INSIGHTS (on leadership/self-leadership)
I know you’ve heard it before; the only thing in life that never changes is that change happens.
But what you might not have considered is that you need an almost never-ending reserve of resilience to get through all that change. One powerful, 60-second exercise can help you build up and maintain the resilience you’ll need.
It’s called the Skill/Will/Hill Assessment. Here’s how it works. Whenever you face a change that you sense will require some resilience to power through, focus on the skill, the will, and the hill. What skill might you have to develop to succeed with the change? What’s your will as you face this change (your level of determination)? And what’s the hill (or problems you anticipate arising) that will test your resilience?
Let’s look closer at each.
The Skill
It’s likely that upskilling in some way will help you persevere through the change you’re facing.
For example, say your organization is implementing a new leadership development program and you realize that in advance of that, you’ll need to get much better at public speaking. That would trigger you to take the necessary steps to prepare, like taking a LinkedIn learning course on the topic.
The Will
If you’re honest with yourself, how determined are you to get through this change? Is it a source of aggravation? Do you have a negative attitude about the whole thing? That won’t help you persevere. It’s essential to quickly identify your state of mind as you face the change and shift to something more helpful as needed.
For example, at one client company of mine, many of the executives simply did not have the energy for a big change the company announced. They’d been through several changes over the past few years, and while they were necessary changes that accomplished an important goal, the employees were burnt out on change. Eventually, with some help, they acknowledged that their attitudes toward the new change wouldn’t help their ability to persevere through that change. They then put the effort into better understanding and appreciating the change, thus fueling their resilience.
The Hill
Change will come with problems – guaranteed. Being intentional to quickly assess what those problems might be increases your readiness to solve them (versus being surprised), which directly contributes to your ability to persevere through that change.
For example, whenever one of my clients experiences a major change, they hold “Problem Parties,” meetings that combine fun with brainstorming. During these sessions, they identify potential issues that could arise from the change and explore possible solutions.
So, in the face of change, take just a moment to assess the skill, the will, and the hill. The result? Resilience.
IMPERFECTIONS (a mistake I made)
Recently, I attended a concert by my favorite band. I had carved out the space on my calendar and protected it ferociously (as a keynote speaker, you sometimes have to change plans – the opportunity to speak arises when it arises). My wife and daughter were going to be there, so it was shaping up to be a great outing.
So, I had done the first part right – prioritizing experiences and things that matter in my life.
It’s the second part I screwed up, engaging in a form of what psychologists call anhedonia. In my case, it refers to when you fail to fully enjoy something you were looking forward to because of stressors that crept in at that time. (I’m differentiating this from full-blown anhedonia, which is more about failing to find the joy in anything in life anymore – something I’m not qualified to write about).
I’m not proud of it, but it happened. The intersection of several things in my life that were stressing me out infiltrated what should have been an optimal experience. Don’t get me wrong, I still had fun (this is Mumford & Sons we’re talking about, after all). But even during the show, I could tell my stress was interfering, which made me feel guilty because I had been looking forward to this, causing more stress, and so on.
This is what I wish I had done instead:
• Compartmentalize: Research shows that the most resilient people don’t allow setbacks or stress to bleed into and materially affect other areas of their life.
• Be mindful of presence thieves: Presence in the moment gets stolen by four thieves in particular. When you drift to:
– worrying about the future
– worrying about the past
– replaying unhelpful thoughts
– getting hijacked by emotions
• Catch the Drift: Meaning, I wish I’d made a point to notice when my mind was drifting. I could have used any number of simple reminders to stay on track, like reciting any of these to myself:
– “Don’t zone out, zone in”
– “Be mindful, not mind full”
– “Run your mind, don’t let it run you”
– “What has my attention right now?”
Has this ever happened to you, where stress robs you of the full enjoyment of something you’d carefully planned and were looking forward to? If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Mumford & Sons – Hollywood Bowl, June 12, 2025
IMPLEMENTATION (one research-backed strategy, tip, or tool)
I’ve had the opportunity to interview top-level executives at many innovative companies over the years. The ones that were most consistently on their innovating game followed, in essence, a two-word philosophy to help spark innovation.
Never follow.
The Chief Innovation Officer of a big, global restaurant chain told me she fuels an inventive spirit by asking her team to live by the motto, “Never follow.” It inspires her team to create a constant flow of new, original menu items, and invent new approaches, all to stay ahead of competitors.
I’m not advocating change for the sake of change – new ideas must still be truly worth pursuing. Nor am I saying there aren’t situations when you should follow, like quickly replicating a competitor’s innovation for a quick, easy “win.” The goal here is to establish a standard that demands an inventive spirit.
And asking your team to “never follow” is such a standard. It probably will require you to reevaluate how you operate, what you believe, how you act, or even the systems you have set up.
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