Heavy clouds moved across the sky, blocking out Catalina Island that looms some 26 miles west of my California shore. I was reminded that when I first moved to this area, I had HEARD about Catalina but for the first three months, driving up the coast to my office, I gave it no more thought. And then, one early morning, coming out of Laguna Beach and onto an open stretch of highway, I glanced westward. There, huge and magnificent, was this amazing island with white cliffs pointing south. My brain flew to a National Geographic article I had read about how islands are sometimes born as a result of an undersea volcano.My heart beat quickly and for a fleeting moment, I thought of eruptions, earthquakes and everything else that can accompany the movement of the earth. Thankfully, sanity popped in and I realized I was looking at Catalina.I breathed a sigh of relief. Here is the resiliency lesson: Imagination can be our best and worst enemy.I expended a lot of emotional energy going first to the worst possible scenario. Because I could not clearly see reality, my brain went to the negative place. Perhaps this is a throwback from evolutionary times, a precaution against sabre-tooth tigers and mastodons. The limbic system puts us into a flight or fight response. Yet in today’s business world, such a response can be everything from foolish to foolhardy. When confronted with the unknown, apply the railroad crossing lesson: Stop. Look. Listen. Proceed with caution. Stop! Cease. Desist. Do nothing. Until you gather some information. Obviously, this does not hold true in times of danger and emergency. But the truth is, many business decisions are made without getting all the facts. I am all too often guilty of jumping into something prematurely because I pride myself on action!Many leaders do.Yet in a world of constant, shifting change, my action can be ill-advised. I own this one. Look!  There is great value in a 360 degrees vision. Often others see what we do not see. Ask for their input. Today, there are a number of smart leaders who ask their children what they think. They are the future consumers, the future employees. Listen!  Listening requires courage. Often, we do not want to listen to someone who has a different perspective. We might not value that person’s input. We might disregard whatever they say because of a pre-conceived idea as to their education or position. Yet, their voice can change a negative reaction into one of promise and possibility—all elements of optimism. Proceed!  I do believe in growing through situations. The steps might be small but the return on those steps can be very rewarding. Taking even small actions give a sense of hope. When the fires roared through Northern California and destroyed so many homes, neighborhood children sold lemonade to raise money for families who had lost everything. They collected clothing, housewares, and whatever might be of use and gave them to the Assistance League.Such action speaks of optimism and hope. Remember the railroad!  It can help keep us all on track.

It wasn’t until I got my first pair of glasses in sixth grade that I realized signs had readable letters, leaves weren’t blurry green, and I no longer had to sit in the front row to read the blackboard. Yes. The doctor said that without correction I would be classified as legally blind. That’s a scary thought when you are only 11 years old.  Now, decades later, having gone through thick glasses, contact lenses and Lasik surgery, I look at the world in a far different light. However, there’s another vision that occupies my mind these days: the light of optimism. Given the intense divisions that percolate around us, the degradation of our planet, the cry of the poor, the anguish of the displaced, a fractured global leadership, cyberterrorism and economic whiplash, optimism seems hard to come by. Thankfully, there are individuals whose spirit and actions offer hope that the glass can be seen as half-full.  Optimism is the activating ingredient in resiliency and if we are to grow through (not bounce back) from times like these, it is critical to pay attention to these role models. The February 2018 edition of FAST COMPANY Magazine profiled an amazing array of men and women from all areas of business and industry, profit and non-profit, to glean how we can begin the difficult work of building a better tomorrow.In the next few posts, I will share what lessons I am learning.My hope is that you, too, can decide where is your point of control and begin to use creativity, connection, and compassion to shape the world around us. The first lesson is: Determine your point of control. In the musical Hamilton, Alexander asks Aaron Burr, “If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for?” Tragically, as I write this, the students from Parkland, FL who witnessed the mass murder of 17 of their classmates and teachers, are showing adults what it means “to stand for something.” They are not waiting for adults to make changes to prevent such violence. Instead, they are taking control and using social media and non-violent means to begin organizing marches and campaigns. Take thoughtful action.I have always believed, as I state in my lectures, “action is the antidote for anxiety.”But action is not knee-jerk or rash. In the case of the students from Parkland, they are using tools that they know well (social media) to create a ground swell for change. Indeed, perhaps our greatest teachers for this world will be the younger generation who will carry us forward without being hamstrung by tradition, protocol, or cronyism. Look to your organization as a platform for change. Nike’s Hannah Jones insists that environmental protection and sustainability are possible. She’s the VP of Nike’s innovation and is charged with developing materials and ethical manufacturing so that Nike can reduce its carbon footprint on the world.It matters not whether an organization is as large as Nike or as small as my consultancy practice, all of us can be champions for change. Howard Zinn believed that “to have hope, one does not need certainty. Only possibility.” What a banner for all leaders to carry into the ever-shifting, chaotic world. Practice your vision. Look for what is possible - not impossible. Until the next time…

The front cover of FORTUNE February 2018 blared this headline: “You’re Hired. Companies are fighting for Talent”. Beneath this headline was another story line: “Show Your ‘Grit’ Why Life Experience is the new MBA”. These two headlines intersect with one word: resiliency. Resiliency is about growing through challenge OR opportunity. It is about wanting something enough to stick to it and relishing the work. It is also about staying the course because something has personal meaning. In a January 2018 article published in Harvard Business Review, a recent Facebook engagement survey found that people left their jobs for three reasons:  it wasn’t meaningful, their strengths were not being used, and there was no career growth.  (Of course, a horrid boss would prompt an exit but, contrary to popular myth, this was not the primary reason.) When a job is patterned, the same-old-same-old stuff, and a traditional career ladder is offered, great talent will not accept nor will they stay. Rather, in today’s fast-paced, changing competitive world, resilient people look for creative options, the ability to adapt on the fly, and the excitement of a challenge. Hiring managers should forget old, tired resumes and instead, ask compelling questions that surface life’s experiences and personal qualities like adaptability and agility. Managers need to probe and have real-time conversations (not text messages) to surface an employee’s interests and passions. Then, together with the employees, think creatively about how to bring that interest and passion into the job. Case in point.Years ago, while consulting for an organization, I learned that their highly regarded operations manager loved to write and was keenly interested in travel. After discussing with the powers that be, we created another assignment for her. The sales team were obligated to travel extensively.  She agreed to write an internal newsletter about what employees might learn and encounter in the many geographies. The value of her effort was immediately noted and a number of her operations tasks were off-loaded to other employees who expressed interest in learning operations.It was a win-win all around! Some organizations allow and encourage employees to take a specific amount of time to work on their “art”. I discovered that Malaysian Airlines allows employees time to work on their music, dance or other arts. To my great delight, we were treated to an incredible show put on by Malaysian Airline employees during a conference I addressed in Kuala Lumpur. Bottom line: People who are challenged, creative, and matched with their interests and growth options are resilient AND engaged.  Isn’t that what we all want?

The other day, I drove down the street by the high school.Kids were standing by the fence, sitting on the sidewalk, or lounging on a car. No one was talking. All eyes were glued to their smartphone.All looked so serious. It felt creepy. Dystopian. Today I found out why. A sharp drop in happiness, self-esteem and life satisfaction of American teens parallels ownership in smart phones which has jumped to 73% along with an increasing share of teen time spent on line. According to the journal EMOTION, psychologists from San Diego State and the University of Georgia surveyed 1.1 million U.S. teens to determine why happiness and satisfaction plummeted in 2012 and continues to fall. They found that adolescents who spend more time on electronic communication and screens were less happy, less-satisfied with their lives, and had lower self-esteem.In contrast, those who spent more time with their friends in person, reading printing media, and playing sports, participating in group activities, and exercising were higher in psychological well-being. I have no doubt that if the researchers had studied 1.1 million U.S. adults, they would have found the same results. Some of the smartest managers I know insist on tech-free meetings. Without eyeballs glued to a screen, team members actually—gasp—talk to each other. They freely share ideas, concerns, explore issues, and devise plans.T hey laugh. They ponder. And they become human. Where will you draw the line? Who is the master and who is the slave? It’s a serious and critical question. At the very least, can you be “brave enough” to create a tech-free boundary around yourself for a specific length of time?  Parents, create a tech-free dinner hour. Take the family on a walk, explore a park, visit a museum. BE with each other. We can’t pull together a horribly divided world without starting first in the context of our professional and personal lives. Hanging up now. Turning off. What is your choice?

Rolling over into another year, I found myself making the usual intentions and goals for my professional and personal life. Then it suddenly hit me: I have more years behind me than I do ahead. As fate would have it, my intuitive sister slipped me a book for Christmas: Balancing Act: Strategies for Successful Aging by Sandra Conant Strachan. Reading the book was like listening to my own voice only one step higher. Turns out, Sandy had been influenced by my book, Your Resiliency GPS but her words opened up a new insight into thinking about GPS - growth potential strategy. Read the rest of the article here!

Good old Webster defines sales as “the exchange of goods, services, or property for money.” I contend we also engage in the act of “selling” when we want support for an idea, a course of action, or the engaged hearts and minds of people who work with us. In short, everyone is in “sales”. Rejection hurts and the pain can go from minor to severe. One young man was so demoralized when he didn’t get the hoped-for job that he literally refused to leave his home. He thought he had not “sold” himself well. A missed sales target puts one team in a blue funk that cast a shadow of gloom throughout the building. Read the rest of this article on  LinkedIn .

From raging forest fires that claimed 44 lives and 10,000 homes so far in Northern California, to the hurricane floods that washed over Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, from the bitter hate speech that continues to spill across social media to the incoherent ramblings of too many so-called “leaders”—this has been a year that has battered our spirits. Who would think that The Last Jedi would offer some keen insights into what might prop up our souls and help our resiliency. In the movie, despite being overrun, outgunned, and backed into a corner, resistance forces rallied around the words of Commander Leia, “Hope is like the sun. If you only believe it when you see it, you’ll never make it through the night.” Read the rest of this article on LinkedIn .

Recruitment of talent is one issue. But the retention of talent looms as an ever-larger concern for organizations seeking to be resilient in the future. According to a Deloitte study, 83% of companies are seriously worried about their leadership pipelines yet only 8% of companies have strong programs to build leadership skills in their millennial populations. DANGER: By 2020 2/3 of millennials are poised to leave their company. Training to replace costs companies between $15,000 - $25,000. SOLUTION: Research shows that mentoring is the quickest way to advance people and keep them. Read the rest of this article on LinkedIn.

Resilience is a way of walking though life. As I explored the wisdom we all get in hindsight, I realized that there is another word we might use: PREsilience (preventive resilience). These are skills and actions that can be cultivated, developed, and taken BEFORE necessity strikes. It is about being pro-active and prepared. If not prepared and proactive, your head will resonate with after-the-fact "if onlys." In short, human resiliency is far deeper and more all encompassing than how the dictionary defines "resilience." Read the rest of this article at LinkedIn.

What fires together, wires together. That’s the neurological explanation for creating new brain patterns. And humor is a pattern that can be practiced and honed into a resource to be used every day in both times of challenge as well as opportunity. Learn more at https://www.eileenmcdargh.com and http://www.karynbuxman.com.

Throughout the long, howling night of Saturday Dec. 26, Jim and Stephen crouched in their storm shelter as 11 tornadoes roared through Garland, TX and the Dallas Metroplex. In a story told to a colleague, the two men described it as “hell on earth”. When they emerged and gazed around, not only were they missing a home but pretty much the entire neighborhood. The surprising tenderness however occurred in the early morning hours. Here is their story. They woke around 6am to a rapping on the weighted door of their shelter.The sound was strange and unnerving as the weather outside was still very stormy. They unbolted the door and were greeted by a gentleman with a giant umbrella, briefcase and a large carry bag of Dunkin Donuts from nearby Meadowcreek Village. “You got room for one more? It's nasty up here,” the man hollered. He clambered down and the three began to talk about the night, wondering aloud about the damages at the local schools, how people would be getting around. The unidentified man said he had walked the last several blocks to see them because the neighborhood streets were blocked. They didn't find out who he was until he prepared to leave. Surprise: He represented their insurance agency, U.S.A.A. He handed them large sum gift-cards from Target, Wal-Mart, Tom Thumb, Albertsons and Aldi. He told them that both car rentals and home demolition had been arranged. The rental cars would be delivered later in the day and the demolition team was scheduled for Monday afternoon. But the demo team would be preceded by a reclamation team to gather as much as possible that survived in the ruins of their home. Jim gulped back tears as they sat there looking at several thousands of dollars worth of gift cards, paperwork and phone contacts for their prearranged vehicles, reclamation team, demolition team and for the nearby storage facility where whatever could be salvaged would be put until their home was rebuilt. To date, they have no idea if the gentleman from U.S.A.A. was taking it on himself to address the critical need for assistance in the area or if it is a company norm... but in the midst of such chaos, destruction, death and loss… the tenderness of this person-to-person touch revived belief in neighborly goodness and corporate care-taking. This might be a good lesson and resolution to carry forward into 2016.Remember, it doesn’t take a disaster to bring out human tenderness and kindness. P.S.  Just found out that, U.S.A.A arranged for an extended stay hotel at the nearby Holiday Inn Express.It was more expensive than other choices but the closest to their home!It’s been nothing short of a miracle the way they have been treated! PPS: Resiliency and recovery go hand-in-hand. However, the hand-up from others aids the task *Photo courtesy of Sergey Nivens

Join me as I ask my colleague in The Resiliency Group, Karyn Buxman, if it is fact or fiction that humor can help us when faced with sudden, horrid disasters? Certainly, the devastating hurricanes that slammed Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico test everyone’s resiliency. This was followed by the largest firestorm in the history of California that killed 51 people and destroyed over 8,000 structures, leveling the City of Santa Rosa. Let’s see what she says. Learn more at https://www.eileenmcdargh.com and http://www.karynbuxman.com.