Author: Sara Ross
What’s on your resilience resume? For most people in North America, this week marks the first anniversary of the pandemic changing our lives. It started with disbelief, upheaval, and constant change and progressed to the monotony of sameness. Regardless of the phase, there has been a consistent undertone of uncertainty as to what comes next. […]
What’s on your resilience resume? For most people in North America, this week marks the first anniversary of the pandemic changing our lives. It started with disbelief, upheaval, and constant change and progressed to the monotony of sameness. Regardless of the phase, there has been a consistent undertone of uncertainty as to what comes next. It’s been a lot.
And still, we’ve shown a tremendous amount of resilience.
Yet, my guess is that few of you fall into bed at night thinking, “Wow! Was I ever resilient today.”
Tired – yes. Frustrated – yes. Anxious – often, but in the moment, rarely do we FEEL resilient.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter of the Harvard Business School eloquently frames our in-the-moment perspective by saying, “the middle of success often looks like failure.”
It’s only when we reflect back on our struggles can we recognize our resilience through those struggles.
While it’s true that some people respond more resiliently in the moment. Some have stayed more hopeful, positive, and adaptable. For various reasons, many beyond one’s control, it has been easier for some than others.
But that’s the beauty of resilience. Even if you didn’t respond the way you wanted, you can still choose to learn from that moment in reflection back. Learn from your responses.
You can seek out learning in adversity, appreciation through adversity, meaning through grief, and strength through struggle.
The instant you decided to let adversity strengthen you by choosing to use it as a stepping-stone forward instead of an obstacle holding you back. By choosing to see it as a set-up for the future versus a set-back from success, you become more resilient for the next set of challenges that will inevitably come your way.
When you apply for a job, your resume serves as a representation of your accomplishments – your proof that you can not only handle the job but succeed in it.
As you enter the weekend on the first anniversary of a life-altering global pandemic, take 30 min and reflect. Write your Resilience Resume. As a team, write a team version. Allow your struggles to unite you.
Keep it close and refer to it often. Enough is happening in the world to make you question yourself, so use it to build your positive proof that whatever happens, you can handle it.
Personally, I’m not going to shout out to the universe, “give me what’ve you got, world!”…because honestly, I have enough to handle right now.
However, the next time I feel as if life is running me over. That my circumstances are leaving me bruised and battered, I’m going to look at my resilience, no – scratch that, My WARRIOR resume to remind myself how damn strong, adaptable, brave, and resilient I am.
What’s the first thing you’ll put on yours?
Article written by: Sara Ross, a Keynote Speaker and the Chief Vitality Officer at BrainAMPED, the leadership research and coaching firm she founded to help organizations and their people build their Leadership Vitality to transform the way they succeed at work and thrive in life.
Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Twitter
The articles, video and images embedded on these pages are from various speakers and talent.
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
Leaders Mistake Hard Work to company growth, success or anything else. It may even lead to something on the other side of the spectrum, burnout or possibly even the end of a company or a career. Let me ask you something. Do you think companies (or careers) on the decline are working hard, or not? […]
WIFU: What’s in it for you, to read this? If you are ‘time-poor’, and therefore don’t have time to read this article right now, then simply use the acronym: BOOST© to ask yourself five questions: B = Bed- Do you wake up refreshed? O = Oxygen- Do you get enough oxygen to your brain throughout […]
I mean, isn’t that the nature of goals to begin with? What’s missing between you and your goals might be walking the walk of your goals — not just talking the talk. Or rather, running the run of your goals. I’ll tell you what I mean. Goals are easy to think of but harder to achieve, aren’t […]
You don’t have to be a genius to be a leader of genius! – my earliest challenges were to rebuild a broken Porsche brand and then to inspire the team at BMW GB to achieve a 500% improvement in profit while transforming the service levels of an industry. Since then, Kevin Gaskell has founded start-ups, […]
“No doubt about it, the best speakers are good storytellers. The best writers are good storytellers, the best leaders are good storytellers, and the best teachers and trainers and coaches are good storytellers for Storytelling In Business. It might even be argued that the best parents are good storytellers.” Evidently, storytelling is not confined to […]
The Character Ethic vs. The Personality Ethic – Why Character Trumps Personality As Stephen Covey writes in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, most of the success literature published in the United States for the first century and a half after 1776 focused on The Character Ethic as being the underlying foundation of how a person can live an influential, […]
10 Traits of a Great Teammate when I decided to start my business more than 10 years ago, I wasn’t entirely sure where it would take me. But I knew who I wanted to join me on the journey. Lynn Mandinec was my first friend at my first job out of college. We started our […]
We all end up needing to have an Uncomfortable Conversations. We may have to share with someone our unmet expectations, disappointment, or actual annoyance. This could be with a direct report, our boss, a peer, a spouse, or maybe even a child. No one likes these situations, but we must deal with them appropriately in […]
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
