Resilient Leadership - part 1

Just a few months ago, Movie Gallery here in Huntington closed. Why do you think they closed? Yes, the proliferation of Redbox, mail in services like Net-flix and Blockbuster, and online media streaming like HuLu. Movie Gallery made the move from VCR to DVD and even Blue-ray, but couldn’t figure out how to navigate the current changes taking place.

Blockbuster finds itself in an similar situation. Although it has jumped into the mail-in service, unless it figures out how to do some kind of media streaming, it’s ability to survive is in question. My Netflix account not only has the benefit of mailing me an unlimited number of DVDs each month, but I can access most videos through a wireless device that I already own, such as a Wii.

There is a constant evolution taking place all around us. Being a leader today, perhaps more than at any other time in history, requires resiliency. Resilience is the ability to adapt, the capability to be proactive rather than reactive; and even in reactivity, to be flexible and transformational. Before we can be resilient in our corporate life, however, we have to learn the skills of resilience in our personal life. Kevin Cashman interviewed 62 CEO’s and presidents of corporations. Of those interviewed 75% cited Resonant Emotional Intelligence as the most relevant to their leadership effectiveness. However, according to Cashman, 92% indicated Resiliency in Leadership as the most personally challenging.

Reivich and Shatte` state, “Most of us at some point in our adult lives come up against a major set-back, a life-altering event that blows us off course. For some it’s a job loss or a divorce, for others, the death of a parent or child. . . . depending on our supplies of resilience, we will either become helpless and resigned, or we will bounce back and find a way to move forward.” (Resilience Factor, p.15)