In science, resilience refers to the property of a material that enables it to resume its original shape after a stretch or expansion.

Likewise, resilience as a human skill refers to the psychological and emotional ability of a person to recover in time from a devastating event such as depression, an illness or a misfortune.

A resilient person does not consider himself as a victim. Rather, he has the willingness to fight, overcome and prevent a repeat of such misfortunes.

In more simple terms, resilience is a strong desire and willingness to persistin pursuing a good course. It is definitely one of the skills that every employer wants to see in employees.

Importance of resilience

Resilience, as a skill, offers various benefits to the individual and the organization in which he works. Resilient guys are people who make the impossible possible. When the hard workers and skillful employees have given up due to extremely tough situations, it takes a resilient person to stand in the gap and make things work.

For the individual:

  • Employers and managers will choose a resilient employee over equally qualified personnel or even the better qualified ones.
  • Resilience is an eye-catching skill that attracts not only superiors but subordinates. Subordinates have high levels of trust, confidence and dedication towards resilient leaders.
  • The proven track record of being able to overcome obstaclescreates a lasting impression in the minds of former managers and results in good testimonials.

For the organization:

  • Sometimes, the best moments come after the worst times. Sticking through the hard times and bearing with the temporal inability of customers is very important. In the long run, the business that remains in operation, even when they are not breaking even, is more likely to build stronger customer relationships, loyalty and trust than runaway businesses.
  • When an organization as a whole is successful with a resilient approach, employee morale is boosted automatically.

How to improve resilience

Resilience is a mental ability. If you will train your mind not to give up on good courses, you will see yourself exhibiting this ability naturally without noticing.

It is believed that Thomas Edison, the inventor of the incandescent light bulb, made thousands of prototypes before the final masterpiece. The famous Abraham Lincoln failed many times at lower level elections before finally being elected as the U.S President.

  • Make a habit of taking up minor but tough projects. Resilience has no place for giving up. Once you know you are on a good project, never give up on it till you have seen it completed. Practice simple and trivial but challenging exercises during your leisure hours. As you take on more challenging projects, your mind begins todevelop a resilient mentality naturally.
  • Listen and read success stories about resilience. We know people who do not possess intrinsic motivation can be motivated through the use of extrinsic factors like increased wages, seminars etc. That desire and mentality to fight on, even in the midst of a misfortune, is developed naturally when you read often and listen to stories of people who made it in life despite going through the extremes of situations.
  • Volunteering for practical experience. Whiles speaking and thinking are always an easy part, doing is the challenging aspect. A practical experience is always better than mere reading. You can volunteer to help a humanitarian NGO that is specialized in helping people with emotional and psychological challenges such as anxiety patients, rape victims etc. As you yourself serve as a helper and watch a few of such people make it through the hard times, you will have that experience engraved in your memory always.
Job profiles that require this skill