Resilience

  • ability to recover from setbacks and maintain functioning after stress.

  • Not just about responding to crises; involves preemptive change capacity.

Key Definitions

  • Bouncebackability: Informal term for recovering after setbacks, especially in sports.

  • Resilience: Stable functioning and performance following stressful events (Hamel, 2003).

  • Not a fixed trait or rare quality; applicable to individuals and teams.

Characteristics of Resilience

  • Involves mental processes and behaviors to protect from stress effects (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012).

  • Dynamic process; not a static quality.

  • Requires interaction between person and environment.

Tips for Developing Resilience

  1. Accept and process negative emotions (anger, guilt).

  2. Recognize social support networks.

  3. Pursue personal development proactively.

  4. Understand internal and external motivations; frame decisions as active choices.

  5. Focus on controllables and develop a challenge mindset.

  6. Address catastrophic thinking by identifying best-case scenarios and solutions.

Master Resilience Training (MRT)

  • Applied in the US Army; part of Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.

  • 10-day course focused on resilience skills based on positive psychology.

Elite Team Resilience Strategies

  • Develop a compelling vision and accountability mechanisms.

  • Encourage open reflection on experiences and stressors.

  • Celebrate resilience and storytelling within teams.