By Ryan Sanders, Founder of EII
2020 was a year of serious challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous trauma for people around the world. Many lost jobs–or worse, loved ones. They were isolated and ripped away from normal, everyday life.
As vaccination rates rise–and the world (slowly) starts to open up–it’s a perfect time to appreciate the light at the end of the tunnel and recognize the mental resilience we’ve all had to tap into.
At EII Consulting, resilience is central to our work. We help you develop your mental skills so you can be a better leader and team member. Our work is guided by an expert in the performance enhancement field, Lt. Col (ret) Carl Ohlson, PhD, from Penn State University. You will see his work and that of peers outlined below.
Why Do We Need Resilience?
As humans, we get stressed… a lot. This includes small stressors like traffic, monthly bills, or a conflict at work–as well as the big stressors like a global pandemic. Major traumatic stressors, like COVID-19, and the countless small stressors all take a toll. 
We are also constantly faced with change, obstacles, and uncertainty. It is crucial to develop strong mental resilience so as to develop (and maintain) the tools to not just survive these types of situations, but thrive despite them.
This is where resiliency factors in. In essence, resilience is the ability to recover mentally and emotionally from stressors experienced in a crisis. But, not every person reacts in kind. Some struggle while others excel. And still others seem to not even be bothered.
Why do some people have a stronger capacity for resiliency–one that allows them to bounce back from these situations better than others?
The Research Behind Resilience
Mandy Oaklander
We know mental resilience can actually be “taught” to those who want more. Mandy Oaklander’s TIME magazine article, “The Science of Bouncing Back,” looks into research as to why some people rebound so well from setbacks–and how the rest of us can be more like them.
Her coverage includes Emmy E. Werner, a developmental psychologist and resilience researcher. Werner started a study in 1955 with a team from the University of California-Berkeley, in order to understand what makes a person thrive in the aftermath of adversity. The 40-year project followed almost 700 children in Kauai, Hawaii; many of whom were born and raised in poverty and lived in troubled families.
Research showed that a third of the most vulnerable children adapted exceedingly well over time. There are three protective factors that differentiated the resilient children who overcame the odds of their environment from their high-risk peers. These were:
Belonging to a tight-knit community
The children who struggled with behavioral and learning problems during adolescence often did not fit into any of these three clusters. However, a surprising discovery in follow-up studies found that the troubled children who developed serious coping problems reached recovery by adulthood. The essential turning point came from them finding opportunities in their midlife to finally join a stable community within one of the three protective clusters.
This positive change came from sources such as continuing education at community colleges, joining the armed forces, marrying a stable partner, or actively participating in a religious community of faith. The opportunities that they were finally able to take advantage of later in life allowed them to develop what their resilient peers achieved during childhood.
This learned resilience opened up doors to move out of poverty, enter a competitive job market, and carry their family forward to a stable environment. This important corollary demonstrates that mental skills are trainable: anyone can do them given the right circumstances!
Dr. Dennis Charney
Resilience research is often done on people who go through major traumas in their upbringing (e.g. survivors of catastrophes, soldiers in combat). Experts believe these extreme cases of mental resilience are a psychological exaggeration of the smaller stressors many of us go through daily. In measuring patterns in blood flow and brain activity, scientists can see how people respond to stress.
As Dr. Dennis Charney, psychiatrist and researcher, describes it: resiliency is a set of skills. He believes with practice, anyone can develop mental resilience. Dr. Charney found that “resilient people seem to have the capacity to appropriately regulate the subcortical fear circuits under conditions of stress.” This means that resilient brains have a better ability to shut off the stress response and return to baseline quickly.
Anyone could fare better than others in stressful situations… it just might require a little practice. This is where our associate, Dr. Ohlson, applied his research. While working for the U.S. Army, his research found that the skills of mental resilience (some of which we highlight below) were related to maintaining strong mental resilience and cognitive skills during times of stress. That means: staying tough and being able to make good decisions while under extreme pressure!
5 Ways to “Up” your Resilience Game
Because they crop up regularly, small stressors can add up to be more problematic than big ones. The way we cope with small daily stressors is a strong predictor of how we will handle big stressors. So, they are a perfect way to practice!
To gauge your own resilience, consider how you reacted to some of the small stressors affecting you during the pandemic–when things did not go your way. A small stressor during the pandemic for many was likely just hearing the morning new
s. I remember feeling stressed and powerless as cases multiplied and people got sick and die around the world, all as I just sat idly at home.
A “bad” way to react would be getting angry, avoiding other responsibilities, or turning to harmful substances. A “good”
way to react would be staying informed, doing your part in staying home, and finding activities that will keep you feeling optimistic.
A mentally resilient individual has the ability to “roll with the punches” and constantly adapt to the adversity of a changing environment. Stressors similar to what we experienced during the pandemic, either big or small, are the same type of challenges that arise and create obstacles within organizations.
The most effective leaders are resilient and have the mental strength to stay focused on their ultimate goals. EII Consulting will help you develop your mental skills to make you more resilient during stressful situations, small or large. It just takes training and consistent practice to “up” your resilience game.
Below are five ways you can build up your own mental resilience skills.
1) Facing the things that scare you relaxes the fear circuitry
Dr. Charney found there are benefits to forcing people out of their comfort zone. The discomfort from stressful situations helps to develop the skills of resilient people–so they not only get through tough times but also thrive during and af
Dr. Carl Ohlson
ter them. As an example, Charney noted that he did this with each of his five children by taking them on “semi-dangerous adventure trips,” where they all experienced some rough weather, wildlife encounters, or broken equipment. This was creating a baseline in their fear circuitry to better handle stress (even if the kids didn’t always enjoy it!).
2) Having a strong network of social support
A strong social support system is critical to resilience. This is because there are positive neurobiological elements to social support. Researchers found that when people were exposed to a stressor, the heart rate and blood pressure for those in the lab with a friend did not go up as much as those who were alone. Support is a crucial piece to developing high resilience. Well-developed support (from organizations like EII Consulting) can lead to stronger psychosocial skills and better motivation, as Dr. Ohlson has found.
3) Regular exercise
Working all of the body’s muscles spurs the development of new neurons that get damaged by stress. Regular exercise lowers the body’s response to stress and develops more resilient minds.
4) Focusing on mindfulness
Researchers at the University of California-San Diego conducted a mindfulness study on Marines. They found that when exposed to stressful situations, those who were trained in mindfulness returned to baseline levels of heart rate and breathing faster than those who hadn’t. The group trained in mindfulness also showed lower activation in the region of the brain associated with emotional reactions.
5) Meditation 
A study done at the University of Wisconsin found how consistent practice of meditation changes how the brain looks and operates. In fact, the brains of experienced meditators recover quicker from stress. This is because meditation can transform our baseline to maintain a solid state during stressful situations. Dr. Ohlson has also found from his work with student athletes and soldiers that practicing skills in attention control, goal setting, confidence building, imagery, and energy management combine to improve the impact of mindfulness and ultimately resilience.
Practice Makes (Almost) Perfect
The good news is that despite the stressors and setbacks that came from 2020, there is actually a science to bouncing back. There are many ways to develop our mental skills–but only one way to get better: practice!
Everyone is different and certain skills work better for others. And, there will still be certain times in your life where stress seems insurmountable. What is most important is finding what works best for you and what you will continue to practice in everyday life. EII Consulting can help you develop and measure the mental skills you need for the foundation of effective leadership in your organization.
Contact us today to learn how to become a successful and resilient leader!
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