If You’re a SME Leader, You Can Become Resilient with these Strategies

Navigating the Pressure: Through Resilience and Growth Mindset

Understanding the intense pressures SME leaders face and the critical importance of resilience in overcoming challenges, is key to their success as they navigate their ability to build resilience quickly and effectively, while still navigating through the storm and keeping their team safe.

Developing a growth mindset is necessary for them to see challenges as opportunities for building resilience, rather than irrecoverable setbacks. In her work, researcher Carol Dweck showed that individuals with a growth mindset were far more likely to build resilience in adversity than those who had self- limiting beliefs and saw failure as the end of the road.

Adaptive Thinking VS Traditional Thinking

The next step is to develop adaptive thinking skills, which are rather different from the traditional problem-solving skills of finding direct answers to known problems. Adaptive and flexible thinking allows leaders to pivot and change according to market forces and limited options by thinking outside the box. Maltese professor and creator of Lateral Thinking, Edward de Bono, shows that looking at problems from different aspects (using his six thinking hats analogy) allows leaders to build resilience through alternative approaches to problem-solving.

The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

Whilst leaders are at the helm of SMEs, they need to practice emotional intelligence with their teams, customers, and suppliers in order to maintain healthy relationships at all times. Others around them may be going through the same worry and stress, so leading with EQ and building emotional resilience is key to keeping the team together and the leader in the right emotional state.

Creating a Support System: The Power of Peers

Another key factor to maximise resilience is to surround yourself with reliable advisors or peers. Organisations like VISTAGE are useful in helping CEOs avoid the blind spots that come with loneliness at the top. The ability to seek alternative solutions from their peers and see things from a different perspective builds resilience in decision-making, alleviating some of the pressure. There is a lot of value in a safe space where a leader can share their worries and concerns in a trusted environment.

Investing in Your Team and Skills

Whilst associates are healthy sounding boards that help build resilience in your business, so must your team. Investing in their training is key to building the mix of technical and leadership skills required to deal with SME business day-to-day. Having a strong team not only builds the resilience required for a future storm but also frees up time for the CEO to focus on strategy and avoid micromanagement.

Healthy Leaders, Healthy Outcomes

Paradoxically, building resilience kind actually requires stress, as getting uncomfortable is necessary for growth. Resilient leaders and their teams are comfortable being uncomfortable, and the best thrive under this pressure. To do so, however, the individuals need to be healthy and fit, both physically and mentally. Leaders need to perform at their best, so they need to invest in self-care and well-being, getting enough sleep and downtime, and living healthy lives.

When the Going Gets Tough

Finally, when the going gets tough, the voice in our head often questions our reason for putting ourselves through this difficult time. Once again, this instance is the perfect opportunity to build resilience. We can do this by focusing on our purpose and the long-term objectives, reminding ourselves that we are merely on a difficult part of the journey to a better place. It’s a cliché that “pressure is required to create diamonds,” yet it is true for resilience. You need pressure both to build it up and to practice using it.

Leveraging Resilience for Competitive Advantage

These practices empower leaders to weather difficulties, inspire their teams, and create resilient organisations capable of thriving in a dynamic business environment. As an SME, this leads to a competitive advantage over bigger competitors who may not be as nimble and adaptive to change.

About the Author

Nathan Farrugia is a multifaceted individual—a seasoned entrepreneur, influential business leader, TEDx speaker, accomplished author, dedicated philanthropist, and a world-record breaking endurance adventurer.