I’ve been in business for 8 years here at Molly Knuth Media and had this podcast for over 4 of those years, and let me be the first to tell you: it has not always been easy.

• There have been successes and struggles.
• High points and lows.
• People who’ve been on my team that are no longer with me.
• Contracts I’ve had to cancel with clients.
• Contracts clients have cancelled with me.
• Programs I’ve started and ended.
• Groups I’ve joined and quit.

Being in business this long means I’ve seen some things…and I also know enough to know that I do not and will not ever know it all.

I can just do my best to stay open and stay resilient in the face of it all.

I recently read an article from the Harvard Business Review entitled “The Secret to Building Resilience” by Rob Cross, Karen Dillon, and Danna Greenberg

Resilience is typically described in our society as the ability to bounce back from setbacks, and this ability to stay resilient is often described as the difference between“successful” and“unsuccessful” people. In their article, the authors found that resilience has been shown to positively influence work satisfaction and engagement, as well as improve overall well-being, and lower depression levels. 

But they are very clear that resilience isn’t just a kind of solitary internal“grit” that allows us to bounce back. Their research shows that resilience is also heavily enabled by strong relationships and networks. 

So what can we learn from this today? We can each nurture and build our resilience through cultivating a wide variety of interactions with people in our personal and professional lives. These interactions can help us to alter the magnitude of any challenge we face. Our relationships can also help crystalize the meaningful purpose in what we are doing or help us see a path forward to overcome a setback.

It is our relationships and connections that motivate us to keep going, even in our toughest times. 

In this episode of the podcast we explore a little more of the article and apply its resilience exercise to our own businesses. Be prepared to get gritty as we analyze our own resilience and ask ourselves:“Are my relationships broad and deep enough to help support me when me and my business hit setbacks?”

Episode and article takeaways:

• Resilience is not an individual characteristic through nature/nurture –  but through connections and interactions.
• “Resilience is not something we need to find deep down inside ourselves: we can actually become more resilient in the process of connecting with others in our most challenging times.”
• “Collectively, the relationships we develop are a toolbox that we can turn to in our most difficult times, which we can rely upon to help us navigate day-to-day life challenges”
• Relationships and connections help us in the follow 8 areas
  1. shift or manage workloads
  2. make sense of people or politics in certain situations
  3. find confidence to push back and help self-advocate
  4. see a path forward
  5. release negative emotions
  6. laugh at ourselves and the situation
  7. remind us of purpose/meaning
  8. maintain perspective
• If you feel like your resilience needs a little boost, ask yourself: “are your relationships broad enough and deep enough?”

In conclusion, we are not resilient because we have survived. We are resilient because we set ourselves up to connect with people that allow us to thrive. Different people in our lives serve to help us in different ways, that’s ok and allowable.

More from Molly

Link to full article: https://hbr.org/2021/01/the-secret-to-building-resilience

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