Leadership Choices: Digital Resilience Journey 🚀🔍

It began with a sponge 🧽

What is the connection between resilience and a sponge? Any ideas? 💡🤔

The concept of resilience is the ability to bounce back and adapt to challenges, similar to how a sponge absorbs, changes shape and then recovers its shape after being squeezed.

It’s always an enlightening experience to change perspectives or maybe even in some way be squeezed. Shifting from the driver’s seat as a coach or facilitator to the back seat as a participant was for me an eye-opener. Taking the Leadership Choices “Digital Resilience Journey” course as a kind of an internal “tester” was one of those enlightening experiences. I love to learn, and this course, especially the hands-on bits, gave me the opportunity. 🧽 📕💫

Course contents

The 9-unit virtual course is extremely well-conceived and realized. The overview of each unit provides clarity from the start. Short, moderated videos with the expert guidance of Susanne Schlenker, guide us through the entire journey. The course content is simple to navigate, you can repeat lessons if desired, and a range of pdf exercises forms are provided. Although the length of the single units or lessions varies, most can be covered in 20 minutes, with additional time needed for self-reflection and transfer. It is recommended to do the “Journey” over the several weeks or months.

Cohort of peers

This self-paced course offers a unique blend of digital and live interactions, creating a dynamic learning experience. Our “Digital Resilience Journey” cohort provided a valuable platform for connecting and exchanging insights with my coaching peers. The collaborative sessions, facilitated by skilled resilience moderators, Barbara Ramanos and Harald Gabriel, gave us additional perspectives and materials. These live interactions, combined with the well-researched digital content, proved to be the “secret sauce” 🥣in creating a comprehensive yet practical understanding of resilience. 💪🏻

Leadership Choices is a consultancy with a coaching DNA. It follows that this course is conceived from a coaching perspective of self-empowerment; it is not dogmatic or “preachy”!

Here is a breakdown of the LC “Digital Resilience Journey” course contents.

Course Units and Key Concepts

• Essence of Mental Strength: Understanding the core components of mental strength and cultivating resilience in the face of digital challenges.
• Personality: Exploring how personality traits and life experiences influence resilience and coping mechanisms.
• Biography: This unit offers an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which personal history and life experiences shape resilience, providing a deeper understanding of how successfully managed crises can be a key to personal strengths.
• Attitude: Emphasizing the role of a positive and adaptive attitude in overcoming online adversity.
• Mental Agility: Developing the ability to think flexibly and adapt to changing digital circumstances.
• Energy Management: Learning to manage energy levels and avoid digital fatigue to sustain resilience online.
• Mind/Body Axis: Understanding the interconnectedness of mental and physical well-being in the digital world.
• Authentic Relationships: Cultivating genuine connections to bolster resilience in the online environment.
• Meaning: Exploring the importance of finding purpose and meaning in the digital world to enhance overall resilience.

In my case, the synthesis of these contents forms the foundation of a new understanding my sense of personal resilience in the digital age. Why? By working through these units in the space of several months, we participants were given the right amount of well-researched background information, tips how to manage our well-being and encouraged to practice adaptive strategies to manage better – if not thrive – in the digital environment where we all work.

Resilient Leaders

The concept of resilience is multifaceted and extends beyond individual well-being to encompass leadership. Resilient leaders are better equipped to navigate challenges, build strong relationships, and adapt to changing circumstances. They can inspire and motivate their teams, foster trust and respect, and lead with a growth mindset, viewing challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. Additionally, resilient leadership involves the ability to recover quickly from change (remember the sponge! 🫣), or misfortune, and to sustain energy levels under pressure.

Why is it so important to address resilience in the workplace?

Resilience is linked to individual adaptation, the ability to regulate emotions, problem-solving skills, and social support, all of which contribute to an individual’s capacity to recover from adversity and thrive. 💥

By leading with empathy, leaders can create a supportive environment where individuals feel empowered to overcome obstacles, act flexibly, to thrive professionally and personally. This interconnectedness between resilience and leadership underscores the importance of resilience at both the individual and organizational levels, as it contributes to overall well-being and better performance.

Outside factors for resilience

A sticky item for me is the importance of good, networks for personal resilience. While much of the research on resilience focuses on individual strengths, did you know that it’s social support that may matter the most? Our social support plays a crucial role in enhancing resilience and mitigating the effects of stress. Additionally, positive social relationships and support networks are key factors in fostering resilience, as they can help individuals feel less stress when facing challenges and provide a sense of purpose and meaning, ultimately contributing to greater psychological and physical well-being. 👯😇

Learnings

As I reflect on my personal story with the “Digital Resilience Journey” course, I am reminded of the many of practical insights that have enriched my understanding of resilience. I now have a personal compass that I can use when I need it most.☺️ My self-awareness of my energy management is clearer and underscore a commitment to:

• meditation daily
• more journaling
• focus on quality relationships
• regular “me-time”

Reach out to me to learn more about how this Leadership Choices Academy course can help empower you to build your own resilience skills.

Resilience can not only help us overcome challenges but also to lead to better, healthier lives. Your journey towards more resilience is unique; embrace it as a powerful tool for personal growth, leadership and well-being.

Karla Schlaepfer