How to build resilience among your managers

Resilience has emerged as a critical skill for managers.

As the backbone of teams and projects, managers with solid resiliency skills can navigate challenges, adapt to changes and sustain their team's momentum through adversity. For these reasons and many more, resilience is not just about bouncing back — it’s about pushing forward with an adaptive mindset that can transform potential setbacks into opportunities for growth.

Boosting resilience for managers requires building the following core manager skills:

1. Accountability

Managers who practice accountability set a precedent of responsibility and reliability.

Accountability ensures operational targets are met efficiently and establishes a culture where each team member feels valued and responsible.

The ability to navigate responsibilities precisely serves as a stabilizing force in cultivating resilience, empowering managers to uphold standards even when the going gets tough.

2. Innovation

For managers, leveraging new technology can significantly enhance decision-making and problem-solving capabilities.

By adopting innovative technologies, managers can stay ahead, foresee potential challenges and devise solutions swiftly and effectively.

This proactive approach is critical to resilience, ensuring managers and their teams are always prepared and ahead of the curve.

3. Trust building

A resilient manager understands that trust builds the resilience of the team as a whole, enabling more open communication, greater risk-taking and a more substantial commitment to shared goals.

When team members trust their leader, they are more likely to rally during tough times and collaborate to overcome obstacles.

4. Collaboration + communication

Effective collaboration and clear communication are vital in enhancing team synergy.

For managers, these skills ensure that all team members are on the same page, reducing misunderstandings and aligning efforts toward common objectives.

A well-connected team can better handle disruptions, as they share a unified vision and can pull together to navigate challenges.

5. Conflict management

Managers skilled in conflict management can address disputes with fairness and confidence, maintaining team coherence and focus.

Resilient managers use conflicts as opportunities to teach problem-solving skills, thus enhancing team resilience and ensuring that the team can more competently face future challenges.

6. Emotional intelligence + empathy

The ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions and to empathize with others is crucial for building a supportive team environment.

Emotional intelligence fosters resilience by helping managers recognize the emotional needs of their team members, allowing them to provide support and motivate individuals through challenging periods.

7. Constructive feedback

Creating a growth-minded culture within the team involves delivering constructive feedback that addresses issues and motivates and encourages team members.

Managers who excel in giving and receiving feedback contribute to a learning culture that adapts and thrives, making resilience a natural outcome of team dynamics.

Resilience is a multifaceted skill set

Resilience encompasses a range of managerial capabilities. From leveraging accountability and innovation to fostering emotional intelligence and managing conflicts, these skills collectively enhance a manager's ability to lead with resilience.

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