A Formula for Resilience

No one becomes a leader without failing. We all fall short of goals sometimes, and to “pick ourselves up and try again” is sage advice. It’s easy advice. If we make a bad decision, we can learn to make a better decision the next time. This is how we develop effectiveness and learn self-control.

But how do we recover from external factors that we cannot control?

Poverty, abuse, oppression, and mental or physical illnesses can cause suffering that tests those striving toward leadership roles in profound ways. Quite a lot of data shows that adversity, especially in developmental stages, lowers the odds of a person becoming successful. Hence the phrase, “against all odds.”

Malcom Gladwell has written numerous books on the subject of wild success. His reverse-engineered formulas for high achievement point to different combinations of luck, privilege, timing, location and access to education. Outliers, for instance, is a book about those who have been the most influential and high-achieving leaders in various fields due to hard work, yes, but also due to well-timed access to information or resources.

But adversity and lack of resources do not have to be a roadmap to limited success. Even Gladwell, in one of his later works, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, examines the nuances of perceived advantages and disadvantages. In fact, the author concludes, sometimes hardships can force innovation and resilience. In other words, adversity could, potentially, carry us forward.

Research on resilience has evolved quite a bit with the emergence of more longitudinal studies. Perhaps one of the most in-depth studies was The Kauai Longitudinal Study, spearheaded by Emmy Werner, which followed almost 700 participants from birth to age 40. The study followed participants who were born into poverty or difficult family situations, and the outcomes of their experiences are as episodic as a soap opera.

It seems human nature to rationalize trauma. It’s easy to say things like, “We must play the cards we’re dealt,” “Everything happens for a reason,” or “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” But despite the tough roads those who face adversity have, what this longitudinal study has proven is that there are ups and downs, sure, but people are phenomenally resilient.

Though mental distresses or high-risk behaviors can absolutely develop in response to traumas and stressors, the study determined that there are numerous turning points that offered opportunity for change. Werner is recorded as noting that “One of the most import[ant] lessons we learned from our follow-up in adulthood was that the opening of opportunities in the third and fourth decade of life led to enduring positive changes among the majority of teenage mothers, the delinquent boys, and the individuals who had struggled with mental health problems in their teens.”

This means that there is strength in self-expression, self-belief and support.

Human beings are remarkably resilient. Werner’s study shows that there is also a strong correlation between resilience and a person’s ability to find nurturing relationships. We can do a lot of reframing in our own minds, but we must also connect to others to find sustained self-belief and grit.

Other factors mentioned by Werner that feed resiliency potential include educational opportunities, community-based involvement and the perspective that comes when in recovery from accidents or illnesses. What all this suggests is that we have the most control over our personal leadership style. Our ability to master self and connect with others just might be the formula for transcending experience and finding radical success beyond limiting circumstance.

References:

Annual Report: Barriers to Success, National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH); http://www.americaspromise.org/report/barriers-success

Walker, J. S. & Friesen, B. J. (2005). Resilience and Recovery: The Kauai Longitudinal Study. Focal Point, v19 (1). Retrieved from https://www.pathwaysrtc.pdx.edu/focal-point-S05#