By Jonathan H. Westover, PhD
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Abstract: This article examines the concept of resilience and strategies for building resilience at the individual and organizational levels. It defines resilience as the ability to withstand challenges and adapt to change. The article explores how cultivating certain cognitive habits and support systems can enhance individual resilience. These include maintaining an adaptive mindset, developing strong social networks, finding purpose in one's work, and prioritizing self-care, especially during stressful periods. It also analyzes how structural elements and cultural dynamics within an organization can build its resilience. Attributes like flexible structures that enable adaptation, learning-oriented cultures, a clear sense of shared purpose, and resilient leadership styles are linked to an institution's capacity to manage challenges. The article provides practical recommendations for developing resilience through practices such as strengthening social connections, rewarding risk-taking and growth, openly acknowledging uncertainties, and role modeling resilient behaviors. It argues that proactively building resilience reserves empowers individuals and organizations to survive difficulties and emerge stronger.
Change and challenge are inevitable elements of organizational life. Times of transition, turbulence, or crisis regularly test both individuals and the companies they work for. While immense pressures can feel overwhelming, resilience research indicates that people and institutions often demonstrate much stronger capacity to withstand stressors than they might expect.
Today we will explore the concept of resilience and strategies for cultivating it on individual and organizational levels. With insights from psychology and leadership studies, practical applications are shared for building resilience through fostering adaptability, relationships, purpose, and self-care during difficult periods of transition.
Defining Resilience in the Workplace
Before discussing how to enhance resilience, it is important to define what resilience means. Research from psychology defines resilience as the "ability to mentally or emotionally cope with a crisis or to return to pre-crisis status quickly" (American Psychological Association). In the context of organizations, resilience refers to both an organization's ability to adapt and transform in response to change pressures as well as the individual capacity of employees to withstand challenges and bounce back from difficulties, stress, or trauma.
Not only does resilience enable survival during tough times, but research also links higher resilience to improved well-being, productivity, and performance both during and after a stressor or crisis event (Bonanno, Westphal, & Mancini, 2011). While some level of resilience appears innate, numerous studies also indicate resilience can be developed and strengthened through intentional practices (Southwick, Bonanno, Masten, Panter-Brick, & Yehuda, 2014). With proactive efforts, individuals and organizations have significant potential to enhance their resilience reserves and fortify their ability to withstand disruption.
Cultivating Individual Resilience
Building resilience starts from within the individual. A person's capacity to withstand challenges and adapt to change stems significantly from certain cognitive habits and support systems they cultivate. Research repeatedly links higher personal resilience to factors like maintaining an adaptable mindset amid uncertainty, developing strong social networks, finding meaning and purpose in one's work, and prioritizing self-care especially during high-stress periods. Below will explore these key resilience-enhancing attributes in greater depth, examining how concepts from psychology like growth mindset theory and the importance of relationships correlate to resilience.
Adaptability and Growth Mindset
On an individual level, one of the strongest predictors of resilience is a person's capacity and willingness to adapt in response to change rather than becoming defensive or overwhelmed (Southwick et al., 2014). An "adaptability mindset" views challenges from a learning perspective focused on growth rather than a threat response focused on avoiding difficulty. Having an open, flexible attitude best positions people to withstand stressful circumstances and transform in constructive ways.
Research from Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck found that cultivating a "growth mindset," or belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, builds resilience compared to a "fixed mindset" believing traits are innate and unchanging (Dweck, 2006). When facing setbacks, those with a growth perspective are more likely to persist and find alternative pathways forward rather than giving up. For organizations, fostering a culture encouraging self-development, experimentation, and treating "failures" as learning experiences strengthens individual and collective resilience over the long-term.
Social Support Networks
Substantial research also links higher resilience to strong relationships and social support systems (Charney, 2004). During difficult periods, connectedness with caring others provides emotional cushioning against stress as well as practical assistance. At work, actively building trusting relationships across departmental silos and up/down hierarchies fortifies individual resilience by creating a sense of community people can lean on during challenges (Wilding, May, & Martin, 2018). Strong intra-organizational relationships also facilitate problems being addressed collaboratively rather than becoming "siloed." Leaders should support the formation of employee resource groups, mentoring circles, and other community-building initiatives.
Sense of Purpose and Meaning
Additionally, having a sense of purpose and seeing one's work as meaningful appears closely tied to resilience (Steger, Dik, & Duffy, 2012). During transitions, those who understand how their roles contribute to a larger organizational mission or serve important stakeholders outside the company tend to rebound with greater ease. Leaders can enhance resilience by helping all employees understand how their work interconnects and makes a difference. They should also regularly communicate overarching organizational purpose and values to provide an anchoring framework especially critical during turbulent times.
Self-Care and Well-Being Practices
Finally, regular self-care enhances individual resilience reserves (Southwick & Charney, 2018). Highly stressful periods deplete physical, mental, and emotional resources if not periodically replenished through healthy coping strategies. Organizations can build resilience by normalizing self-care discussions, offering well-being programs, encouraging use of paid time off, and promoting work-life integration rather than an "all or nothing" approach to work that risks burnout. Leaders must model good self-care and set clear boundaries between professional and personal domains to strengthen resilience culture wide.
Cultivating Organizational Resilience
Just as individual resilience depends on certain cognitive and social factors, organizational resilience is supported by structural elements and cultural dynamics within the company. Beyond strengthening individual employees, leaders must cultivate agency and fortitude throughout the entire institution to withstand pressures of change and transition. This section analyzes resilience at the organizational level, exploring how attributes like flexible structures that enable adaptation, learning-oriented cultures, clear identity and purpose, and resilient leadership styles correlate to an institution's capacity to manage challenges.
Adaptability through Structural Agility
Just as adaptability strengthens individuals, organizational resilience also depends on structural agility and flexibility. During change periods, rigid hierarchies and siloed operations inhibit rapid shifts needed. Research associate more resilient companies with flatter, shared leadership structures; cross-functional collaboration; ambiguous role boundaries; and empowered teams able to independently problem-solve (McGrath & MacMillan, 2009). Structures should support rapid prototyping, piloting of new ideas, and course-correction without fear of punishment for perceived "failures" along the way.
For example, after layoffs at AnthropicResearch to navigate COVID-19 impacts, the AI safety startup reorganized into fully self- managing, cross-functional "guilds" overseen collaboratively to maximize flexibility, shared ownership, and rapid strategic pivots. Similarly, Facebook streamlined decision pathways and empowered product teams during its transition from desktop to mobile platforms (McGrath & MacMillan, 2009). Agile structures optimized for adaptability strengthened organizational resilience in the face change pressures.
Adaptive Cultures
Closely related, resilient cultures also embrace adaptability rather than rigidity. Highly adaptive cultures value continual learning, treat "failures" as opportunities for growth rather than punishment, encourage calculated risk-taking, and champion diversity of perspectives to fuel innovation (Cameron & Spreitzer, 2012). During transitions, people feel empowered to propose creative solutions rather than becoming immobilized. Leaders foster this type of adaptive culture through clear vision/values communication, role modeling growth mindsets, rewarding experimentation appropriately, and creating psychologically safe environments where people feel comfortable challenging past assumptions.
Google exemplifies an adaptive culture through principles like "patients with processes" that prioritizes strategic flexibility over bureaucracy and "bias towards action" encouraging fast prototyping over endless deliberation to learn from doing (Duhigg, 2016). This mindset enabled Google's shift toward AI, mobile, and other new business models to strengthen organizational resilience. Adaptive cultures optimized continual improvement and learning rather than defense of the status quo.
Shared Sense of Purpose
As with individuals, organizational resilience also requires a unifying sense of purpose beyond just profit or growth. Shared higher purpose provides cohesion and motivation during storms as seen at Starbucks rebuilding communities through stores or Patagonia’s environmental activism sustaining the brand’s relevance despite leadership changes (Aaker et al., 2010). Anchored purpose gives people guidelines when old strategies fail allowing reinvention within familiar mission-driven parameters. Leaders cultivate shared purpose through diverse storytelling, integrating it into hiring/onboarding, measuring beyond numbers, and spotlighting how work enriches lives outside the company.
Leaders of Resilience
Finally, resilient cultures require resilient leadership. During shifts, people crave confident yet psychologically-safe leaders able to acknowledge uncertainty, clarify focus amid confusion, re-energize hope, model learning from challenges, and reward commitment to reinvention over past victories (Cameron, 2008). Leaders of resilience exemplify growth mindsets through willingness to be fallible, trust empowered teams, communicate “we not me” mantras that reduce anxiety. They create stability through clear yet adaptable vision, values and principles rather than rigid plans alone.
For example, during Intel’s transition from memory chips to microprocessors in 1985, then-CEO Andy Grove exemplified resilience leadership through his focus on values over products, championing risk and willingness to “kill bad ideas even if they were my baby”, and creating climate where mistakes accelerated learning not punishment (Grove, 2007). Grove’s actions enabled Intel to thrive during immense inflection while others fell, demonstrating how resilient leadership cultivates enduring organizations optimized for both adaptability and dependability through change.
Practical Application
While theory provides guidance, enhancing resilience requires concrete organizational practices and leader behaviors. Below are key action steps organizations and leaders can take based on the research:
Institutionalize routine self-assessment and feedback collection to understand where adaptability, collaboration, purpose or well-being could be strengthened
Provide manager training focused on cultivating growth mindsets, psychological safety and modeling resilience behaviors
Launch employee resource groups focused on wellness, mentoring, skill/interest-based communities to build social networks
Incorporate purpose and values into onboarding, performance reviews to reinforce why work matters
Reward career development, experimentation and lessons learned from "failures" over just successes
Streamline decision pathways while empowering teams through clear principles not rigid plans
Communicate openly about progress and problems, acknowledge uncertainties with confidence in ability to solve challenges
Model work-life integration, self-care and growth mindset yourselves to cultivate resilience culture
Provide training focused on strengthening adaptive leadership skills like difficult conversations, vision setting amid change
Conclusion
In times of adversity, resilience determines not just survival but the ability to grow stronger. As research shows, individuals and organizations often have greater resilience reserves than they realize when cultivating key factors including adaptability, strong relationships, clear purpose and attention to well-being. Leaders play an influential role in developing these elements that fortify both people and institutions facing pressures. By prioritizing practices that enhance resilience on individual, team and organizational levels, companies can withstand challenges of change and transition while emerging even better positioned for long-term success. With proactive efforts to build resilience habits now, organizations empower themselves and their people to thrive.
References
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Bonanno, G. A., Westphal, M., & Mancini, A. D. (2011). Resilience to loss and potential trauma. Annual review of clinical psychology, 7, 511-535.
Cameron, K. S., & Spreitzer, G. M. (2012). introduction: What is positive about positive organizational scholarship?. The Oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship, 1-14.
Cameron, K. S. (2008). A process for changing organizational culture. Handbook of organizational development, 429-445.
Charney, D. S. (2004). Psychobiological mechanisms of resilience and vulnerability: implications for successful adaptation to extreme stress. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(2), 195-216.
Duhigg, C. (2016). What Google learned from its quest to build the perfect team. New York Times, 26, 2016.
Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
Grove, A. (2007). Only the paranoid survive. Broadway Business.
McGrath, R. G., & MacMillan, I. (2009). Discovery-driven growth: A breakthrough process to reduce risk and seize opportunity. Harvard Business Press.
Southwick, S. M., Bonanno, G. A., Masten, A. S., Panter-Brick, C., & Yehuda, R. (2014). Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: interdisciplinary perspectives. European journal of psychotraumatology, 5(1), 25338.
Southwick, S. M., & Charney, D. S. (2018). Resilience: The science of mastering life's greatest challenges. Cambridge University Press.
Steger, M. F., Dik, B. J., & Duffy, R. D. (2012). Measuring meaningful work: The work and meaning inventory (WAMI). Journal of career assessment, 20(3), 322-337.
Wilding, R., May, L., & Martin, L. (2018). Maximizing resilience through building connectedness and promoting self-care. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 70(2), 122.
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). You're More Resilient Than You Give Yourself Credit For: Building Resilience in Times of Change and Challenge. Human Capital Leadership Review, 13(2). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.13.2.5
