Do you remember how you felt when you saw the vivid images of Saddam Hussein’s statue destroyed and demolished? For me, it was one of those indelible images etched in my memory forever along with the Kennedy assassinations and the destruction of the Berlin Wall.
Over the past few weeks, I watched another leader’s reputation dismantled and destroyed. But, unlike Hussein, this leader isn’t evil. She is a kind, good-hearted person, who became the target of a power hungry employee who chose to resolve her differences by rallying troops and declaring war.
I didn’t personally witness the bloody tactics used in this battle, but I can personally attest to the leader’s “state of being” as her long time career crumbled before her own eyes. It’s what I’ve come to call, lessons from “Grace under fire”.
4 Lessons In Resilience - From Grace Under Fire
Accept Responsibility – Resist the urge to place blame, even when you can. When you accept full responsibility for problems, you learn the necessary lessons and allow solutions to emerge from within you.
Be Mindful – Pay close attention. Listen and speak consciously. Be present in every moment. Give your ego a time out.
Accept Uncertainty – Uncertainty has a way of making us feel uncomfortable and vulnerable. When we acknowledge and accept that things will be uncertain for a while, it’s much easier to manage the sea of emotions that we’re feeling.
Embrace The Serenity Prayer – You remember this one…”God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Molly Gordon shares some great food for thought in an article she wrote a while ago. In part, she writes…
The Art, Science, and Grace of Thriving
“Thriving is part art, part science, and part grace. A thriving business must not only accommodate but support life in all its complexity. A thriving business requires and provides resilience and continuity.
How do you go about building a thriving career or business? Here are some of the things I've learned and that I credit with supporting my own thriving business.
1. Recognize that life happens. There will be ups and downs in your personal life and ups and downs in business. When you can accept these ebbs and flows of attention, energy, and focus, you will better be able to adjust to changing conditions both in your heart and in your environment.
2. Cultivate systems, practices, and networks that provide continuity. For example, this newsletter and my Web site are ongoing and reliable means of staying in touch with a meaningful network in good times and in bad.
3. Pay attention to transitions. When change is happening, it can be easy to get caught up in reactionary thoughts and feelings that can muddy your thinking and make complex situations chaotic. Learning to detach and observe your reactions, thoughts, and fears will help you keep a steadier course without being rigid.
4. Learn to notice when things are expanding and when they are contracting, and choose your strategies accordingly.
5. Learn to regard mistakes as stepping stones to mastery. Avoid wasting time in needless guilt and defensiveness. Seize the opportunity to correct your error and move on.”
In a way, the ups and downs of a career are much like the bounce of a rubber ball. Once it reaches maximum height, it will start a downward journey until it reaches the bottom of the bounce. But because a rubber ball is so resilient, it automatically bounces back. You too, can choose to bounce through change like a rubber ball.
So the next time you find yourself in the heat of a stressful change, think Grace, Resilience, and Bounce Back.
How about you? How do you survive and thrive life’s curve balls?
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