Resilience: Coming Back Stronger

Written by Henry Findlater

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again” – Nelson Mandela.

Resilience exists when a person bounces back and thrives after significant challenges.

The most resilient individuals and teams are not the ones that coast along, but instead, they are the ones that struggle, then learn and come back stronger because of it.

Struggling is far from a sign of weakness. The characteristics of those people who repeatedly come back from what they perceive to be failure go hand in hand with those of high achievers. They are the people who care the most about positive outcomes, those that are most ambitious and, crucially, those that can take negative feedback on board and adapt accordingly.

Resilience takes personal strength, but fostering it increases self-esteem, job satisfaction, productivity and, most importantly, happiness. It’s a win-win.

Brent Gleeson, the ex-Navy SEAL, breaks down the building blocks to resilience and “mental toughness”. His core components for resilience are:

CHALLENGE: Resilient people view difficulty as a challenge, not as a paralyzing event. They see failures and mistakes as lessons to be learned from and opportunities for growth.
COMMITMENT: Resilient people are extremely committed to their lives and goals. They take total ownership over proper planning, execution, and course correction.
CONTROL: They spend their time and energy on situations and events they have control over. And because they place their effort and emotion where they have the most impact, they are more empowered, confident, and fulfilled.

Here at MASECO, not only do we promote and encourage our employees to demonstrate resilience, but as a business, we have proved that without bouncing back and thriving after facing challenges, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are today. Over the last 13 years, starting with the global financial crisis and ending with a worldwide pandemic, we have consistently proved our ability to overcome problems and prosper with all the lessons learnt, making us the organisation we are today.

Rory Dorman, Partner and Senior Wealth Manager comments, “in my view it is resilience that has driven MASECO’s progress from a 4-man band working flat out in a 12 by 12 attic office on New Fettes Lane thirteen years ago to the dynamic and collaborative team we are today. A triumph of chutzpah and optimism, but all driven by resilience, learning and evolving as we go – the entrepreneurial spirit that is our bedrock. The journey and the evolution has come not only through working and collaborating with great colleagues; but also listening, learning and adapting from the feedback of fantastic clients, which is very much engrained within our culture.”

Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing some of the key lessons learnt as we reflect on how the business has changed since we were born back in 2008.

Thank you to our HR team for providing the content to create this blog.