What does an emotionally resilient leader look like?

Emotional resilience is an important pillar of optimal leadership, especially now. No-one has been exempt from the increased challenges faced over the last 18 months. No mask or handful of sanitizer is going to mitigate the fear of contracting the virus, the worries about continued employment, increasing financial constraints, working from home, and the loneliness from a lack of social interaction.

The world has seen an unprecedented increase in mental health issues, and these are only the reported cases. Far larger looms the unsaid, unspoken, hidden dis-eases, issues ranging from chronic anxiety, depression, and exacerbated stress leading to burnout. Employees are so afraid of the stigma and of losing their jobs that they soldier on, lips sealed. The impact is significant: productivity is impacted, decision making is unsound, and relationships suffer.

Leaders are not immune and if you are a leader, others will either look to you for guidance or duck and run for cover. In a world that is overflowing with bad leaders, uncaring, domineering, “my way or the highway” leaders, you have an opportunity to change the narrative. Maybe you already have. How? You can bring the light.

“Bring the light” is the B of our A, B, C of life. A is Act like a Tree. B is for Bring the light. What do we mean by this?

Firstly, educate. Yourself and others. Bring the light of knowledge and understanding. The world of emotions is a scary place for many. In most Western cultures we were taught to hide our emotions, or only show the positive ones. Admitting to having any kind of emotional difficulties can lead to ridicule. And very few of us were taught how to regulate our emotions.

Secondly, enable conversations that take the lid off of the prevalent taboo around mental health issues. Bring the light of acceptance, courage and vulnerability. Help surface myths and biases, expose them to the light. Increasing understanding about what emotions are, how they are made and how to regulate them offers everyone an opportunity to feel better.

Thirdly, be kind. Bring the light of kindness. Assume that everyone is going through something. Everyone. It is the way of the world right now. And first be kind to yourself.

For more information on how to bring the light, educate, start conversations and be kind to yourself, let’s connect.

#BringTheLight #emotionallyresilientleader #Bekind #Listen #Educate #Emotionalwellbeing #mentalhealth

This is our 50th TWTW article! TWTW stands for The Week That Was. Way back in August, 2018 we started out writing weekly blogs about our work, hence the name The Week That Was. During 2019, these pieces became more monthly-as-and-when communications. Primarily because what we were doing wasn’t that eventful or interesting to share. Sometimes we were super busy doing research and planning and just couldn’t get to it, sometimes we were not busy enough. Then COVID-19 came along and things really plateaued. We hunkered down and found a new home for our work on the Insight Timer platform. This has been a beautiful journey and experience. Our work deeply resonates with a growing global community on the app and has supported thousands of people worldwide.

The past few weeks we’ve been hard at work envisioning a new path for 5th Place, Shape of Emotion and how we can collectively make the world a better place. Matthew is focusing on high-achievers in all fields and how his knowledge and experience can support them to take whatever they are currently doing and do it even better. Chantal is writing up a storm, connecting with movers and shakers in the corporate space and advocating for building mental wellbeing and emotional resilience in a sustained, collaborative way.

We invite you to continue on the journey with us. Here’s to the next 50 episodes of The Week That Was!