How to Navigate Adversity as a Leader by Carolina Little, Regional Vice President

Facing adversity in your life has the potential to throw you off your game. No one likes it, and it typically comes with a negative connotation. The truth is adversity is disruptive to our flow and can create situations that are difficult to navigate. Being a great leader is learning how to take adversity in stride, and not let it sink our ship. So, how do all the great leaders do it? Let’s dig in.

Allow adversity to be your friend: We all appreciate that friend who holds the mirror up so we can take a good look at changes that need to be made. Adversity can be that friend we may not always want, but we need to help us grow. What’s the difference between the person who sees adversity as a friend and the person who views adversity as foe? Grit.

So what’s grit?

Pair passion with perseverance: Author Angela Duckworth defines grit as the power of passion and perseverance (her book is titled just that: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance) and notes, “passion begins with intrinsically enjoying what you do.” Perseverance, then, is the discipline to endure and stick with something when the going gets tough. And when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

So how do you keep going?

Reflect on past growth: Resilience doesn’t appear along the well-paved road. It comes with having navigated through difficulties, thinking outside the box and pushing yourself in ways you have not had to before. Think about the times where you grew and gained the most experience and mental toughness; I bet there was some sort of adversity involved.

To sum it up, Buckworth compares the workplace to exercising with a simple analogy that displays the difference between raw talent and effort:

“Staying on the treadmill is one thing, and I do think it’s related to staying true to our commitments even when we’re not comfortable. But getting back on the treadmill the next day, eager to try again, is in my view even more reflective of grit. Because when you don’t come back the next day—when you permanently turn your back on a commitment—your effort plummets to zero. As a consequence, your skills stop improving, and at the same time, you stop producing anything with whatever skills you have.”

When adversity does come – and it will – embrace the challenge. Instead of allowing adversity to sink your ship, allow it to be your sails. Yes, being talented and enthusiastic is important, but it’s those with grit who rise in leadership.

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