By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net

All of us have resilient challenges every single day. It is how we overcome the many life obstacles that allow us to pursue our dreams.

My personal life resiliency begins with the way I have successfully adapted to a lifelong disability (Cerebral Palsy.) Basically, CP makes me walk a bit funny and fall down more than I want.

As you reflect and act on your life resiliency – especially at work – I suggest you think about some of the resilient strategies I have used my entire life.

I hope the following helps you think through your own unique ways to keep your resiliency at work – and in life – the best it can be.

Smack-Down Resiliency

At a hotel work conference a couple years ago, I fell and smacked my head against an unforgiving marble floor. I was taken to the emergency room with a couple of my valued work colleagues at my side.

All I was thinking was that I just fell in front of dozens of my colleagues. What were they going to think except to pity me?

Then, my inner resiliency voice said: “Don’t worry about what others may think. You need to focus on yourself and use the resilient strategies that have helped you succeed in life, such as your adaptability, focusing actions you can control, not dwelling on negatives, persevering and staying patient.

I was ultimately O.K. But what my colleagues said afterward, I will never forget. They said: “We did not feel sorry for you, Steve. We were amazed how adaptable and resilient you are in life.”

Wow! Talk about how a very embarrassing work moment that turned into something truly special.

How are you using your resilience to get past challenges at your work and life today?

Resiliency: A 24-Hour-A-Day Proposition

A majority of us are going through a lot of stress and anxiety in these uncertain economic days.

A recent survey showed more than 50 percent of participants were not happy with their jobs. Companies are also going through unsettling times with forced layoffs and trying to stay afloat.

This is where understanding and applying resilient strategies can help you overcome such obstacles.

The work and life resilient strategies proven effective for me and I hope for you are:

Adaptability at Work

A TV career commercial jokingly said many people that we work with we would not spend six seconds with in our personal lives.

So how do you adapt to work styles and personalities not necessarily ideal for you?

The first resilient action I suggest is, “Never judge a book by its cover.”

Don’t worry, for example, that a person may be of a different generation, different gender, different beliefs or – like me – a bit different physically.

Very early in my career, a supervisor was caught up a bit with my physical disability. He would go down to the lunch room to get me something to eat, never schedule a meeting unless it was a short distance away from my cube, etc., etc. He later said he thought I was in pain when I walked.

Unfortunately, he assumed something that he never asked me about and adapted much of his free work time “to help me.” Finally, I sat down to let him know I never need help unless ask for… He was shocked when I told him about walking around the State Fair, lettering in tennis and golf in high school, etc. After this, he was released from adapting his day to make my work experience better.

The workplace point: All of us need to be adaptive in our work style with others. I suggest never assuming a person can’t do tasks at work or only has a certain skill set without asking or observing the person first.

Understanding Your Resilient Keys to Business Success and Personal Fulfillment

The Art of Compromise

Many of us are taught to stick to our beliefs and not compromise unless absolutely necessary.

In your job and career, however, this narrowly-defined attitude can spell ultimate failure. There was a study that showed not being able to compromise was one of the top reasons work relationships failed.

For me, compromise does not mean always giving in to the eccentricities or demands of your co-workers – or even your boss. It’s giving a little on both sides to find a common middle.

The workplace point: Sometimes your co-workers or other colleagues are right on about the implementation of a project or idea. I suggest not letting status and egos get in the way of a great idea.

A senior manager friend of mine once told me of a great compromise example. He received the best work advice from one of the company’s hourly workers at lunch.

The manager discussed a new work/life balance plan was to be communicated the following week. The worker was interested but asked how will it be communicated to his friends on the “grave yard” shift.

The manager said they would have to attend the presentation or call-in. The worker said work/life balance is great for those on the right shifts, but the presentation timing might be a burden with families, getting sleep, etc.

The light bulb went off and the manager said he added presentations at the times convenient for shift workers. It meant a bit more time, but ultimately was seen as very proactive in communicating the message.

The manager compromised – not because of superiors – but because he listened to a typical employee. It ultimately caused him less stress because he did not have to go back and “fix” something out-of-whack.

How could you “compromise” with a supervisor, co-worker or direct report to make a project go smoother?

Knowing Your Strengths

All of us have tremendous personal and professional strengths – and, of course, a few weaknesses along the way.

As leaders, we want to feel great about our work without waiting for the next crisis to hit.

A study has shown workers can improve their strengths by up to 30 percent. If they use the same amount of time to improve their weaknesses, they can only get less than a 10 percent improvement rate.

I have found my greatest work success when I focus on what I do best. I know that is easier said than done because many corporate cultures look for our missteps instead of valuing our successes.

When I was asked a couple years ago to create layoff communications plans that would affect my work friends – and ultimately me – the first draft was not seen as not “hard enough.”

I took the critique and used my strengths of adaptability to re=craft a more direct yet sensitive plan that was implemented.

The workplace point: Unless you lack some core skills, I suggest not worrying as much your weaknesses. Spend at least 80 percent of the time demonstrating your strengths to your working world.

Finding Common Ground

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? All of us should be on the same page at work. It only makes sense…

But do your reports truly know what the goals of a project or company are? Do you? Does your supervisor? Any of these trigger points can break down the sense of accomplishment, happiness and content we need at work.

How do you find common ground to move projects forward at all levels?

Actions Within Your Control

To also stay productive at work, all of us should manage our work expectations better.

Do you have ultimate control over how your supervisor reacts to a project you’ve completed? Can you truly manage how your reports spend their time? Do you have control of how you react to these two situations?

The answer to the first two questions is probably “not.” But you can control the third question as long as you have the proper mindset.

Many times we derail our sense of accomplishment because we worry about events out of our control.

For me, there are only three things you can totally control in your work or personal lives: Our attitude, values and how we relate to people. All three are work essentials.

Studies show nearly 95 percent of the projects or people you work with are only partially controllable by you.

A CEO speech I wrote once illustrates the point. Just a day before, the CEO thought the original speech was perfect. But the next day, as if I were in the Twilight Zone, he wanted a different focus. Could I control his change of opinion? No! But I could control how I reacted to him, and how I re-crafted the speech. If I let the “process” consume me, I could have never wrote what turned out to be an award-nominated speech.

The workplace point: If you let your attitude and mindset slip, life and work can really spiral downwards.

What workplace actions are totally within your control?

The Three Ps of Resiliency

To help with “control,” I suggest you remember the three Ps – perseverance, persistence and patience.

Perseverance: What can any of us do to reduce work stress?

To me, persevering means understanding what you control and applying what I do best… I suggest applying this to your work experience.

An example: After being laid off from the dream job I mentioned, I looked at what I could control. I developed a personal business plan, looked hard at my personal brand and truly had a heart-to-heart with myself.

My perseverance led me to developing an award-nominated resiliency blog worldwide attracting more than 1 million hits and establishing a business where I could speak at organizations like this. Developing additional resiliency materials for those in need led me to staying healthy. It is very humbling…

The workplace point: The lesson I learned – and one I suggest you should think about – is don’t pity yourself because you have had a professional setback or are not happy at work. Look at yourself hard and figure out your work passion.

Persistence: That great work idea you’ve had that no one seems to hear or understand. It could save the company thousands of dollars, or make employees understand the company better. And you just don’t have enough energy or will to pursue it any longer.

Definitely been there, done that…

But just think about those resilient innovators throughout history, such as Edison, Ford and Gates. Each had their own set of work challenges – including many business failures – but they persisted. Look at where persistence got them and where it might get you with your own unique resiliency mindset.

My resiliency goal is to help millions of people to understand how their resilient strengths can make a difference in their work/life happiness.

Patience: You feel like you are not getting anywhere at work. Too much is being asked of you or the type of work you do is not interesting anymore.

For me, I stepped back and never regretted it.

I was a senior marketer at Medtronic a few years ago. It was an interesting, yet unfulfilling, job for me.

I made a significant income and had a lot of responsibility but wanted to move back to my work passion of directing corporate communications.

I did not hurry but it led me away from Medtronic to another company where I was extremely happy until this economic perfect storm hit.

My patience led me to my work passion instead of just settling…

Managing Your Personal Brand

Understanding and believing in your personal brand at work is absolutely part of your unique resiliency mindset. Since the layoff, I retooled my “brand,” and my resiliency business is very humbly a success.

Adaptable, persistent, perseverance, patience, being seen as easy to work with and a team player…how are you being viewed at work?

How are you managing your personal brand at work and in life?

Knowing and Understanding Yourself

To also stay resilient at work, I’d suggest tapping into your personal vision of yourself:

What gives you satisfaction in your current job or life situation?

Recognize what makes you happy. Set aside what you “should” like, and think about what you “do” like.

If I let situations control me, I might still be looking for my next great work adventure.

Your Resiliency Next Steps

Please take a moment to think of a couple areas you’d like to improve about your workplace or life resiliency…

I suggest listing them and see how you are doing after one month, six months, one year. You may be surprised at how even more resilient you’ve become at work, but more importantly, in life!

How are you using your resiliency to help keep yourself moving forward?

One last short personal story: Because of my disability, my parents had to fight for my individual rights in the 1960s and early 1970s as I was growing up. They taught me something that can apply everyday in the workplace for you. While they did not use the word resilient, they said:

“Never worry about things you can’t do, cherish your strengths to always be your very best.”

I hope this quote will resonate with your life and career as it has done with mine! I hope you are having a resilient day and look forward to talking with you next week!