When the going gets tough, is it the “tough” that you want to get going or is it the “resilient” that you want to keep going?

In good times and in bad, a healthy level of resilience supports tough AND resourceful AND creative people. Resilience underpins successful human capital strategies. Resilient people are the foundation of human capital. When people consistently bring healthy bodies, positive energy, clear thinking, and purpose to work, an organization has achieved resilience.

Organizations exist to achieve what individuals cannot do alone. Whether entrepreneurial start-up, professional firm, large corporate, public service or not-for-profit, it is people that make the difference. A resilient organization is calm, energized, engaged, focused, and purposeful. Leaders and people cultivate health, happiness, and productivity. This attracts, retains, and motivates all stakeholders.

Dr. Sven Hansen, the Founder of The Resilience Institute in New Zealand, is a medical practitioner with an MBA who has specialized in preventative medicine, emotional intelligence, cognitive training, and stress mastery. Dr. Hansen, who has run corporate wellness programs since 1988, says:
“We believe that an organization’s resilience is a direct function of the resilience of its human capital; first and foremost that of the executive team and of its board, but ultimately that of the entire workforce.”

A resilient organization is one that realizes its own potential by nurturing the ability of its people to:
1. Bounce back from adversity
2. Thrive on challenge; remain calm and engaged under pressure
3. Develop leadership and influence skills
4. Have a positive impact on others
5. Skilfully promote health and vitality
6. Align and master emotions and mind
7. Explore and reach their own full potential
8. Live with meaning, purpose, and exuberance

Resilience interventions systematically bring out the benefits of stress management, individual and corporate health, emotional intelligence, and thinking skills. Language, practical skills, and creative frameworks become part of organizational culture - one which respects and honours the combined potential of body, heart, mind, and spirit.

Dr. Hansen goes on to say:
“But resilience is also a gentle, deepening counter-balance to the frantic dash for cash that frequently claims too much of our lives. Resilience helps us to understand ourselves so that we can contribute meaningfully. Resilience is the ultimate set of life skills. Resilience Training is the journey towards knowledge and mastery of the body, heart, mind and spirit. With practice, resilience becomes intuitive.”

Resilience training is life-changing for many participants. While providing practical skills, it is often the first time people discover how body, heart, mind, and spirit can - and must - come together in life and work. Resilience! It’s the new and improved (dare we say “evolved”?) wellness!