I’d like to introduce you to a new concept based on more than thirty years of research conceived by my long time friend Steven Stein who has written many bestselling books on the topic of Emotional Intelligence together with Paul Barton.
The concept is “Hardiness” and comes from how plants can survive in different temperature zones.
The insight and knowledge about Hardiness will help us deal with these difficult times and the timing of the publishing of the research and the book could not have been more on target. When we are pushed out of our comfort zones, when we cannot rely on seeing friends and family for support, when we are unhappy at work because of bad bosses or lack of engagement – that´s when our hardiness and resilience are tested. With the stress and complexity added by Corona it is more important than ever that we learn and practice our Hardiness and EQ skills.
Hardiness is a mindset that can be changed – people can learn to be hardier just as they can learn to be more emotionally intelligent. Across occupations and social classes, the hardiness mindset is linked to better health, performance and success. The three C´s are pivotal:
- Control – Learn to control what you can control which is your own response to what is happening
- Challenge – Learn to adapt to change – where do I want to go in my life
- Commitment – Keep going – things will come out okay.
When we understand and work to develop these traits in ourselves we unlock our potential for growth and turn stress into a force of good.
EI and Hardiness go hand in hand and correlate well, mostly to stress tolerance and to optimism as can be expected.
Hardiness is critical in terms of getting through and pushing on. The ability to set goals, look and learn from failure and balancing different aspects of your life – good and bad, to keep cool and to keep going. Every day is not roses – there will be bad days and hardy people quickly recover from unseen setbacks and build resilience to the effects of stress.
It is about how to leverage, evaluate and improve your response to stress and how you can turn your life´s stressors into success factors through the use of practical tools and real-life experiences. My company in Asia, Kandidata Asia uses the Hardiness Gauge and the EQ-i2.0 to assess and design development programs to help leaders, managers and others to build resilience and hardiness and optimize the use of their EQ skills.
Regardless of our circumstances we all have the capacity to transform losses and setbacks into lessons and opportunities that will motivate us to keep thriving.
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