Your Vitality Quotient and The Future You Didn’t Expect
Today, more than ever, the topic of leadership competencies has become very important. Among them in particular is the level of vital energy (VQ or vitality quotient).
The vital energy coefficient is applicable to both an individual and an organization. Leaders who are unable to control and replenish their VQ according to circumstances will not be able to achieve high results.
And the unpredictable world of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity ) gives us new lessons and sets new accents.
It doesn’t matter how strong your blow is, the main thing is how strong a blow can you withstand”, – the words of the legendary Mike Tyson
Which companies will resist a blow today? What qualities of a leader allow you to do this?
Resilience has become an important concept and is actively applied nowadays in the context of the resistance to stress of different countries due to unexpected changes. But being resilient to risk is important not only for countries but also for companies and top managers.
Lee Howell, Managing Partner and Head of Global Programs of the World Economic Forum, defines the concept of resilience as an element of systems thinking and the strongest competence of countries in general, organizations / enterprises and their leaders. He emphasizes that resilience to risk is just as important for companies and leaders as it is for countries.
The degree of resilience should also be adopted by recruiters and consultants who assess the top managers of a company at different stages: from attractiveness to the organization to participation in various projects that require this competence.
A system or a person possessing this resource can withstand even the most severe crises since they are capable of amortization and recovery. Energy, inner balance, the ability to define reality and move forward are preserved. This is what determines the productivity of actions in various difficult situations.
Crises and transformations are becoming an integral part of our life: in economics, politics, business, social relations.
A stable business is almost an illusion, and you must always be ready for changes or, better yet, anticipate them. If resilience in earlier days was necessary in rare critical situations (deep failures and defeats, difficult choices, qualitative life changes), today it is a mandatory competence of the leaders of companies in the modern world.
This means the ability to correctly assess whether oneself and others have the ability to quickly recover, to not lose energy and to remain balanced. In other words, the ability to be ready to accept any risk of being in a stressful situation, regardless of its origin, be it a pandemic, global economic crisis or unexpected threat to business.
For a better understanding of the assessment of this competence, you can separate the concept of resilience into components:
- As a personal skill, resilience is, first of all, adaptability. Ability to quickly accept and then reap the benefits of unexpected changes. It is important to be able to assess all these changes as positive, as new opportunities, and not just obstacles and unpleasant circumstances.
- Also, I include in the concept of resilience and stress resistance the ability to maintain a constant level of vitality, health, performance and just a good mood. More than ever in a crisis it is necessary to create additional value, which is impossible in a state of one’s own stress.
- Proactivity is the most important competence for a leader, as in the ability to act proactively when it is necessary, to engage and consciously make efforts and direct energy in the required direction. And this is a discipline.
- Resilience is also the ability to think strategically, to think “on the contrary”. In other words, to analyze and assess the existing risk not only from the angle of the present day, but also from the future, suggesting and evaluating various ways in which events might develop.
A leader with such qualities is able to create a stress-resistant environment in the company, a strong anti-crisis team and a system that can withstand stress of any complexity.
Such systems can adapt to changing conditions, withstand sudden shocks, and not only recover to the desired equilibrium, but also develop.