The term resilience stems from resilire, resilio, Latin for “bounce” – hence the idea of “bouncing back” (Manyena et al., 2011) and refers to the maintenance of positive adjustment under challenging conditions.
This term is back in fashion thanks to the world leaders, like Barack Obama, who spoke of it as a decisive factor to get out of the recent crisis: “Resilient Dynamism”, was the focus of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2013.
As Giles Chance said, “the resilient dynamism envisaged by the Davos Conference, a world of greater economic confidence and of shared prosperity, depends on the new world that is emerging from the wreckage of the Western financial collapse. But only if the developed countries can relinquish their control of a world in which they are no longer the masters, and turn instead to the emerging countries in a spirit of true partnership and shared enterprise, can the aims of the Davos 2013 meeting - building resilient institutions, improving decision-making and establishing shared norms - be realized”.
How can entrepreneurs develop this skill and grow it?
Different studies conducted at the Rockefeller Foundation have shown that there are five core characteristics that resilient systems have in common:
- Spare capacity
- Flexibility — the ability to change, evolve, and adapt in the face of disaster
- Limited or “safe” failure, which prevents failures from rippling across systems
- Rapid rebound — the capacity to reestablish function and avoid long-term disruptionsConstant learning, with robust feedback loops
The resilient entrepreneur has a sense of reality but also empathy, intuition and his own vision.
All these skills can be cultivated either by taking care of themselves and by exercising mindfulness or the ability to live the moment, here and now, and to observe in a non-judgmental way.
As Judith Rodin, former president of Rockefeller Foundation, writes “Building resilience is not a luxury, it’s a 21st century imperative.”
If you want to understand better which skills are required to be an excellent entrepreneur follow our blog and join our e-learning course, available at the following link: http://letsguide.erasmusplus.website.