Leadership

Rebuilding resilience

Build your mental muscles in the same way you strengthen your physical body to help you cope with life’s challenges

It will be no surprise for readers to learn that the most frequent subject I have been asked to speak, coach, or consult on by corporations is the title of this piece — under the umbrella of the wider issues of employee wellbeing, mental health, and welfare among others. The desire to increase or enhance employee grit, resilience, staying power, and determination is universal.

I concur with the consensus that these skills have been in steady decline for decades. And no, it’s not the sole fault of Generation Z. In fact, one of the principal factors is the result of our increasingly riskaverse, protected society – particularly in developed countries. We aren’t exposed to the risks, hardships and above all, a sense of personal responsibility that can get us through challenges.

How do we reverse this trend? You can use several awareness lessons, tools, and techniques. Taking grit fi rst: it is defi ned as the ability to summon the passion and perseverance required to achieve a goal. It goes without saying, therefore, that the goal or objective in question needs a large degree of brainstorming to clearly defi ne. Yet I am astonished at how little e ort goes into this critical skill – indeed watching or listening to countless experts being interviewed in the media on various issues, I fi nd myself muttering “What is your goal?”, “What precisely is your objective?” or “What exactly are you trying to achieve here?”. It seems that 95 per cent of people in our fast-paced world have little time for defi ning objectives and instead naively rush towards solutions. There is more to the goal-setting process than the well-known SMART (specifi c, measurable, achievable, real, and time-bound) acronym. Defi ne your goal and objectives clearly and the ability to tackle them will fl ow easily. Meanwhile, resilience has several defi nitions but is broadly defi ned as the ability to cope with and recover from setbacks. How do we gain this positive mindset? One lesson to remember is to accept that “bad things” can happen. Challenges, hardships, despondency, despair, and even depression are part and parcel of life. It’s what makes the mystery of life worth living. But it also gives us the greatest learnings — it’s the challenges we face in life and not just the successes that defi ne who we become as people.

Secondly, it is vital to know your capabilities and it requires stepping outside the sanitised comfort zones that society o ten encourages us to confi ne ourselves to. And whether that is using one’s own senses, awareness, and gut instinct to navigate from A to B, testing yourself to complete a physical goal, or doing something equally tough, they will enable you to cope far better with challenges and boost your resilience skills.

Thirdly, while I am the fi rst to support speaking about one’s personal issues – something our forebearers never did – the entire subject of ‘mental health’ has become a life-diminishing and selffulfi lling negative prophecy. Many people feeling bad, low, or lonely will jump on the ‘mental health’ bandwagon in situations where it may just be normal emotional responses to what life throws at us. These can be managed.

For me, the term ‘mental health’ conjures up an assumption of being unwell, sick, and needing help. I use the term ‘mental fi tness’ instead – it implies building up your mental muscles in the same way you strengthen your physical muscles to cope with life’s challenges with a positive mindset.

There are several more skills to impart, but the greatest one of all is the lesson of fi nding the gi t in every circumstance. I will bet that a majority of people reading this article will look back on the greatest challenges they’ve faced in their life, and recognise the value that these have brought them. Creating that mindset in any hardship, and the awareness to fi nd the “gi t” in it is a lesson all of us can use to boost our resilience. Life is tough out there – but it’s also where opportunities dwell.

SIX STEPS TO IMPROVING GRIT AND RESILIENCE

01 Defi ne the clear, detailed and authentic objective

02 Anticipate that “bad” things could happen

03 Live outside your comfort zone

04

Compartmentalise the issue

05 Always have a plan B, C, D, and more on hand

06 Find the ‘gift’ in every circumstance Adrian Hayes, adventurer, author, team and executive coach, and consultant

COMMENT

All about the experience

Here are some of the key emerging experiential marketing trends to look out for

News flash: Consumer behaviour has evolved. The clients’ ask has changed. My job is to see around corners, staying ahead of the game so you don’t have to. So, what are the most important trends that business leaders should be prepared for and what experiential activations are gaining the most traction? Here is what you need to be prepared for. First, you need to look back before looking forward. Brand values are increasing in importance and should be at the heart of everything you do with all projects. Consumers own your brand and you’re just the custodian. Even with one pandemic, and yes sadly, we are still in the hangover phase, consumers look deep into the values of the brands they support leading me to my first big points: sustainability and transparency.

WALK THE WALK

Consumers are paying more attention to brands’ stated values. Economic powerhouse Generation Z cares deeply about brand values – and they demand transparency. They are shifting their support to brands that support causes they care about and that “walk the walk,” meaning brands that authentically engage in cause marketing versus a showy yet insincere attempt. Additionally, consumers want to know the ethicality of and where experiential popups are being manufactured and what happens to them afterward.

Pop-ups will continue to generate more lines and are a great way to immerse your audience in a unique experience and they must be unique. Enabling them to chat and share their experience with others in realtime, but it’s also about taking things to the next level.

AN ELUSIVE APPEAL

Digital interactive experience is a must; consumers crave and expect them from an activation – from live streams on TikTok to Twitch or shareable by-design experiences, brands need to take advantage, thus allowing our audiences to interact more personally, resulting in more eyes, for example, a pop-up shop must sell limited-edition merchandise to make it worthwhile. If a person can go online and snag the same things, then all the sense of FOMO you’re trying to invoke will simply evaporate.

People will want to get their hands on that limitededition item, no matter what it happens to be. Weaving these technologies into experiential marketing activations will help brands engage with consumers and create curated memorable experiences.

Personally, I’m in love with digital art installations (specifically AI Data Sculpture) and big statement activations. Digital artwork can stimulate thought and conversation around a particular brand or topic and creating prominent installations can effectively get consumer attention. People will always want to pull out their smartphones to snap photos of art because it’s something interesting and noteworthy in their day. If they can interact with the art using augmented reality, it can also serve as an excellent organic social media marketing strategy, but it must be authentic – how the brand and art intersect gives the consumer confidence that the artist hasn’t “sold out” to the highest bidder. Being culturally relevant and part of the conversation will get you the win you want.

THE WAY FORWARD

In 2023, we’ll see a continued push toward making experiential activations stand out from the crowd, but increasingly relevant to the weary consumer. Experiential marketing that stands out and captures attention will be meaningful, adding worth to the consumer experience, and ensuring they listen to the message you are trying to share.

Dave Balfour, co-founder and partner of LightBlue, a creative experience agency