- Professionals who perform well in calm or predictable conditions demonstrate real competence, but it is in moments of crisis that a previously unseen side of a person emerges.
- Resilience, described as a combination of adaptability, flexibility, and determination, has become one of the most sought-after competencies in the corporate world.
- A leader, a manager, and an organization discover their core competencies precisely in the most difficult moments: in apparent scarcity, in heightened adversity, and in turbulent environments.
- Facing the same adversity, some people feel victimized and look for someone to blame, while others treat the situation as an opportunity for transformation and focus on the solution.
In those moments, creativity, emotional intelligence, psychological maturity, the capacity to manage conflict, and the ability to navigate ambiguity and change become essential qualities. Resilience has become one of the most sought-after competencies in the corporate world.
Professionals with high IQ and strong emotional intelligence have always been in demand, but resilience has grown into a quality that organizations now explicitly pursue, driven in part by an environment of constant change and the growing reality of professionals building careers across multiple companies rather than within a single organization.
Why is resilience a competitive advantage?
As Adrian Lajtha, Leadership Director at Accenture, has noted: "Resilience, a combination of adaptability, flexibility, and determination, may be the new criterion for professional advancement. In today's climate of economic uncertainty and intense competition, organizations that build resilience into their developing leaders will have a clear advantage."
Resilience is also related to the capacity to move through adversity and emerge stronger, with learning, lessons, and greater readiness to face future challenges. This is what American author Paul Stoltz calls the Adversity Quotient, or AQ.
Where do core competencies come to light?
Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung taught us that to find our inner treasure, our Self, our sacred spark, our finest qualities, we must pass through shadowed tunnels and face the unwanted aspects of ourselves, mining for our own gifts.
In practical terms, a leader, a manager, and an organization will discover their core competencies precisely in the most difficult moments: in apparent scarcity, in heightened adversity, when the internal or external environment is turbulent.
What choice defines a leader in a crisis?
Some people may feel victimized by circumstances, choosing to give up, lose heart, seek someone to blame, delegate responsibility to others, or complain habitually. Others rise in exactly these moments, viewing the situation as a great challenge, an opportunity for transformation, learning, development, and growth. Instead of focusing on the problem, they focus on the solution, and extract important lessons along the way.
A leader should invest in building their own resilience in order to better support their teams, accelerate resolution of the issues that can already be addressed, and promote the growth of everyone involved. The greater your resilience, the greater your potential to advance in the face of any challenge.
The short answer
Turbulence is what reveals a professional’s real range, because the qualities that matter most in a crisis, such as creativity, emotional intelligence, psychological maturity, and the capacity to manage conflict and ambiguity, are the ones calm conditions never test. Faced with the same adversity, some people give up or look for someone to blame while others treat it as a challenge and focus on the solution, and that is where a leader is defined. Investing in one’s own resilience is what allows a leader to support their teams, resolve what can already be addressed, and advance in the face of any challenge.