Resilience at work can be described as the capability to maintain high performance and positive well-being. Resilient individuals are able to sustain successful performance and positive wellbeing in the face of adverse conditions, and to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change’.
That’s from the introduction to my personalised i-resilience report from Robertson Cooper. I took the survey because we’re looking at resilience as part of ‘WellFest’, BBC North’s upcoming Wellbeing Season, and while undoubtedly part of the appeal is the narcissistic fun of taking a personality quiz, rather like a ‘Jackie’ or ‘Cosmo’ quiz, (depending on your era!), the results are genuinely interesting.
Have a go for yourself!
And as Robertson Cooper says, ‘building resilience is a continuous process’, so you can work on any areas that need improvement.
If you’re interested, my results are below.
In situations where information or resources are limited:
You are likely to be comfortable with making quick decisions and doing the best you can
with what you have.
You will probably be quite assertive in asking for further information or negotiating for more
resources; this will be helpful to you as long as you recognise when to compromise.
You may welcome the opportunity to try out different approaches or ways of achieving your
objectives.
Your confidence in your own resourcefulness will help you to respond in a resilient way.
Being well organised and efficient will be an important part of your coping strategy.
In situations where there are significant obstacles to the amount of
control and influence you have over how your work is done:
Your self-assured style could make it easier for you to increase your influence and
involvement, for example by gaining others’ confidence and trust.
Your willingness to take the lead should help you in overcoming the obstacles and
increasing your sense of control.
Your willingness to take a firm stand should help you to negotiate a higher degree of
control and influence, as long as you recognise when to compromise.
In situations where there are significant pressures on your workload or
work life balance:
Your high levels of personal energy will help you to cope with the demands of the situation.
Seeing the situation from a rational perspective rather than feeling sorry for others should
help you address firmly any performance issues that may be adding to workload problems.
Good organisation should help you to manage efficiently.
When organisational change is creating a high level of challenge and
uncertainty:
You are unlikely to spend time worrying about what might happen unless you have good
reason to do so.
You are likely to be energised by the opportunity to try new activities or approaches, even if
you are concerned about other aspects of the change and the way it is being managed.
You are likely to be quite comfortable with responding quickly to the situation as it
develops.
In situations where work relationships are not as collaborative as might
be expected:
Your self-assured style and lack of defensiveness will help you to manage relationships in
a resilient and constructive way.
Your willingness to trust other people should help you to maintain an optimistic perspective.
Being open and direct about your objectives and concerns could be useful in defusing
conflict and improving relationships, as long as you are not inappropriately direct in what
you say.
Defending your own position should help you to respond in a resilient way, as long as you
are not too stubborn or demanding.
In situations where goals are ill-defined and you need to create your own
sense of purpose:
Your willingness to take the lead will help you to set the direction for yourself as well as for
others.
Your personal energy should drive you to find and pursue challenging objectives.
Your need for variety should stimulate you to identify and pursue different activities.
You are likely to exercise self-discipline in applying yourself to tasks and completing what
you believe needs to be done.