The skills that build resilience overlap those for dealing with pressure. But who has them and how do they develop?
The APA lists these as key elements:
1. Supportive relationships with trust
2. Personal planning and execution
3. Optimism
4. Problem solving and communication
5. Emotional self-regulation
This New Yorker article examines resilience skills. The overarching theme in stressed children was their belief that they controlled their destiny.
How can we build resilient teams? Martin Seligman and others developed the Master Resilience Trainer Course for the US military. Their key elements:
1. Self-awareness (Identifying thoughts and emotions)
2. Self-regulation (Regulating thoughts and emotions)
3. Optimism
4. Mental Agility (Flexible and accurate thinking)
5. Character Strengths
6. Connection (Strong relationships).
There is more detail on Army resilience training here.
That's all well and good. What simple applications can we use?
Condition. "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." All coaches condition their players. Championship programs like the UNC Women's soccer uses a specific matrix of testing.
Harden. "Make practice hard so games are easy." The UCONN women drill and scrimmage against men. Most coaches use "advantage-disadvantage" tactics. We play 5 on 7 with constraints (no dribbling).
Share stories.
I've always told players there's no shame in losing...but quitting is unacceptable.
Play situations. We can setup situations demanding comebacks, including strategic fouling. For example, team trails by 5, two minutes to go, without the ball. Or team trails by 1, five seconds to go, halfcourt out of bounds, no timeout. "Figure it out."
Meditate. The Harvard Business Review discusses meditation for resilience. Waste of time? Tell that to Michael, Kobe, Shaq, LeBron...or the American Medical Association. "Your Self doesn’t change when circumstances around you change."
Although resilience training is possible, it requires persistent application. It's no different than playing the piano or studying a foreign language. Without reinforcement, skill declines.
