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Entrepreneurs, Here's Why You Must be Resilient

If resilience is one of your entrepreneurial strengths, you’ll want to keep it in your back pocket for the year ahead. Better yet, get it shined up and on the ready. 

Resilience is one of the most oft-cited key characteristics for successful entrepreneurs and business owners. Leadership trainer and speaker Gordon Tredgold calls it “that little extra oomph that keeps you moving even when you can’t see the finish line.”

“Your resilience is what measures your success,” writes Tredgold, founder and CEO of Leadership Principles, in an .

Can It Be Learned?

Harvard Business School Professor Nancy Koehn describes resilience as the capacity to not only endure great challenges but to get stronger in the midst of them.

In a , Koehn says resilience is not part of someone’s DNA but rather a learned capacity “much like a muscle in that we make it stronger by using it.”

Look at resilience as a skill that can be honed and strengthened, she advises in the article by Matt Gavin.

However, business leader and Silicon Valley innovator Keith Krach says there is data that suggests resilience may come easier to some people than others.

In a , Krach cites research that shows that some people have a neurochemical makeup that may naturally help them to withstand pressures and challenges.

“But all of us can adapt our style and change our outlook to become more resilient,” writes the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

How to Strengthen Your Resilience.

Resilience is more than just pushing through something. It’s multi-layer, involving your thoughts, behaviors, actions, skills and attitudes.

Entrepreneurs who want to cultivate resilience and adaptability should understand their emotional intelligence, writes Adam Uzialko in a . That includes understanding your feelings and learning how to harness them, adds the BND staff editor.

Doing so will help you get a clearer understanding of how your behavior impacts others, he says.

Stay Grounded.

Another aspect of resilience is the balancing of staying positive with an eye on reality.

While a positive attitude can have a good influence on your well-being, staff, and work environment, it’s important to stay realistic, and grasp the implications of each situation, says Krach in the Forbes article.

Being resilient doesn’t mean becoming “blindly optimistic,” he adds.

“Entrepreneurs who allow themselves to ignore problems — or worse, deny they exist — will not make tough choices go away. They will simply postpone the inevitable, often with disastrous results.”

To be a resilient entrepreneur in 2023 and beyond, you’ll need to stay grounded. And, according to Krach, that means following your internal sense of what is right.

“By sticking to your own vision and understanding of what is right and just in each situation, you will find a source of wisdom and guidance during times of doubt,” he writes.