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How Resilience Can Help With Navigating ‘Permacrisis’ As A Leader

RLE

If you currently feel like you are living in a state of constant crisis and high anxiety, you’re not alone. The always-on nature of our world today is simply not conducive to rest, reflection and sound decision-making, and the frantic pace of modern life is taking its toll on this generation of business leaders, as Rachel McGill, co-founder of Resilient Leaders Elements, explores...


How Resilience Can Help With Navigating 'Permacrisis' As A Leader

Two years ago, as society was beginning to start to get to grips with a post-pandemic trading landscape, the Collins Dictionary’s word of the year was permacrisis, reflecting both the personal state of mind that feels like it’s always in crisis mode and the wider macro climate of highly-challenging events happening concurrently and outside of our control as individuals. Since 2024, it has felt like the state of the world has only worsened, as we have experienced major political upheavals, a highly uncertain global economy to more and more environmental disasters as the climate emergency worsens. If anything, the ‘permacisis’ of 2022 is even more prevalent now than it was when the phrase was first coined. But does it have to define us as individuals and leaders?


Preparedness for the next crisis


When Resilient Leaders Elements was first founded in 2000 it was after learning that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) declared that 60% of the 11,500 firms they regulated had no disaster recovery plans or back-up systems in place. Even for those who did, the investment was almost entirely in alternative infrastructure and IT. For the people expected to come to work the day after a bombing to operate these critical systems, there was little or no preparation.  So, in the event of a crisis, things fell over – the people were not prepared. The framework of the Resilient Leaders Elements emerged from an understanding that the next crisis is aways just around the corner. We can’t predict what happens next, but as leaders we can be prepared for how we act, we can build ‘confidence in uncertainty’


The world has moved on significantly from 2000 in many ways, and not in an entirely positive direction. Our society now operates in a much more knee-jerk fashion. Social media has given a powerful voice to the previously voiceless, and we are now bombarded on a daily basis by so much noise from our omnipresent devices. All of this impacts our ability to channel our emotions in a positive and purposeful way or to prioritise in a sea of competing priorities and distractions so that we make informed, carefully-considered decisions.


Yet while the world looks different, the core elements that underpin resilient leadership haven’t changed in the last quarter century for the simple reason that human nature, at its heart, never changes. People are still people and those same facets that we identified 25 years ago are more relevant today than they have ever been.


Handling uncertainty and finding balance


The importance of resilience lies at the very heart of our community, because an uncertain world can only be successfully navigated with the right mindset. A crucial first step on the path to becoming a resilient leader is understanding what takes you from a state of healthy pressure to living in stress and critically what you need in order to rebalance. Taking the time to learn this helps to maintain the energy needed to deal with increasing levels of uncertainty.  Often, modern life does not encourage business leaders to take the time to learn their triggers or what helps them to rebalance, but it should.


In the context of Resilient Leadership rebalancing strategies need to focus on both what you do and who you are.  When you notice yourself going out of kilter, pause and proactively do something that brings you back to being who you are at your best. This could be as simple as spending time out in nature, having a quiet coffee with a book or stepping away from your desk for a conversation with a friend.


For me, if I find myself on the receiving end of too much ‘noise’, I know it is much harder to manage my own state of optimism. The last thing I want to do is project my anxieties onto those around me, so I have learned, at these moments, that I need to take a deep breath and do something that makes me feel better able to manage my emotions. This helps me resist the urge to do more and means I can return with a positive and focused mindset.


Embrace the calm


One of the biggest mistakes that leaders can make in a ‘permacrisis’ world is jumping from one decision to the next too quickly, without building in time for recovery and learning. Dr Rob Archer, who works with high performance athletes, speaks on the need to spend as much time in recovery as in performance: To perform at their best, athletes treat recovery as an entitlement and requirement of their job. This teaching is every bit as applicable to us as leaders if we are to maintain a high level of performance.


Our world today encourages us all to be busy, to do more and to do it faster. The desire to keep up with the pace of change in our always-on, ever-changing environment is tough to resist. But it’s so important to push back, because without taking take to pause, reflect, you will inevitably end up making bad, rushed decisions. Constant decision-hopping from one crisis to the next leads to ill informed decision making, lost learning and burn out.


It is exactly within the moments of quiet and calm that the greatest progress can be made. Before the next crisis hits, it’s essential to take time to rebalance — not just focusing on what you do but also nurturing who you are — and inject pauses for reflection and learning before the next big decision must be made.


The world needs resilient leaders


Resilient Leadership has never been more essential. As Resilient Leaders Elements approaches its 25th year in 2025, we recognise around us a society that is sorely in need of aware, ethically driven, calm and focused leaders who know what it takes to lead themselves and others through change, uncertainty and even chaos.


Crises aren’t going anywhere, and the state of ‘permacrisis’ shows no signs of abating at a macro level. Yet as individuals and leaders, we have the power to choose how we respond to whatever awaits us. The next crisis is always around the corner, but by taking steps to build resilience into your leadership approach, you can become ready for whatever the future holds.    


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