzz worth tuning in on.

No matter how distressing your current situation, the magnificence of the miracle of our birth SHOULD BE MOTIVATION ENOUGH TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO stay resilient, particularly if you hope to be able to lead people in making change in response to your community's most difficult problems.

Acknowledge the Miracle

We are lucky or blessed (or however you choose to say it) to be here and now on this earth in this 21st century.

As a species, and a nation, we are full of grace.

Courage in the Face of Gloom and Doom

My husband came up from his office this morning - after checking in at NYTimes.com to tell me that George Soros predicts that this recession will be longer and deeper and bleaker than anything anyone of us has ever seen.

We are bombarded daily by job loss statistics and plummeting economic indicators.

The nonprofit executive directors who are my clients struggle with dwindling contributions and increasing need. Meanwhile, in my role as chair of the fund development committee of the Pioneer Bluffs Foundation, I wonder how to begin a conversation about raising $50,000 in matching funds for a government grant we’ve received.

As the wide world reels, some losses hit even closer to home.

One dearly-love neighbor here in Matfield Green pays even closer attention to her blood pressure after a midnight ambulance ride two weeks ago, while the whole community continues to ache for the family who lost their four-year-old son to a brutal illness last fall.

Our human miracle is not an easy load to carry.

Coaching for Resilient Leadership

As a Coach, I help clients lighten the load - not by taking it on myself, but by offering those who would take up the difficult work of community leadership three doorways through which they may access resilience.

Those three doorways are:

1. Presence – the leader’s ability to stay “in the moment,” that powerful place where flexibility arises and from which you make the most of skills, talents, resources and possibilities.

2. Space – the commitment to protect and use time for yourself, to take regular breaks in the action for growth, learning, planning, and connecting - especially when the challenges of leadership seem almost insurmountable.

3. The Courage of Your Convictions – the ability to leverage the power of core values (individual and organizational) to confront difficult situations, facilitate intervention, energize others, and lead change.

Presence, space, and the courage of your convictions are leadership practices that help you see through the fog of uncertainty. They provide the resilience necessary to enable you, even in the most troubling time, to use your skills and experience to identify clear and salient goals, productive collaborations, and specific action steps.

These powerful practices help you generate the will to meet the challenges life and leadership throws your way.

Life is Good. Ask for the support you need to stay present, aware and courageous in your community leadership.