Resilience isn’t a trait – it’s a practice

Pete Stoddart - Executive Coach

Resilience gets talked about like it’s something you either have or you don’t.

I don’t think that’s true.

In leadership – and in business – resilience isn’t a personality trait. It’s built in moments when you could reasonably decide you’re out.

Every leader hits those points. A quarter that doesn’t land. A restructuring that drags. Pressure from above and below at the same time. The week where everything stacks up and you start questioning whether it’s worth it.

That’s the moment. You can step back. Or you can decide you’re still in.

What I’ve learned – and what we see repeatedly in our coaching – is that resilience grows each time you stay in long enough to work through it. Not blindly. Not stubbornly. But deliberately.

It’s the quiet decision to make the next adjustment instead of walking away.

Marilyn Orr, Vision’s Managing Director Of Coaching And Program Delivery and one of our most experienced coaches, wrote a book on resilience – How Absorbent Are Your Shocks?: Everyday Resiliency Tools. 

What makes her perspective powerful isn’t just the theory – it’s that she later had to practise it in very real ways. Career shifts. Cross-border challenges. Personal upheaval. Rebuilding.

Resilience, in her experience – and in ours – isn’t about pretending things are fine. It’s about staying committed long enough to learn from what isn’t.

Each time you do that, something compounds. Your judgment sharpens. Your confidence increases. You recognize patterns faster. The next difficult stretch doesn’t feel quite as destabilizing.

The leaders who grow the most aren’t the ones who avoid difficulty. They’re the ones who treat it as part of the process.

Over time, that commitment becomes capability.

Sincerely,

Pete Stoddart

COO and Leadership Coach

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