Overcoming Adversity: The Most Overlooked Leadership Skill?
Nobody can elude adversity forever. Life will never be a bed of roses. It will eventually throw unpleasant surprises and challenges your way.
However, the more emotionally resilient you are, the more constructively and effectively you can respond to – and overcome – adversity. Having this resilience, this ability to handle adversity is the most overlooked trait of every successful leader.
It has significant value in every industry and should not be underestimated.
Unfortunately, most leaders are generally underequipped (read: not trained) to effectively handle stressful interactions.
What Do We Mean By Adversity
People often confuse setbacks with adversity. But unlike setbacks, which are single events, adversity can last a long time and encompass many events and changes in circumstances.
This is why adversity, if not handled properly, can stop a business from moving forward (and even throw it into reverse). This is why it’s a fundamental skill for leaders (and staff too).
Not Getting Overwhelmed By Adversity
The real measure of a leader comes when things aren’t going well – when the going gets tough.
However, you typically have 3 different kinds of leaders who each react to adversity in different ways. For this, consider the challenge of climbing a mountain:
One will get to the base of the mountain, look up, and say, “I can’t climb that” and quit.
One makes it about half-way, declares it a success and stops.
One can’t stop striving for the top of the mountain, no matter what it takes.
The first type of leader quickly gets overwhelmed. They can’t see a route up the mountain. These leaders can’t react to adversity productively. No great leader has ever had this mindset.
The second type is the most common. These leaders get to their comfort level and set up camp once their definition of success and satisfaction is reached. In other words, they stop at the point where overcoming the next level of adversity isn’t worth it to them.
The third is emotionally resilient. These leaders are able to maintain their productivity and performance in times of challenges.
Having the right mindset as a leader is vital because how you handle the curve balls is how you demonstrate your leadership credentials. If you fall apart when things don’t go smoothly, you’ll have less credibility as a leader in the future.
So, what separates the 3 types of leaders?
Being Adaptable
The 3rd leader accepts whatever adversity comes their way. Rather than worry and anticipate the worst, they always look for the best ways in which they can move forward.
To become the 3rd leader, you need Self-Awareness – an Ei competency – as it requires taking an honest look at yourself. You have to recognise your innate response to adversity to be able to adapt or react effectively.
This is because adversity sometimes requires a slightly different approach. This is where the first leader trips up – they are reluctant to try something new because of the fear of failing and looking incompetent. However, part of overcoming adversity is about our response to our emotions – in this case, fear.
Leaders with emotional intelligence recognise this and control their emotions before they influence their actions – they show more emotional stability when faced with challenges.
In other words, how we choose to think, feel, and act in relation to challenges can often make the difference between hope versus despair, optimism versus frustration, and giving up versus dealing with issues.
Seeing The Long Game
A big part of overcoming adversity is seeing the long game – postponing momentary happiness in favour of delayed results. This is where leaders with emotional intelligence excel.
Their emotional stability allows them to persevere towards goals despite increasing adversity.
Avoiding Discouragement
To overcome adversity leaders need to avoid letting setbacks from demoralising them.
“Abraham Lincoln lost eight elections, failed twice in business and suffered a nervous breakdown before he became the president of the United States.” — Wall Street Journal
I understand when things go wrong, it can be easy to start feeling as if there’s no point to your work. But you have to catch yourself before you let adversity affect your decision making – this is where your Self-Awareness plays a decisive role.
Not doing so can be disastrous. Employees follow the example of their leader so when a leader gets visibly discouraged, their attitude can quickly spread to others.
And when a business becomes infected with this mindset, it becomes much harder to put up with everyday problems and frustrations – and see the small successes.
Of course, you have to be realistic and recognise the times where you’re chasing a lost cause, but in general, a leader who is easily discouraged is a poor leader.
Final Thoughts
Challenges and difficulties are guaranteed experiences in life and business but your ability to overcome this adversity is the number-one factor in determining success.
Taking an honest perspective about how you react to adversity – and accepting this – allows for opportunities for change and innovation.