It’s been a year now. One year ago, (business) life changed – and it changed a lot. Who would have known? The year has been exceptional in many ways.
Opinion column by Niina Mäenpää, Business Psychologist and Coach
As ever, resilience is needed at both the entrepreneurial and individual levels. Entrepreneurs and organizations who have faith in the future and focus on opportunities, highlighting even the smallest successes rather than problems and challenges, will survive better than those who fail to adapt.
Resilience as a tool to win the battle
By resilience, I mean the ability of both the individual and the organization to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and adapt to change and sudden, even difficult situations so that they remain operational and successful. Resilience can also be described as adaptability, discouragement, and persistence. It is a willingness to fight.
Individual and entrepreneurial/organizational resilience is identified by the fact that businesses and business owners retain their ability to act in sudden situations, recover quickly, adapt to new and changing situations, and develop their operating methods. Resilient activities can be seen as agility and flexibility, the ability to focus on doing or action, the ability to see changes as opportunities, faith in the future, optimism, the ability to rely on others, purposefulness, belief that things can be influenced, and perseverance, etc. Failures or challenges are not meant to be hidden or covered up, but they should not be given too much weight. Rather, when you know how to turn challenges into learning opportunities, you are well on your way to moving forward.
Best of all, resilience can be developed. Both individuals and organizations can become more resilient.
“When you know how to turn challenges into learning opportunities, you are well on your way to moving forward.”
Tips for more resilient activities for both individuals and organizations:
1. See challenges and failures as an opportunity for learning and developing.
2. Focus on doing and taking things forward instead of worrying or thinking too much.
3. Be a problem solver: concentrate on what you can do, not what you can’t.
4. Put all your effort into what you can influence and decide, not into something that is outside of your hands.
5. Focus on what opportunities or chances the current situation could offer: how do you turn the current situation into a (business) opportunity?
6. If needed, dare to boldly let go of the old to leave room for something new.
7. Don’t be left alone: ask for advice, and talk and discover with others.
One part of resilience is the ability to seek and receive support, both at the entrepreneurial and individual levels. Especially in difficult times, we need other people. Relevant and good relationships allow for the sharing and handling of experiences and feelings together. With digitalization, the need for communication is emphasized, as it is the clearest and easiest way to build trust, both with our own employees and colleagues and with customers. Do not be afraid of engaging customers and consumers in the discussion, and collaborate with all your stakeholders in the quest for new and better solutions.
Now is the time for action and the (final) moment to focus on business and life in general – on what we can influence – that is the future. Let’s do it resiliently!
This article was first published in Silicon Luxembourg magazine. Read our full Digital Entrepreneurship edition.
