HR Training 2019 - Leadership in Adversity

Overview
One of the most important qualities of a leader is resilience. Today's leaders are getting barraged with roadblocks, let-downs and failed attempts at success. The true grit of a leader is not how they perform during the good times but rather how they display emotional strength, courage and professionalism during the most trying times. Teams rely on me to be strong, composed and to focus on the intended goals. They needed leaders not to reflect any of the negativity that was surrounding them, but to frame the chaos as an opportunity for everyone to grow. Teams need a leader who will support them and listen to their concerns, but not allow them to stray from what we were trying to accomplish.
Using 30 years of research focused on veterans, holocaust survivors at risk children, and female professionals, the people who grew and learned from their adversities were found to have many commonalities. The researchers identified six areas that all of them seemed to share time after time to build resiliency from staggering tragedy. Think of the cases of, Viktor Frankl, Elie Wiesel, Michael Ohre, Jim Carey, Michael Davis, the founder of "Buddy Check 22!" for veterans with PTSD, William Alvarez, the Army Vet who turned to a hand cycle to heal his PTSD wounds, as well as many other examples.
Have you heard of the boy with the absent father and alcoholic mother? He came to school every day with a "bread sandwich", two pieces of bread with nothing in between. His teacher noticed the boy wanted to make sure that "no one would feel pity for him, and no one would know the failures of his mother." Each day, without fail, he would walk in to school with a smile on his face and a "bread sandwich" tucked into his bag.
All these people faced crippling, devasting mental and physical trauma, but managed to raise themselves up beyond survival into thriving and meaningful purpose.
They see themselves as orchestrators of their own fates. One study showed that the subjects, on a scale that measured areas of control over one's fate, they scored more than two standard deviations away from the standardization group
How can we capture that that ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back at least as strong as before, if not even better? Rather than letting difficulties or failure overcome them and drain their resolve, they find a way to rise from the ashes.
What research shows is that there is no test for resiliency, but resiliency depends on the way a life unfolds. In fact, the studies demonstrate that most people don't know if they are resilient or not until adversity comes along, and when trauma continues to happen over time. A 25-year study at Columbia University showed that showed that traumatic events, no matter how negative they might seem, have the potential to be traumatic or not to the person experiencing it. The study expands to show that teaching people to think of thinking of these events in different ways-to reframe them in positive terms when the initial response is negative, or in a less emotional way when the initial response is emotionally "hot"- changes how they experience and react to the stimulus. You can train people to better regulate their emotions, and the training seems to have lasting effects.
Studies at the University of Pennsylvania by Martin Seligman show that when people can frame adversity as a challenge, and they become more flexible and able to deal with it, move on, learn from it, and grow. Focus on it, frame it as a threat, and a potentially traumatic event becomes an enduring problem; you become more inflexible, and more likely to be negatively affected. Decades of many studies show that resilience is, ultimately, a set of skills that can be taught.
Effective leaders have learned to cultivate a strong sense of self-confidence in their abilities. Effective leaders have a deep sense that he or she has done due diligence to prepare themselves for the leadership duties they are to carry out. An equally important element of self-confidence is a strong sense of self-awareness. Effective leaders are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and know when it is time to delegate responsibility to others in the organization who are better qualified to accomplish certain responsibilities. Leaders need to learn to face adversity with patience and perspective.
Resiliency does not come through some mystical formula but comes as leaders begin to take each challenge in life as a learning experience, and as they learn to pick themselves up and keep going each time a new difficulty comes their way.
References available upon request.
Why should you Attend
This 90-minute webinar focuses on helping individuals, managers, and leaders improve their ability to cope with adversity, uncertainty, and change. The content of the course is backed by over 30 years of research and delivered in an engaging, entertaining format that gives participants the tools they need to thrive in difficult times.
Did you ever wonder how some groups and people always seem to land on their feet?
Who do you know who on your team appears to come up "smelling like a rose" no matter what the circumstances?
How do some people have "all the luck"?
Now you can learn the six steps to dealing with adversity, to develop "luck", "balance", to create a good outcome, regardless of the situation!
How do you and your team deal with adversity? Do you succumb to loss, desperate times, and despair, or do you sense that there is a gift, or silver lining hidden inside the setback?
Research has shown, with training, people can learn how to react to adversity with emotional intelligence, and that adversity often brings out the best in people? There is now science to prove it.
Are you on a team looking for a new, engaging way to tackle professional development and team development at once?
Are you an individual interested in finding new ways to improve your own levels of resilience?
Are you seeking a simple, science-backed methodology to fight stress and anxiety?
Are you a Leader searching for an interactive approach to bring out the best in your teams and improve team cohesion?
You'll learn the best way to find your own resiliency core and take positive action to ensure success in learning to become resilient. You'll test your resiliency and discover areas where you need to build more confidence.
Together, we'll develop your plan for dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty, and what to do when facing unique challenges in your workplace or personal life.
Areas Covered in the Session
Overview of The Six Steps to Resiliency - The Resiliency Wheel
Definition and Examples
Speaker Bio Overview
Causes of Adversity in Life and Business
How to Use Adversity to Get Back on Track
How to Make Resiliency Work for You - Interactive Worksheet
Research in Resiliency
Why Develop Resiliency - Research Findings
How to Use Resiliency in the Workplace
Case Studies
Using Resiliency to Thrive, Not Just Survive
Resiliency Graph - From Adversity to Thriving
Group Discussion - Reflect on a Challenge, Following the Resiliency Graph
Self-Assessment Tool
Analysis of Self-Assessment
Group Discussion of Wheel Segments
Case Studies - Actions and Outcomes
Video - How to Get Better at Almost Anything
Closing the Gap Between Default Future and Planned Future
Case Studies - Video Time Permitting
Possibilities
Next Steps
Imagining
Filling in the Missing Pieces
How to Be The "GOAT" The Greatest of All Time - Tom Brady Video, Time Permitting
Who Will Benefit
HR Generalists
HR Administrators
CHROs
VPs of HR
HR Directors
HR Professionals
Coaches
Managers
VPs
Directors
Key Personnel
Speaker Profile
Mary T. O'Sullivan,International Coach FederationMaster of Science, Organizational Leadership, ,- PCC, Society of Human Resource Management – SHRM-SCP, Master’s Certificate in Executive and Professional Career Coaching, University of Texas at Dallas. Member Beta Gamma Sigma, the International Honor Society. Advanced Studies in Education from SUNY Oswego and Syracuse University.
Mary O'Sullivan has over 30 years’ experience in the aerospace and defense industry, with large corporate entities. In each of her roles, she acted as a change agent, moving teams and individuals from status quo to new ways of thinking, through offering solutions focused on changing behaviors and fostering growth. In addition, Mary holds a permanent teaching certificate in the State of New York for secondary education, and taught high school English for 10 years in the Syracuse, NY area