Sue Firth

Leadership Resilience & Sustainable Performance

Much has been written about stress and a lot of that has been negative Press. In fact, stress can be a good thing as our bodies naturally respond well to increased pressure by motivating us to perform. The trick in life is determining how to stay positively thriving on it rather than negatively drowning in it! Many of us are driven, focused and often highly motivated so we like control, otherwise we can be severely frustrated and unhappy. Understanding this and the role adrenaline will therefore play in our lives, is a crucial first step. Then it is possible to recognise the natural up’s and down’s in body chemistry that occur because of experiencing very demanding roles. The session covers how to handle the ups and down’s and still stay motivated and happy.

If we get this balance right, we can learn to become more resilient. Appreciating there are tools and techniques that maintain resilience enables us to withstand stressful situations and not take them too personally. We can also better handle an environment of continuing change. Resilience needs to be not only a desire, but a belief system, and far from being an innate skill for all, individuals can learn how to be resilient and therefore build strong resources. At a time when organisations are potentially struggling because of economic pressures, it can be particularly valuable to become aware of how to build this skill so that your people can aim to thrive, rather than just to survive.

This is an interactive workshop involving discussion in pairs and as a group.

What are the benefits: –

1. To help the group discuss a working definition of stress, understand why they may be attracted to stress in their careers, and recognize how to thrive on this rather than drown in it.
2. The group will learn to determine the significance of their own symptoms of stress and learn simple techniques to manage them well.
3. We will discuss the ‘chemistry of stress’ and look at the interplay between the chemicals produced in the brain and those produced in the body, each of which contribute to how much stress we experience and how intensely it is felt. This in turn impacts on the symptoms we feel and the methods we choose to control or reduce the stress.
4. They will learn ‘Top Tips’ – proven strategies that help immediately impact stress in their lives and make a difference to how well they handle it in the future.
5. Then they define ‘Resilience’ and agree what it is, why it’s important and how we develop it
6. I introduce two personality traits which explain why some of us are more likely to handle change and be resilient in our lives and those who are likely to need more support.
7. Then I explain how the second personality characteristic differentiates those people who are likely to be more resilient from those who will need more support.
8. We then identify strategies that enable people to improve how resilient they are.

The session is approximately 3 hours long and interactive throughout. There is a handout and I’ll bring a couple of copies of my book on stress to give out plus it is available for purchase if people wish.