What does resilience look like, especially given the current novel coronavirus pandemic?  Here is an overview of the many IOC resources available to you, sourced from the Masterclass on Resilience.

Here are ten of the top tips which emerged from this Masterclass:

1. Be compassionate with yourself
2. Ground yourself in the idea that courage is not the absence of fear
3. Be proactive in spotting the positive in the negative with realistic optimism
4. Never stop cultivating confidence
5. Take care of your body and your health
6. Work on being calm, to enable you to make the right decisions in the moment
7. Rely on support systems you have in place – we are not in this alone
8. Be purposeful and engage in productive and meaningful activities
9. Engage in nourishing habits like mindfulness, food and sleep, and social interactions
10. Keep your eyes open for signs of stress including non-verbals in yourself and others

Quick Reads

Managing in the time of coronavirus

In this article from Harvard Business School, author John Quelch identifies seven distinct capabilities (Cs) that leaders demonstrate during times of crisis.  The seven Cs are: calm, confidence, communication, collaboration, community, compassion, and cash.

What you need in a crisis

Navigating a sudden and widespread crisis, like a global pandemic requires a level of calm that is not called upon every day. Keeping your psychological state in a positive zone can be invaluable, and this item explores the acronym HERO (Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, Optimism).

The pandemic and emotional agility

Emotional agility is more useful than ever, and the IOC’s Susan David partnered with TED for a new podcast. The first episode delves into facing the pandemic with emotional agility, and explores the emotions and behaviors which often surface during these trying times. She also identifies key strategies to adapt, and exercises to promote grounding and calm.

Resilience under fire

We are now living and leading in an invisible firestorm that surrounds us. The IOC’s Carol Kauffman likens managing and mastering fear to running a marathon. She explores five possible paths to help you not focus on what you cannot do, but rather what you can.

Pandemic skills for pandemic times

It’s not even halfway through 2020, and we have already lived through three distinct times – before pandemic, pandemic awakening, and pandemic times. The IOC’s Margaret Moore shares her thoughts on resilience, the mindset, and habits to help you successfully navigate forward and through these times.

Building your resilience

Life may not come with a map, but everyone will experience twists and turns. This quick read from the American Psychological Association provides a roadmap for adapting to life-changing situations.  Some of the tools identified include fostering wellness, finding purpose, embracing healthy thoughts, and seeking help.

Videos

Ted talk: How to be your best self in times of crisis

In a special virtual conversation with head of TED Chris Anderson and current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers, the IOC’s Susan David shares wisdom on how to build resilience, courage and joy in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Responding to listeners' questions from across the globe, she offers ways to talk to your children about their emotions, keep focus during the crisis and help those working on the front lines.

Conference video: Managing your emotions with resilience

Emotions can either hurt or help us. In this video, Dr. Marc Brackett describes how people can harness the wisdom of emotions to enhance decision making, leadership skills, relationships, and more. He also shares the emotional Intelligence framework developed at Yale, which includes five key skills shown to help people achieve greater success.

Conference video: Boosting, flourishing, fostering resilience

This video features Dr. Ryan Niemiec presents on Boosting, Flourishing, Fostering Resilience. This talk on character strength tools originated at the 2017 Annual Coaching in Leadership and Healthcare Conference.

Webinar: The mind body connection – power, focus, control, and rehabilitation

This video features Dr. Lyne Desormeaux, sharing how the mind/body connection plays an important part in coaching clients addressing leadership challenges including leadership presence, empowerment, and self-management.  She also goes through four scenarios (power, focus, control, rehabilitation) to help deepen the learning.  

Research

Invest in psychological capital

During these challenging times, what can you do to help cultivate positivity, hope, optimism, and resilience, not just for your clients, but also yourself?  This article delves into an evidence-based approach to psychological capital, as well as positive     organizational scholarship (POS) and positive organizational behavior (POB).

What if your client seems stressed?

Coaches frequently encounter stress symptoms in clients, especially in these challenging times. A science-informed protocol to help clients evaluate stress and relieve stress can be a valuable focus area for coaching. This research also explores the RADIO indicators (reality testing, affect management, defenses, sense of identity, object relations) to help you assess a client’s responses as well as provide takeaways for coaches.

Coaching to reduce physician burnout

While physicians invest most of their days in caring for patients, there is room for improvement in the care of physicians in today’s challenging climate. Symptoms of burnout are nearly twice as common among physicians as other US workers. This research explores a Mayo Clinic study showing how coaching can be an effective intervention to improve physician well-being.

Articles

Coaching resilience: A practical guide to using positive psychology

Many people are ill-equipped to deal with modern-day stressors, causing them to react as though they are being attacked. In their book Coaching for Resilience, authors Green and Humphrey use positive psychology to motivate and inspire people to build greater resilience to pressure. They also present seven key strategies for managing stress that are based on the two psychological drivers that underlie all stress.

Resilience: A common or not-so-common phenomenon?

This post explores a thought-provoking article by Dr. George Bonanno entitled “Loss, Trauma, and Human Resilience: Have We Underestimated the Human Capacity to Thrive After Extremely Aversive Events?” Also discussed is a basic tenet of positive psychology: that the potential for individuals to handle adversity may be far greater than has previously been recognized.

Resilience as the ability to bounce back from stress

The purpose of this study was to examine resilience as the ability to bounce back from stress in predicting health-related measures. This specific ability may be an important resource, along with optimism, social support, mood clarity, spirituality, and purpose in life.

Can we develop psychological resilience through physical activity?

Psychological 'resilience' refers to the differences between people in how they respond to and cope with difficult or stressful experiences. Could there be a relationship between a lack of movement and reduced resilience to stress? And by becoming more active, increase our resilience?

Developing resilience and wellbeing for healthcare staff

This article examined the impact a resilience and wellbeing coaching program had on staff working for the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, during a time when they were considered to be at risk of burnout. The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether the program supported employees to remain engaged with work during difficult workplace transitions.

Application for coaching

Whether or not you investigate one, two, or all of this curated content, we hope this Masterclass on Resilience provides some needed strength and comfort in this current climate.

Watch the full Masterclass in Resilience here.