Welcome to the Monthly Newsletter by Amer Kaissi 

Edition #19, June 2021

Resilience continues to be one of the most talked-about topics in leadership this year. Employees, middle managers and executives are still feeling the impact of the global pandemic and struggling with chronic stress, exhaustion and burnout. For this important reason, I chose to highlight “Calm within the Storm: A Pathway to Everyday Resiliency” (2021) by Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe for this edition of the newsletter. While this book is not written just for leaders, I believe leaders can tremendously benefit from its concepts.

The main idea at the heart of the book is that resilience is not about being perfect or at the top of your game. It is about having a conviction that you will be okay no matter what. When I talk about resilience to leaders in healthcare, I make a strong connection between resilience and realistic optimism. This type of optimism deals with setbacks as temporary (“it’s going away quickly”); local (“it’s just this one situation”) and changeable (“I can do something about it”).
The author makes a similar case: resilience is a mindset, but it is also about self-efficacy and confidence in our own abilities. It is about telling yourself: “I believe I can do hard things.”

Based on solid research and her deep personal experiences, Dr. Hanley-Dafoe argues that the three main obstacles to resilience are chronic stress, fear and stigma. To overcome these barriers, leaders can focus on five main pillars: belonging, perspective, acceptance, hope and humor.

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Dr. Amer Kaissi is a Top Leadership Keynote Speaker. He speaks about leadership, teams and culture.