Inclusion Unlocked

13Resilience

The obstacle in your way is but a stepping stone on your journey.

Marcus Aurelius.¹

Human beings struggle with change. Within the context of organizations, change is inevitable—either change initiated from within or from exogenous shocks that affect a country, an industry, or a people. It is resilience that allows individuals to continue in the face of changing and uncertain times where there is no previously written rule book.

Resilience is well defined as successful adaptation to adverse circumstances. Resilience is action, not simply an attitude or mindset. According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, “resilience is the capacity of a system, be it an individual, a city, or an economy, to deal with change and continue to develop.”² We are drawing a clear distinction between individual resilience, which is a survival tactic, and leadership resilience, which is a deliberate practice that focuses on systematically and positively impacting an entire organization.

Weaponizing Resilience

Unfortunately, some leaders use resilience, or especially the perceived lack thereof, as an excuse to not attend to the needs of various internal stakeholders. People not practicing Inclusive Leadership suggest that some employees are in need of “resilience support” to toughen up and not be thin‐skinned.³ At the extreme, lack of resilience is used as a justification for performance managing individuals.

In this way, resilience has often been weaponized and levied by non‐Inclusive ...