We do not build resilience by avoiding challenges.

We build it through a series of challenging experiences—by confronting difficulty, learning from setbacks, adjusting our approach, and discovering that we can move forward.

I believe the same principle applies to teams.

A team does not become resilient simply because it consists of resilient individuals. Team resilience develops when people tackle challenging tasks together over time. Through these shared experiences, they learn how to draw on one another’s strengths, discuss difficulties honestly, adapt their approach, and regain momentum after setbacks.

New research helps explain this collective dimension.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 41 studies examines “collective psychological capital”: shared hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism within teams. The findings associate this collective resource with team performance, innovation, learning, and organizational citizenship behavior.

The evidence does not yet establish simple causality. Much of the underlying research is cross-sectional, and a high average of individual resilience or optimism does not necessarily mean that a team has developed a genuinely collective capability.

However, the practical implication is important.

Leaders cannot build team resilience only by teaching individuals how to cope.They must give teams meaningful challenges—and create the conditions for people to learn through them together.

This includes:

• a meaningful shared goal;
  • challenging but achievable work;
  • mutual support and shared responsibility;
  • honest reflection after successes and setbacks; and
  • opportunities to apply what the team has learned to the next challenge.
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This is not about continually increasing pressure. Challenge builds resilience only when people have sufficient support, resources, psychological safety, and opportunities to recover and learn.

What challenging shared experience has helped your team beco

me more resilient?

Research: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03128962261475806

#Leadership #TeamDevelopment #OrganizationalDevelopment #Resilience