Setbacks are as instrumental as they are inevitable. What they are not is a simple indication or result of failure. They provide valuable insights into areas that require attention and improvement, making them opportunities for growth and development as well as the price of doing business well. Acknowledging setbacks as part of the professional journey allows many individuals to detach from the emotional weight and approach them with a constructive mindset.
The ability to transform setbacks into comebacks is a hallmark of resilience and adaptability and, for leaders, resilience is not just a valuable trait; it’s an imperative. After all, without setbacks, there would be no comebacks. Comebacks are always generative and should be seen as the valuable contributors they are.
At the heart of any successful comeback is resilience. More than just the capacity to bounce back from adversity, true resilience is marked by one’s ability to adapt and thrive in the face of challenges. Developing resilience of this calibre requires a combination of emotional intelligence, mental fortitude, and a willingness to learn from failures.This article is concerned with the concept of resilience within the context of leadership and how it can be leveraged to transform setbacks into springboards for both personal and organizational growth. With that in mind, let’s explore the strategies and attitudes that make it possible to recover from and even capitalize on setbacks, using them to come back stronger and more capable than before.
Embrace a Growth Mindset
There is no stronger foundation for a powerful comeback than having a growth mindset. This concept posits that individuals who believe in their ability to develop skills and talents through dedication and hard work are more likely to succeed. Embracing this perspective allows for a more optimistic outlook on setbacks, which is critical when the goal is to harness their power toward improvement. Without a growth mindset, setbacks, at best, take the form of obstacles to overcome rather than lessons to learn from.
Plan, but Be Willing to Pivot
In times of uncertainty and disruption, a well-crafted plan should be used as a compass, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be questioned or recalibrated along the way. As essential as planning is, it’s equally important to remain ready to recognize how and when to adapt, and to build that flexibility into the plan. This is why we advocate for a “push, push, pause” approach to resilience, since it’s not constructive to be blindly goal-oriented and constantly pushing in a predetermined direction. Circumstances change, and a rigid adherence to a preconceived plan can lead to further setbacks.
Especially as a leader, resilience is about honing your strategic planning such that you and your team are both able and empowered to recalculate and reevaluate in light of information as it evolves and presents itself.
Practice Vulnerability
Vulnerability is the capacity to acknowledge and confront one’s limitations, uncertainties, and emotional states, thereby creating a fertile ground for growth and adaptability. When leaders acknowledge their fallibility, they leave room for a better solution to be suggested, or a different opportunity to be illuminated. This inspires trust and loyalty, which are key factors in an organization or team’s ability to thrive amidst uncertainty and adversity and successfully turn setbacks into comebacks.
Be Open to Failure
Being right and getting it right aren’t the same thing and perfection is the antithesis of innovation. As one of our Bright Wire Coaches put it, “The pursuit of excellence is more noble and productive than the pursuit of perfection.” By definition, perfection is a destination, which makes it finite. Excellence, on the other hand, is iterative. It’s a more worthwhile goal because it, like the horizon, stays constant but out of reach. Being open to failure goes hand-in-hand with being in pursuit of excellence, of always striving for better, acknowledging the setbacks that will be met along the way, and resolving to turn these into comebacks.
Refine Your Decision-Making Skills
One critical aspect of making a strong comeback is honing your decision-making skills. The more leaders encounter and overcome obstacles and challenges, the better they become at analyzing past decisions and mining them for insights to help with future planning and in-the-moment pivoting. Improving a leader’s ability to identify patterns and develop more informed, strategic approaches is a measurable way resilience is built as a result of setbacks over time.
Leverage Your Network and Lead by Example
There is always strength in numbers and the road to a successful comeback does not need to be travelled alone or without incremental support. Strong leaders have strong networks to call on for outside perspectives, best practices, and words of wisdom when faced with setbacks. These networks are valuable resources when planning and executing specific comebacks and looking to build resilience somewhat preemptively. This investment of time and effort at a leadership level pays dividends. Resilience, when done well and modeled effectively by leaders, propagates both the practice and its benefits throughout entire teams and organizations.
Cultivate Patience
Resilience demands endurance, a quality closely intertwined with patience. Since comebacks are seldom immediate, patience is of critical importance. Rushed decisions can be detrimental to long-term success. Patience affords individuals the clarity and deliberation required to make well-informed choices on behalf of their teams and entire businesses, particularly in high-stakes situations. Furthermore, recognizing that progress may be gradual allows for the maintenance of momentum, even in the face of adversity.
Don’t Dwell on the Disappointment
Setbacks are not all created equal. Some can be minor annoyances while others can be fairly catastrophic, at least in the moment. While it is constructive to acknowledge the disappointment, necessary even in order to catalog its impacts and learnings, prolonged disappointment can lead to impaired decision-making. When leaders fixate on past failures, it can cloud their judgment and hinder their ability to evaluate new opportunities objectively. Compounding this risk, should others sense a prevailing atmosphere of discouragement, it can lead to decreased motivation and engagement levels. A disheartened workforce is less likely to take risks, propose innovative solutions, or go the extra mile to achieve organizational goals.
In the fast-paced world of business, setbacks are not a sign of defeat nor are they detours on the road to success. Understanding this fundamental truth is an important step towards building and eventually leveraging true resilience. True resilience, as we’ve explored, goes beyond bouncing back to include adapting, thriving, and turning setbacks into constructive catalysts.
By adopting the right mindset and strategies, leaders can turn setbacks into powerful comebacks, emerging stronger, wiser, and more capable than ever before. This journey is not solitary; it is a collective endeavor, where resilience becomes the lifeblood of an organization, propelling it towards sustained success in a dynamic world.
