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How well do you respond to an unexpected turn of events? Some people possess an innate resilience to stress, while others lack an internal capacity to withstand pressure.

Resilience seems to stem from certain environmental and personal factors which, in combination, determine your ability to bounce back from stress. These factors can include personality type, attitude, self-concept, early childhood experiences, social support, and culture.

resilience, resilient, stress management, executive coaching, positive leadership

Testing Your Resilience

There are typically 5 common themes explored in resilience questionnaires:

  1. Self-Control: This measures your ability to make rational decisions, suspend judgement, maintain composure, and act (rather than react). It captures your ability to cope with your emotions in the face of adversity.
  2. Adaptability: This is your ability to improvise when necessary, exhibit creativity, and bring innovative solutions to problems. It highlights your flexibility and ability to make the best use of feedback.
  3. Optimism: This measures your ability to maintain a realistic and healthy positive outlook despite your circumstances.
  4. Self-Sufficiency: This is your ability to trust your own talents. People who display a greater awareness of their own strengths, practice self-acceptance, and exhibit self-efficacy (believe in themselves) tend to be more resilient.
  5. Persistence: The never-give-up attitude affects how you score in resiliency questionnaires. Most success stories are from people who stuck with it long after others had quit.  It will capture your willingness to continue working on something even after the initial excitement has worn off.

Ready to Try a Resiliency Questionnaire?

There are lots of questionnaires available which can help you test your resilience level.  Most of these assessments have between 25-100 self-report items, where you answer questions (honestly) about your own behaviors, feelings, and reactions to the questions.

Here are a few options:

  1. Envisia Resilience Inventory

This is a brief 30-item resilience inventory that measures your overall hardiness level.  Your feedback report will compare your results to over 25,000 adults and provide practical tips and suggestions for how to effectively manage work and life stressors.

  1. Personal Resilience Scale

This quiz is based on the four elements of resilience identified by Cary Cooper, professor of organizational psychology and health at Manchester University. The four elements are: (1) Confidence, (2) Social support, (3) Adaptability, and (4) Purposefulness. The 16-item scale is simple and easy to interpret.

  1. Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ)

A 35-item questionnaire that measures emotional resilience. Items are measured on a 5-point scale and the overall scores indicate your ability to cope with stress effectively.

  1. The Resilience Quiz

Dr. Al Siebert, author of The Resiliency Advantage and The Survivor Personality, developed this self-report scale through years of extensive observation and research into the traits, beliefs, and behaviors of people who have shown great resilience. It has 20 questions and gives a quick overview and interpretation of your results.

  1. Resilience Test

This 50-item questionnaire measures five key personality traits which predict resilience to stress and adversity.

NEXT STEPS

Life can bring all kinds of stressors, including divorce, the death of a loved one, relentless job and family demands, or a career setback.  Unfortunately, most people don’t have the coping skills they need to meet these challenges.

*** Surprises are the new normal; resilience is the new skill. ***

Fifty years of research in the psychological sciences has given us a good grasp of what makes someone RESILIENT. Resilience is a skill that allows you to cope with challenges with greater clarity and inner strength. Resilient people not only survive after a setback, they come back stronger and wiser.

Fortunately, we now know that resilience can be developed. Think of resilience as an emotional muscle that can be strengthened at any time. There are specific action steps you can take to speed up your emotional recovery in times of stress.

RESILIENCE TRAINING can help you:

  • understand what resilience is
  • develop skills to create a resilient mindset
  • manage anxiety, fear, and focus when you’re in the “eye of the storm”
  • face challenges with more clarity and positivity
  • increase your self-awareness to control over-thinking and worry
  • overcome obstacles and find peace despite stress and chaos
  • enhance your life purpose, satisfaction, and success

Discover how to boost your own resilience here: https://leadinghigher.com/resilience/

positive leadership, leadership development, leadership training

Dr. Stefani Yorges

I am a psychologist and professional leadership coach. I partner with people who want to rise to their full potential so they can have an increasingly greater impact on others.

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