Katie Foulkes had to harness resilience as a member of Australia’s Olympic rowing team in 2004. After one of her teammates stopped rowing during the race, the outrage that erupted (the country’s prime minister called the team “UnAustralian”) rocked her to her core.
What Stacey Copas knows about resilience was born of tragedy: A diving accident at 12 left her a quadriplegic whose spirit was in tatters.
Life can be confusing. We are trying to figure out who we are and the direction we should go. Get a job, buy a house, have a family. So many things to do. So many obligations. So many expectations. Who has the time to figure out — still less, follow — your own vision?
Benjamin Franklin once said it takes many good deeds to build a good reputation and only one bad one to lose it. Jennifer Cunningham has learned and teaches others that you have to keep your eyes on the values that matter to you as you look to bounce back from a crucible that leaves you feeling defeated and humiliated.
You can’t reverse great loss any more than you can undo failure and setback, but you can move beyond every crucible you face with your heart full and your head held high. Alison Pena has moved past losing her husband to cancer to lead a full and rewarding life rooted in identifying and embracing the blessings still available to her.
Do you have a good handle on the values that guide your life and work? The character traits you admire in others and try to manifest yourself?
Are you tolerating something in your life that is leading to chaos and crisis … and causing or at least giving oxygen to the crucibles you’re facing?
As we rise in organizations and become more successful and as our businesses grow, life gets more hectic and more demanding. We travel more, are away from home more, the pressure intensifies. Our bosses or our boards seem more demanding. The shareholders expect and demand continuous quarterly earnings increases. But something else happens, too. Perhaps imperceptibly, we begin to change.
How you think and what you feel as you move beyond your crucible is critical. It’s just as important, in fact, as what actions you take to get past it. Michelle Dickinson shares this truth as a corporate well-being strategist.
Shawn Harper has learned from his crucibles – which include extreme poverty as a boy, suffering from learning disabilities and being kicked out of two schools – that the only way to move beyond those challenges is to move through them.
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