From the desk of Caspar:
How to Be More Resilient
My favourite part of doing talks is the Q&A. You never know what’s coming up and you have to think on your feet.
I had one such instance at a brilliantly lively Q&A last week.
The particular question was around resilience ”how would you advise newly formed teams to think about their own resilience framework and how they implement this onto their working day”.
Great question.
Here’s my {abbreviated} answer:
I think about two key factors:
Number of Challenging Situations you’re exposed to
Openness to learning/ Curiosity/ Growth Mindset
The more hard things you do, the more used you become to dealing with hard things. That stretch outside the comfort zone becomes easier the more you do it.
Provided…..(and it’s an important proviso) that you’re open to learning, are curious, are hungry and open minded.
If you’re not open to learning, you’ll almost certainly keep repeating mistakes and that leads to frustration. This does not build resilience.
If you are open minded and curious, and do hard things, your resilience levels will almost certainly rise.
(I have a simple graphic model I use to illustrate this in talks).
So that’s how to do as an individual.
What about as a team?
I love the notion that an organisation will bend itself to the questions it consistently asks.
Create a conversation about what hard things you’ve taken on and failed or succeeded at. Focus on what you learnt when it was gritty and hard. When you felt like giving up but didn’t. Celebrate those who try and fail and try and fail and keep going and what they learn on the way.
Leadership is about leading: lead with vulnerability and don’t be afraid to share your challenges. Create the space where others can share their journey.
What would happen if your team was more resilient, tackled hard problems and learnt together. Would that accelerate your big bold goals?
Lakeland 214
On the 13th and 14th May 2022 I (and my wife and four friends) will be taking part in the Lakeland 214 challenge. This will see us as one of 20 teams, each ascend between 10 and 14 mountains in 48hrs and collectively complete the 214 Wainwright challenge.
The Wainwrights are a group of 214 fells (hills and mountains) in the Lake District, ranging from the highest ( Scafell Pike at 978 meters) to the lowest (Castle Crag at 290 meters). The challenge to ascend all 214 peaks is the equivalent of covering 512 kilometres with a total ascent of 36000 meters which is more than 4 times the height of Mount Everest.
We will be aiming to stand on every Wainwright summit within a 48hr period, starting at 0600hrs on Friday 13th May 2022 and raise £10,000 for Cancer Research UK.
You can sponsor us here if it resonates… https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lakeland20
Annual Kick Offs
It’s been a very busy week for annual kick off events. The team from Mantis ProMedia very kindly shared this video from one event last week.
And on LinkedIn there were some very kind comments from attendees at events such as this one for Natwest and this one for Savaria Group and this one for Defi / Cryptocurrency VC backed Minima.
Disconnected Leaders
Is there a disconnect between what leaders think and what teams really want?
The past few years have seen unprecedented change in the world on so many levels. We’re seeing the 3 C’s as having a huge effect on teams - the 3 C’s being:
Conflict - the impact of what’s happening in Ukraine and how that's affecting people
Covid - as we seem to be emerging from it, at least in some regions, how is this currently affecting people
Climate Change - it’s as real as it has ever been and the sustainability agenda cannot be ignored.
How are you handling these challenges at the same time as creating a future-ready business?
Is there a disconnect between what leaders think and what your teams really want?
This was the topic at our fourth round table event for senior leaders from some of Europe’s largest organisations.
Would you like our 2 page summary research findings that we shared with the group? It will be published in the coming days - email me if you’d like a copy.
Thought for the day
Trust makes a Team.
Listening. Really listening, is the building block of trust.
#bigboldgoals #bemorehuman #trust
