Episode 3: How YOU Can Lead Anyone Part 2 - Resilient Leadership: Seeing Opportunity in the Midst of Crisis | 12MinuteLeadership

What defines great leadership when crisis strikes? True resilience isn't just bouncing back—it's emerging stronger and more authentic than before. 

When medical practice owner Jenna discovered her trusted operations person had embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars, she faced a devastating professional and personal betrayal that affected her entire team. The financial loss was substantial, but the breach of trust was even more profound. Rather than getting lost in the trauma, Jenna made a conscious choice about the kind of leader she wanted to be during this crisis.

Through powerful questions and strategic reframing, Jenna transformed what could have been a business-ending disaster into unexpected opportunity. The investigation revealed inefficient systems that needed overhaul. A more skilled family member stepped in to manage finances. Most remarkably, her transparent, vision-focused leadership during crisis forged deeper bonds with her team, who rallied around her despite temporarily shouldering more responsibilities.

Resilience is a leadership muscle that requires intentional strengthening. You might need to build this capacity if you typically respond to challenges with stress and overwhelm, take failure personally rather than seeing it as a learning experience, or believe you must handle difficulties alone. The truth is that resilient leaders acknowledge current realities while inspiring a path forward, remain solution-focused when much seems out of control, and discover opportunities hidden within setbacks.

Ready to strengthen your own resilience? Try writing a letter to your future self, imagining what the version of you on the other side of a current challenge would say. Study leaders who've overcome adversity and borrow their strategies. Remember that resilience isn't about returning to who you were—it's becoming more of who you're meant to be. Subscribe now to continue this leadership journey and discover practical wisdom that transforms your leadership in just 12 minutes each week.

Follow on Instagram: @12minuteleadership

Order my book, Lead Anyone!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the 12-Minute Leadership Podcast
where, in 12 minutes or less,I'll share small things that you
can put into immediate practicethat will make a big difference
in your leadershipeffectiveness.
I'm your host, eliseBoggs-Morales leadership
professor, consultant and coach.
For the last 17 years, I havehelped thousands of leaders

(00:25):
level up their influence andachieve remarkable results.
If you want to trade compliancefor true commitment and create
your dream team, you are in theright place.
Get ready for a quick hit ofpractical wisdom to increase
your team's engagement, inspiretop performance and retain your
best talent.
Ready to level up yourinfluence and get better results

(00:47):
.
12 Minutes starts now.
Hi everyone Elise here, welcometo episode five how you Can
Lead Anyone, part two.
If you joined me last week, youknow that I'm taking some of my
favorite chapters from my recentbook and sharing them with you
on this podcast.

(01:07):
My book is a series of 28 shortdaily readings and each day's
content will take you onlyminutes to read, but those
minutes are packed withpractical wisdom and inspiring
stories of leaders I've workedwith.
These stories are one of myfavorite parts of each chapter,
because these leaders are trulymy heroes.
While I may serve as a guide,they are really the ones who

(01:31):
have to do the hard work, andit's been truly amazing to
witness the courage and resolvethey have demonstrated,
especially during times ofcrisis.
While some leaders may havefolded, these leaders somehow
came out better on the otherside.
They were resilient.
Resilience is a magnetic quality, and that's the focus of

(01:52):
today's episode, taken from dayeight of the book, which
explores how a crisis doesn'thave to break leaders, but can
actually reveal the truest,strongest version of who you're
meant to be.
Reveal the truest, strongestversion of who you're meant to
be.
Think about a crisis you havefaced.
While difficult at the time,did you later realize that it
was the moment you became astronger leader?

(02:13):
Ultimately, resilience is achoice to be built up by an
experience rather than beingbroken down by it or permanently
defined by it.
And resilience is a muscle thathas to be intentionally built
and strengthened.
You don't build it by readingabout it in a book.
You build it by walking throughchallenging situations with a

(02:34):
sense of curiosity and resolveto bounce back from setbacks and
continue moving forward.
And, as leaders, beingresilient is especially
important because your team islooking to you to give events
meaning and show them the wayforward.
That's why the language you usein crisis also matters, and it
sets the tone for how your teamis going to follow suit.

(02:58):
In times of crisis, resilientleaders acknowledge the current
reality and then inspire a wayforward.
They might say things like thisis a challenging moment, but I
have faith in our team's abilityto navigate these difficulties,
versus communicating a sense ofoverwhelm and talking about
worst case scenarios.
Even in situations where muchmay be out of their control,

(03:22):
resilient leaders regain a senseof empowerment by being
solution-focused, flexible andoptimistic.
So how do you know if you mayneed to build your skill set and
resilience?
Here are three symptoms.
One, your first response whenyour team experiences challenges
is stress and overwhelm.
Two, you take failure hardinstead of seeing it as a

(03:44):
learning experience.
Three, you assume you musthandle challenges on your own
instead of getting help andideas from others.
So now I want to switch gears toshare the inspiring story of a
leader I worked with whoepitomizes resilience.
My client, jenna, owns asuccessful medical practice, and
during one of our coachingsessions, she shared a

(04:06):
horrifying discovery Heroperations person had been
embezzling hundreds of thousandsof dollars from the business,
and not only was this aprofessional betrayal, but it
was also a personal one thataffected the entire team, as
they all shared a closerelationship with this person.
The team had worked hard tobuild a successful practice and

(04:29):
now it was clear why the volumeof patients didn't match the
level of income the practice wasbringing in.
The loss was also difficult ona practical level.
The operations person had beena key employee who oversaw the
clinic's back-end systems.
The fallout of a betrayal ofthis magnitude and its impact on
the business and team could beoverwhelming for any leader.
When Jenna told me what happened, I remember pausing, not so

(04:53):
much to give her advice but toask her a series of questions
that could help her shift herleadership and rise above the
situation she was facing.
I asked Jenna what kind ofleader she wanted to be as she
navigated the situation.
I asked her to share what sheenvisioned a stronger team and a
more profitable business couldlook like a year into the future

(05:13):
.
I asked her if she felt likeshe could forecast victory
versus defeat to her team in theway that she communicated, and
I asked her if she could lead insuch a way that this crisis
could be viewed as anopportunity to make the business
better and help her team growcloser.
This exercise was an amazingone to witness, as Jenna began

(05:34):
articulating her vision for thebusiness and the leadership
philosophy that would get herteam there.
Just a couple months later,jenna shared some of the
unexpected opportunities thathad surfaced as a result of the
crisis.
During the investigation, itwas discovered that many of the
processes and systems the formeroperations person had set up

(05:55):
had been really inefficient, andso cleaning up these systems
would profoundly affect thebusiness.
Jenna also found unexpectedresources in the form of a
family member who offered totake over finances and profit
projections.
She trusted this personcompletely, and he was actually
exceptionally more skilled thanthe operations person had been.

(06:17):
No matter how things look,crisis always comes with
opportunities if you are open toseeing them and willing to
search them out.
Some are obvious and some aremore subtle, but they are there,
and if you can positionyourself to look for them, that
mindset will set you on a pathto be resilient.

(06:38):
Jenna also wanted to be able tocreate a closer bond with her
team during the crisis, shewanted to be known as both a
transparent and caring leader,and she kept that desire front
of mind in all her communicationand interactions with her team.
Jenna's team had to temporarilytake on more responsibility,
but they were fully committed toJenna, the patients and the

(07:00):
business's success.
They all wanted to see thevision Jenna articulated for the
future realized, and becausethe business has a resilient
leader like Jenna at the helm,there have already been massive
leaps in that vision beingrealized.
So here are three resiliencebuilding lessons from Jenna's
experience.
One reframe the crisis buildinglessons from Jenna's experience

(07:25):
.
One reframe the crisis.
Jenna imagined the kind ofleader she wanted to be.
Two communicate the vision.
She didn't just lead throughthe storm, she invited her team
into the possibility of what'snext and, finally, trust the
process.
She discovered new strengths,support and systems that
wouldn't have surfaced withoutthe crisis.
So how can you take theselessons from Jenna's experience

(07:47):
and strengthen your ownresilience muscle?
Here's a question you canreflect on.
If you're in a crisis right now, what would the version of you
on the other side of it say toyou today?
Want to take it a step furtherto you today.
Want to take it a step further.
Write a letter to your futureself.
Imagine yourself past thecurrent crisis and settled into

(08:08):
a new season of success.
Describe exactly what thingslook like resolved and
functioning at their best.
And if you're not facing acrisis right now, write how
you'll respond when one doescome.
And here's a bonus idea Picksomeone you admire a leader, an
artist, an athlete and study howthey came through hard times.

(08:30):
What made them resilient, whatcan you borrow?
And, in closing, remember thatresilience isn't about going
back to who you were.
It's becoming more of whoyou're meant to be.
So I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Join me next week as I continuethis series on how you can lead
anyone part three.

(08:50):
I'll see you then Like what youheard on today's episode and
want to go deeper.
Subscribe to this podcast soyou never miss an episode.
You can also pick up my bookpodcast so you never miss an
episode.
You can also pick up my bookLead Anyone on Amazon.
Then go to my website to checkout ways that we can support

(09:12):
your leadership goals.
From executive retreats tocustomized training and coaching
, my team of experts will helpyou level up your leadership and
accelerate your results.
Go to wwweliseboggscom for moreinfo.