How to make resilience your superpower

Leading a complex and interdependent tourism economy at any scale is not for the faint of heart, even in the best of times. The disruptions of recent years have tested the fortitude of even the most experienced tourism industry leaders. Yet, it’s important to note that the most resilient destination leaders aren’t simply tougher or more grizzled than everyone else, but rather they are adept at tapping into a network of resources and relationships that bolster their ability to navigate rough.

Resilience is not a singular strength, but a collective superpower, built over time and drawing its energy from many different sources.

Resilient leaders access and leverage the wisdom of both their own experiences and setbacks and the experiences and wisdom of others. In essence, these leaders lead more effectively because they aren’t leading alone. By cultivating a rich and diverse personal and professional network of relationships with individuals who enable them to rebound more quickly and successfully from setbacks, these leaders rely on the strength of their “village” to keep them going when the going gets tough. These trusted relationships become the source of valuable and mutual exchanges of wise counsel, empathy, objectivity, levity in times of stress, smart trouble shooting and potentially most importantly, calling BS when they see it.

How can I strengthen my resilience as a leader?

Research suggests that in addition to carefully cultivating and leveraging a network of trusted relationships, resilient leaders practice four key behaviors that contribute to building their resilience superpower over time.

1. Facing reality

The ability to navigate through disruption requires blatant realism about the facts and information available to us. In a practical sense, this means we must be unapologetically data-driven, intentional about surrounding ourselves with capable and expert teams, and persistent in our efforts to monitor and adapt to hard truths.

2. Searching for meaning

Our values sit at the core of how we seek and apply meaning to the challenges and setbacks we face as individuals. As leaders we must similarly ensure that the organization we lead is prepared to embrace and consistently practice its core values, framing and focusing our response to challenges in a way that is consistent with how we show up in the best of times. In times of disruption, belief in your organization’s positive impacts within your community and industry can serve to buoy confidence and sustain the push toward the best solutions.

3. Assuming positive intent

A crisis is the worst time to learn that your team or your stakeholders are afraid to come forward with bad news. Resilient leaders seek and receive hard truths, paving the way for open and honest feedback on even the most sensitive or challenging subjects. By assuming positive intent in the input of their team and their relationship network, leaders can build stronger and more trust-based relationships that create the foundation for more effective collaboration in times of disruption.

4. Embracing failure

William Faulkner famously wrote, “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” By incorporating a calculated level of experimentation and risk into an organization’s activities, leaders and their teams can build flexibility and tolerance for failure through the insights gained along the way.

To be poised for the creative problem solving required in times of disruption, it’s necessary to encourage—even reward—the practice of taking calculated risks and accepting and responding to the failures that inevitably follow.

Both risk and failure exercise the necessary muscles to build resilience and more effective leadership.