Resilient Strategies: 10 ways to enhance your resilience

Having resilience and consistently performing under pressure doesn't happen by chance. Below are 10 things you can do to help you deliver when the pressure is on.

Performance Intelligence

When you're under pressure making the right choice is di�cult. It requires what we call ‘Performance Intelligence’: the ability to identify the best course of action given your knowledge, understanding of the situation, past experience, and awareness of available resources. Given this, how can you show ‘Performance Intelligence’ when your next challenge comes along?

Assess the situation As job roles grow in their complexity, our understanding of our working environment can diminish. Don’t be afraid to ask the obvious questions upfront.

© Lane 4 Management Group Ltd 12/2016.

References1 Murphy, S. (Ed.). (2012). The Oxford handbook of sport and performance psychology. Oxford University Press.2 Goleman, D. (2006). Emotional intelligence. Bantam.3 Isen, A.M., Johnson, M.M., Mertz, E., & Robinson, G.F. (1985). The influence of positive a�ect on the unusualness of word associations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 1413–1426.4 Salovey, P., & Grewal, D. (2005). The science of emotional intelligence. Current directions in psychological science, 14, 281-285.5 Gray, R., & Cañal-Bruland, R. (2015). Attentional focus, perceived target size, and movement kinematics under performance pressure. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 22, 1692-1700.6 Chiesa, A., Calati, R., & Serretti, A. (2011). Does mindfulness training improve cognitive abilities? A systematic review of neuropsychological findings. Clinical psychology review, 31, 449-464.7 Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 15583-15587.

LEADING EXPERTS IN HUMAN PERFORMANCE

For more information on how to improve your personal resilience, head over to lane4performance.com/resilience to view our white paper

Personal Resilience - Stress & Thriving

LEADING EXPERTS IN HUMAN PERFORMANCE

WHITE PAPER

This white paper looks aims to help you raise the bar on your resilience; transforming stress into a pressure you can thrive on.

By Dr Zara Whysall, Head of ResearchDr Wil James, Consultant DirectorAmy Walters, Research Consultant

Draw on your past experiences and strengths Think about how you reacted to similar situations in the past, what the outcome was and how you can apply that learning to this situation.

Learn from others Watch what other high performers in your field are doing, get regular feedback and seek out those with di�ering knowledge to help you identify the best course of action to take.

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Emotional ControlEmotions are an essential part of performance because they dictate your energy flow1; however, it’s how you manage your emotions that determines success. So, what’s the secret to emotional control?

Develop an ‘inner radar’2 Being aware of how you are feeling in a stressful situation allows you to better perceive those emotions ‘as they truly are’ rather than exaggerating them in your mind. Identify the feeling, name it, and then move on to analysing it.

Adopt the mindset of an objective scientist Suspend judgement on your emotions, explore them, and think before acting. It’s easy to become entangled with your emotions, letting them distort your focus and influence your decisions. By detaching yourself and analysing your emotions objectively you can reduce their impact.

Use emotions wiselyResearch suggests that being in a slightly sad mood can help people conduct careful, methodical work, while being in a happy mood can stimulate creative and innovative thinking.3,4 Emotional control is about harnessing the right emotion at the right time.

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Keep your ultimate goal in mindManaging emotions hinges on having clear goals. If you can keep in mind what you want to achieve it’s easier to prevent your emotions from getting out of control.

Attentional FocusWhat you pay attention to and chose to focus on, is a key determinant of success under pressure.5 But, how do you hone in on something when today’s world is ‘always on’?

Be mindful Mindfulness training has been shown to enhance concentration and attentional focus.6 To improve focus, be fully present and engaged in the current task. It’s easy to jump from task to task, but research suggests this ‘multi-tasking’ actually decreases productivity.7

PrioritiseMake sure your task list is clearly prioritised along two dimensions ‘importance’ and ‘urgency’. This will help you to avoid getting stuck ‘firefighting’ or spending too much time on the jobs that don’t matter as much.

Let go Categorise aspects of your work in terms of ‘controllability’: what you can control, what you can influence and what you can’t control. Then, spend the most time focusing on what you can control.

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Priorities