Women Leaders: Be Resilient

“I took a lot of walks in the woods. I spent a lot of time cleaning closets, and playing with my dogs. I drank my share of chardonnay,” Clinton said, echoing some of the post-election confessions she divulged in her book. “I did what I thought would help in kind of overcoming the personal disappointment, but that’s why I say it’s a book about resilience. Everybody has disappointments, and losses.”

“You may not lose a presidential election, but you may lose somebody close to you. You may lose a job you want,” she continued. “There’s all kinds of challenges in life, and so I want not only individuals – and so many of them as they’re coming to my events are telling me that it has helped them – but I want our country to understand how resilient we are. We are such an extraordinary collection of people, and energy and all sorts of great potential. And I don’t want people to get depressed, and worn out, and tired because they see things they disagree with that are contrary to who we are. There is something for everybody to do.”

Here is the portion of her interview where she talks about the book:

Beverly Jones turns on a spotlight on the value and importance of being resilient at work in her article 6 Key Strategies for Being Resilient at Work. Here are her top three:

1.    Get connected. Develop a strong network of positive relationships. Don’t wait until there’s crisis, but start now to methodically extend your circle.   Go out to events even when you don’t feel like it.  Join groups.  Recruit mentors and find ways to mentor others. Look for ways to support friends, colleagues and even casual business acquaintances. And know that they will be there to accept, support and inspire you during the hard times.

2.    Choose optimism. Positive people are more resilient than pessimists, and you can work to become more optimistic.  A starting point is to stop thinking so much about what goes wrong and start focusing on what goes right. Keeping a journal can help you do that. If you notice that the same old worries and regrets keep going through your mind, write those thoughts down and decide whether you want to let them go or address them in some way. And start keeping a record of the good things. At the end of each day, write a few lines about what went well, and what you’re most grateful for in your current situation.

3.    Learn something new. To deal effectively with change, it helps to be engaged in changing yourself. The most innovative and resilient professionals tend to frequently engage in learning or improvement efforts.  When you’re in the process of learning, your viewpoint changes, and you spot connections that you never noticed before. If you don’t know what to do next, start learning something new.

As Clinton said – we all face disappointments, failures and losses and it is how we respond to those that determine our next steps.

No matter the circumstance; whether it is losing the Presidential election or a promotion in your department; be resilient. Get back up. Assess the situation, learn from the experience and keep moving forward.

JJ DiGeronimo, a speaker, author and thought-leader for Women in Tech and Girls and STEM, empowers professional women and consults with senior executives on strategies to retain and attract Women in Technology to increase thought and leadership diversity within organizations.

Check out JJ’s new award winning book Accelerate Your Impact by downloading three free chapters.