Building a Resilient Team: Leadership Strategies for Tough Times

Episode Title: Building a Resilient Team: Leadership Strategies for Tough Times

Episode Overview:
Resilience in the workplace is declining—44% of employees report feeling daily stress, and resilience has dropped nearly 30% since 2019. Burnout is real, and teams are struggling to bounce back from setbacks.

As a leader, how do you help your team build resilience so they don’t crack under pressure?

In this episode of Things Leaders Do, host Colby Morris unpacks three key strategies—two for individual resilience and one for team resilience—to create a team that thrives under pressure instead of breaking down.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why resilience is declining in today’s workforce (and how it’s affecting your team)
• The science of mental toughness and how to train your mindset like an athlete
• How small wins create lasting resilience (and how to structure them for your team)
• Why the best teams thrive under pressure and how to build a “challenge-safe” culture
• Research-backed strategies from Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan, and McKinsey

Actionable Leadership Takeaways:

• Reframe stress as a challenge, not a threat—Harvard research shows this is the #1 predictor of resilience
• Use “What-If” Scenarios—Train your team to think ahead so they’re prepared for setbacks before they happen
• Break challenges into smaller wins—Stanford research shows small successes build long-term resilience
• Encourage open debriefs—Resilient teams don’t avoid failure, they learn from it

Bonus: If you need help strengthening resilience in your organization, Colby is available for keynote speaking, corporate trainings, and leadership workshops.

Listen & Subscribe:
Find this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms.

Let’s Connect:

• LinkedIn: Connect with Colby for more leadership insights.
• Website: nxtstepadvisors.com – leadership resources & speaking inquiries.

Enjoyed this episode? Share it with a leader in your network and drop a comment with your biggest takeaway.

#Leadership #Resilience #ThingsLeadersDo #ManagementTips #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #PsychologicalSafety

• Colby's LinkedIn Profile
• Things Leaders Do Instagram

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Things Leaders Do, the podcast that
uncovers the secrets of becomingan extraordinary leader.
If you're a leader who'sconstantly seeking growth,
inspiration and tangible ways tolevel up your leadership, then
you've come to the right place.
Remember, the world needsexceptional leaders, and that
leader is you Now.
Here's your host, colby Morris.

(00:23):
Is you Now?
Here's your host, colby Morris.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello leaders, and welcome back to the TLD podcast.
I'm Colby Morris, and if you'rehere, it's because you care
about becoming a better leaderfaster.
Now let me ask you something Doyou feel like people have

(00:48):
gotten weaker?
I know that's a bold question,but stick with me.
I don't mean physically weaker,I mean mentally, emotionally,
professionally.
Resilience used to be somethingpeople admired and they worked
hard to develop it, but intoday's workplace, it seems like
resilience is fading.
And I'm not just saying thatbecause I think the younger

(01:10):
generation is soft, because,honestly, I don't believe that,
but the research backs thistheory up no-transcript.

(01:51):
So, leaders, this is a problembecause if your team lacks
resilience, they'll struggleunder pressure, they'll give up
when the things get tough,they'll burn out faster than you
can replace them.
So today I'm giving you threepowerful strategies to build

(02:12):
resilience, two for individualsand one for your entire team.
And just so we're clear thisthis isn't about telling people
to toughen up.
It's.
It's about helping them developthe skills, the mindset, the
habits that create resilience.
All right, if you wantresilient employees, you need to

(02:36):
help them train their mindset,like an athlete trains their
body.
Resilience is not just aboutstaying strong.
It's about developing cognitiveflexibility, or I like to call

(03:01):
it mental dexterity, or theability to shift perspectives,
to solve problems, to keep goingeven when things are getting
tough.
The Harvard Business Review in2023 found that the number one
predictor of workplaceresilience is a person's ability
to reframe stress as achallenge instead of a threat.
Did you hear that One more time?
The number one predictor ofworkplace resilience is a

(03:21):
person's ability to reframestress as a challenge instead of
a threat.
So I'm going to give you someaction steps.
First, I want you to teach yourteam to reframe setbacks.
Instead of I failed, help themthink what did I learn?
Encourage what-if scenarios.

(03:45):
This helps them prepare forproblems before, literally, they
ever happen.
So, for example, let's say youmanage a sales team.
Little did they ever happen.
So, for example, let's say youmanage a sales team.
Instead of waiting until theend of the quarter to deal with
whatever potential performanceissues are, ask what if our
biggest client unexpectedlycancels?
What's our backup plan?

(04:07):
This exercise helps your teammentally prepare for those high
pressure situations before theyhappen.
Why, so they don't panic whenthose kinds of challenges arise?
Okay, and then I want you tomodel resiliency yourself.
When things go wrong, don't,don't just fix the issue.
Talk through your uh, yourthought process out loud so your

(04:34):
team learns how to problemsolve in real time.
Make them a part of thatprocess, all right.
Number two resilience isn't justabout handling failure.
It's about building confidencethrough small wins.
Building confidence throughsmall wins.

(04:57):
Stanford psychologist Dr CarolDweck found that people with a
growth mindset meaning they seechallenges as opportunities to
improve they are 75% more likelyto persist in difficult
situations than those with afixed mindset.
When employees experiencesuccess in small, controlled

(05:19):
ways, their brain actuallybuilds resilience.
Naturally, it's because theysee evidence that they are
capable of overcoming obstacles.
So here's your action steps.
First, I want you to break bigchallenges into smaller,

(05:40):
winnable tasks.
Okay, this prevents overwhelm.
It builds momentum.
Two, I want you to celebratesmall wins publicly, not just
the big victories.
When someone pushes through atough day, acknowledge it.
Three, I want you to push themoutside their comfort zone
gradually.
Let's or let them take measuredrisks so they can see

(06:04):
themselves succeed.
A few years ago, I had a teammember who was hesitant to take
on any type of leadership role.
Who was hesitant to take on anytype of leadership role?
Instead of throwing them intothe deep end.
I gave them small leadershipresponsibilities leading a
single project here, running ashort meeting over there until

(06:30):
they built the confidence.
Within one year they werethriving in a management role.
Resilience grows in stages, notall at once, and that's
something that a lot of leadersreally struggle with.
They want to throw someone intothat immediately, but that

(06:53):
resiliency grows in stages.
All right.
Number three resilience isn'tjust an individual trait, it's a
team culture.
Teams that thrive underpressure don't just have tough
employees, they have a safeenvironment where people feel

(07:14):
challenged without fear offailure.
Mit Sloan's 2024 study onworkplace resilience found that
the most resilient teams havehigh levels of psychological
safety.
That basically means thatpeople feel safe to fail.
They are safe, they can learn,they can improve without being
punished.

(07:36):
Okay, so here's your actionsteps.
First, encourage opendiscussion about challenges.
Just have regular debriefswhere people can share failures
without the blame.
Two I want you to lead withcuriosity, not judgment.
Instead of asking why did thisgo wrong, ask okay, what did we

(07:58):
learn?
So, for example, if a projectdeadline is missed, instead of
blaming someone, you mightuncover that the real issue was
unclear communication orunrealistic timelines.
Those are things you can fixfor next time.
And then three create a culturewhere it's okay to push limits.

(08:21):
If people are afraid to try newideas, they will not develop
resilience.
And, as a leader, that's whereyou come in.
You have to create that culturewhere it's okay to push the
limit.
Resilience isn't about justbeing tough.

(08:44):
It's about training your mind,it's stacking small wins, it's
creating work culture thatsupports growth under pressure.
So here's my challenge for youthis week Pick one of these
three strategies and startapplying it.
Just one, remember you don'tget better at anything that you

(09:06):
don't practice, and if you don'tpick something and start
working on it, you're not goingto be better at it than you were
yesterday, than last week, thanlast month.
Your team will not be better atit than they were last week,
last month.
Your team will not be better atit than they were last week,
last month.
You, as a leader, have topractice things in order to be a

(09:28):
better leader.
If you want more leadershipinsights like this, please
subscribe to the podcast orshare this episode with another
leader.
Maybe you think they could useit.
And don't forget to connectwith me on LinkedIn or over at
the webpage nextstepadvisorscom.
That's N-X-T.
There's no E in there,nextstepadvisorscom, and I'm

(09:51):
also available for corporatetrainings, keynote speaking,
leadership workshops, whateverit is.
If your team needs a resiliencyboost, let's make it happen.
So go out there, teach yourteams to be resilient, create a
culture of resiliency.
And you know why?
Because those are the thingsthat leaders do.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
Thank you for listening to Things Leaders Do.
If you're looking for more tipson how to be a better leader,
be sure to subscribe to thepodcast and listen to next
week's episode.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Until next time, keep working on being a better
leader by doing the things thatleaders do.