COACHING
Resilience
By Thrity Engineer-Mbuthia
2021 has been another challenging year for many people . The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have been far reaching with loss of lives and loved ones all over the globe . The residents of the world have been stretched beyond maximum , resulting in some having mental health challenges and yet others not having the hope or courage to continue living .
The year 2022 is set to be an even more challenging one in Kenya , with impending elections , surrounded by a struggling economy , increases in fuel prices which generally signals increases in every other product or service as well . Increases in taxation in various forms are also looming even after the implementation of some .
This scenario reminds me of how marketers assess the internal and external environment before making any strategic decisions or plans . The external environment over which we do not have much control , and the internal environment where we can identify our strengths , leverage on them and at the same time minimize weaknesses before finally turning them into strengths .
Amidst this backdrop , are those who have looked at life ’ s challenges head-on . They have found ways to cope , ways to overcome and ways to move forward . The P of People - one of the famous 7Ps of marketing - funnily enough many marketers choose to dismiss the 7Ps as outdated , but I don ’ t think they will ever be outdated ; just looked at from different perspectives .
One word comes to mind and this is resilience . The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “ the process of adapting well , in the face of adversity .” Adversity is obviously a life challenge , a trauma or even something that causes stress . Adapting to it or recovering from it - or “ bouncing back ” seems to be what resilience is based on .
Would it be right to say that the Kenyan economy is resilient ? That it can bounce back ? Perhaps an economist would be better placed to answer that question . As far as people are concerned , the consensus is that life challenges and pain allow for personal growth .
What makes some people more resilient at navigating challenges than others ? Research suggests that resilience is not an innate trait but can be learnt . Hand in hand with resilience seems to be another trait - grit . Angela Ducksworth has
“ Would it be right to say that the Kenyan economy is resilient ? That it can bounce back ? Perhaps an economist would be better placed to answer that question . As far as people are concerned , the consensus is that life challenges and pain allow for personal growth .” for a long time researched on the combination of grit and resilience . She defines grit as “ the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals .” If you look at the two terms together you can see that sustaining the interest and staying on course - grit , with the ability to pick yourself up and try again - resilience are a powerful combination .
The idea of long-term goals reminds me of strategy . A marketer always wants to pick the right strategy and execute it well , but in all those frameworks is the monitoring and evaluation part which ties in perfectly with “ pick yourself up and try again ”, until you get the desired outcome .
When crafting a strategy , one must set SMART goals . In fact , the single highest contributor to failure is setting a goal that is not SMART . Setting a goal that is not achievable or realistic is a sure way to not meet the goal . As it is in business , so it is with individuals . So when faced with challenges or adversity , what is needed is the ability to set the right SMART goals that allow one to move forward .
Social scientist Brene Brown has also researched on resilience and has identified some characteristics of resilient leaders that may be of interest to those hoping to build resilience . She talks of leaders who embrace the importance of relationships and of story-telling as a way of bringing out the best in strategy and culture . Peter Drucker famously said , “ Culture eats strategy for breakfast ” simply suggesting that even with a smashing strategy , the ‘ P ’ of people in the context of culture has the ability to drive success or otherwise .
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