Change is hard. Being positive, calm, and logical in the face of change can feel downright impossible. Yet, the most successful business people do exactly this! They are resilient, and it’s an important skill to master when every business, company, and team are undergoing one transformation or another.

So, what is resilience? According to Merriam-Webster, it’s the ability to recover from or to adjust easily to misfortune or change.

And, how does it play out in a business setting?

Think about project teams in your company. Guaranteed, there was conflict; whether that conflict was due to people, office politics, organizational restructuring, shifts in priorities or even competing priorities, or other factors. It’s a fair certainty that conflict was present and likely resulted in adjusted project outcomes. In the presence of conflict, a person with the right level of business acumen training would enable that person to adapt and move the team forward – that’s resilience.

Resilience is a mindset, not a personality trait. It can be broken down into a set of behaviors that can help business people overcome obstacles and thrive in changing environments and challenging times.

Within the realm of business acumen training, there are several approaches that can be taken to improve business resilience. These include:

Remaining flexible.

Know that people cannot control everything. Developing sensibilities about what is within one’s purview, or not. Or, about doing what’s right, as in serving a customer over an internal task.  Business people who continually learn by the situations they encounter build a knowledge base to problem-solve and to pivot as unanticipated conditions arise.

Failing better. 

No one is perfect and mistakes happen. This can be particularly challenging, especially for newer managers or leaders. Remaining confident in one’s own abilities by focusing on lessons learned, and staying positive, will result in the learning that will enable forward momentum.

Adopting a career-growth mindset.

Continuous learning and a desire to master new subjects and skills will help any business manager or leader throughout their careers. In the Business Acumen Handbook, there’s a tool to carry out a business acumen assessment that will help a business person to uncover knowledge gaps and create a purposeful professional development strategy.

Having self-awareness.

There’s a lot of stress in the corporate world.  Business people who have an idea of the triggers that bring on stress can filter the corporate noise and see their way to achieving goals.  Challenging situations often evoke a knee-jerk response.  Business acumen training and coaching can help business people develop the organizational instinct to respond appropriately and stay positive and productive.

To wrap up these ideas, business acumen is enhanced when business people have a positive outlook, passion for the success of the firm, and the requisite resilience to weather any corporate storm.

Are you wondering how to further develop your business acumen skills? Join us on the path to business acumen excellence by participating in our four-prong business acumen professional development program. Learn more about how our business acumen training program works, and contact us today.