Creating a Sense of Safety
Rapid technological advancements are transforming our environment at an unprecedented pace. In this era, one critical factor stands out for successful leadership: resilience. But what exactly does “resilience-informed (self-)leadership” mean, and how can we cultivate it in ourselves and our organisations?
The Shifting Sands of Skills
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Survey highlights skills deemed most important for the future. While “AI and big data” naturally feature prominently, “Resilience, flexibility, and agility” are identified as core skills that are now essential and expected to increase in importance by 2030 [1]. This underscores the critical need to foster these capacities in ourselves and in teams as we navigate an increasingly complex world.
Understanding Our Nervous System in Times of Change
To foster resilience, it’s helpful to understand how our bodies and minds react to stress and change. Our autonomic nervous system plays a crucial role in our sense of safety and our ability to adapt. It needs context, choice, and connection to feel safe and regulated. And it unconsciously detects and responds to information, a process called Neuroception [2]. It responds in a hierarchy of three states.
Danger, a state characterized by mobilized action, taking on a “fight or flight” response, preparing for action or escape.
Safety as a regulated state of “homeostasis”. In this state, we feel safe, social, engaged, and connected. Our “Safety Zone” supports times of change. Being able to manage emotional responses to change (fear, anxiety, frustration) allows effective adaptation processes, building emotional regulation. When not in a state of threat, our minds are more open, fostering inner flexibility. Feeling safe allows for more collaborative interactions, enhancing social engagement.
Life-threat: This state involves being immobilized, shut down, or collapsed. Being in our safety zones can enhance social engagement in times of change. Individual safety zones are a reflection of our autonomic nervous systems.
The Power of Self-Regulation
Self-regulation [3] is crucial for resilience and leadership and it has three key aspects: Self-determination (planning and behaving according to one’s own motives and values), self-motivation (generating positive affect and the necessary energy for action), self-calming (down-regulating negative affect and maintaining self-access).
(Self)-Leadership Practices for Resilience
Resilience, flexibility, and agility are critical skills and self-leadership practices can directly support a sense of safety within ourselves and our teams. Here are some examples:
Things I can do on my own | Things I can do with others |
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Ultimately, the question is: What steps can I take to create a culture where people – including myself – feel safe, stable, and able to connect with each other? By understanding our nervous systems, cultivating self-regulation, and implementing these resilience-informed practices, we can lead ourselves and our teams effectively through the exciting, yet challenging, future landscape.
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