Life Balance and Resilience
Life Balance and Resilience are critical attributes of the successful organization today and in the future. Let me start by defining what I mean by Life Balance and Resilience.
Definition of Life Balance
Life Balance is the harmonious blend of all the various different aspects of life such as relationships, career, finances, spirituality, health, giving back, and community involvement, all of those things that make for a full and rewarding life. At some level, I think we all want to have a measure of balance in our lives. However, it is highly personal how we prioritize those various different aspects and what the proportions of the different factors should be. While this balance is unique to each individual, most people would agree that having a combination of the various factors does make for a happier, more fulfilling life.
Definition of Resilience – Individual and Organizational
Resilience is the ability to be adaptable and bounce back. To be individually resilient is to be able to adapt to changing circumstances. The ability to handle whatever comes at you, whether it is something that you anticipated or not. Resilience is particularly reflected in your ability to adapt to the unknown or the unexpected, the ability to let go of the past, deal with things in the here and now, and be proactive going forward.
Resilience is also a very important factor in an organization’s culture. When an organization has a good culture of resilience it is able to respond quickly to changes in market conditions. For example, in the latest economic downturn, companies were required to respond quickly to the change in economic conditions. Unfortunately, some had to lay workers off, they needed to suddenly realign their values, adjust their targets and their strategic plans. This had an impact on marketing plans and sometimes even product road maps. Companies have had to adjust to be able to do more with less and to demonstrate their ability to ‘shift gears‘. Their ability to manage these changes is one way of looking at organizational resilience.
Those companies that were able to make the necessary changes, or at the very least were able to weather the storm and wait it out until the economy improved, are those with some level of resilience. The companies that were most resilient were able to take advantage of the downturn to re-tool, to re-strategize, to become more cost-effective and efficient in their processes and operations. These organizations are now much better positioned when the economic downturn subsides to turn things around and jump forward quickly into a position of leadership.
So, resilience is more than mere survival during tough times. It’s about being proactive . Resilient companies and resilient individuals can really make the most of the current situation for now and for the future. They can be strategic in their forward thinking and position themselves ready for the next challenge .
