Summary
Whatever we are doing in our lives, at any one time, emotions are involved. We may want to connect with team member, plan a campaign or project, deal with difficult conflict or work colleague, cope with retirement or changes at work… whatever it is emotions will always be involved. Yet, dealing with emotions is something which can be difficult and we often feel unable to find solutions and end up feeling drained, ineffective and full of self-doubt.
What does it mean to be resilient?
Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means “bouncing back” from difficult experiences.
The Definition of Emotional Resilience
Emotional Resilience is the ability to choose the thoughts, actions and feelings which enable us to function at our best. It is about developing the ability to adapt and bounce back when something difficult happens in our life. This is, to a degree, something that we’re all born with. Some people, by nature, are less upset by changes and surprises – this can be seen from a young age, in fact often as a baby, and tends to remain a personality trait throughout life. However, emotional resilience is also related to some factors that aren’t under our control, such as our experiences, or perhaps exposure to stress or personal trauma.
Making your Team Work to maximise productivity
For a team to thrive and blossom, it can be helpful if each individual understands their own and their colleagues’ emotions and demonstrates a degree of individual EI. What is generally not understood is that this is not enough.
Leaders who understand how to build Team EI are able to create an environment where emotions are used as a resource for the team. Emotions provide information about the team and they contain information about team members and their ability to engage in the team’s task. Effective leaders understand this.
Reasons to develop the best Teamwork Skills
- Collaboration and communication among team members naturally increases
- Difficult behaviours are minimised as the culture naturally dissipates the emotional energy that creates them
- Trust and safety grow, and fear is reduced
- Improved performance
- Greater strategic focus and organisational alignment
- Improved ability to change and adapt
- Team members feel less overwhelmed
Exercise in building Emotional Resilience
Part of this process is the ability to manage the day to day activities that we do each day both at home and at work. We all have things that motivate us and bring us joy, and we certainly all have those we would rather not do and drain us. Recognising these and managing your energy is essential to help you notice how you are literally wearing stress on a daily basis.
So, go ahead and ask yourself, what activities give you energy and which drain you?
Write them down and see what you come up with.
Conclusion
Finding the meaning of emotional resilience and how it impacts our lives can be life changing. Although it is something we are all born with, learning to understand our emotions and how to use them to our advantage can really help us to stand out from the crowd.
