Resilience – Reflection

In this series, I am introducing you to the twenty superpowers that leaders need to possess to create an environment for resilience. This is an environment in which individuals and teams are resilient in the face of constant change.

Individual resilience is critical when the world around us is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Resilience means we can adapt to difficult situations and not just survive but thrive. Unless we do, the stress will overwhelm us, and we will suffer physically and mentally.

Each week we will explore one of those twenty superpowers.

Superpower: The Reflector

The Reflector provides time for individual and team reflection.

After any challenge, change or event that was perceived as stressful, the Reflector makes time to reflect on:

* What went well?
* What didn’t go so well?
* What did we learn?
* What could we do better?
* What were the negative experiences?
* What were the positive experiences?
* How can we increase our resilience?

Use this as a post-event briefing to improve resilience.

The Reflector encourages every member of the team to reflect on their recent experiences. Discussion about the challenge and how employees coped is encouraged.

This activity facilitates team members in supporting one another. The process can include action planning for the team.

As well as conducting this activity after a significant event, it can also be carried out after a series of low-impact events that may have left the team feeling depleted and fatigued with change.

These reflection sessions are often called “retrospectives.”

Actions

Consider your frequency. How often are you going to hold reflection sessions? It could be after every significant change or every few weeks. Ask the team for their preference.

At each reflection, ask:
* What went well?
* What didn’t go so well?
* What did we learn?
* What could we do better?
* What were the negative experiences?
* What were the positive experiences?
* How can we increase our resilience?

Make an action plan and assign accountability for fulfilment of the actions. As the leader, all of the actions do not have to land on your desk.

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