When I feel isolated and lonely it is when I am most vulnerable in my personal life and career. I have learnt that just pursuing personal resilience is a flawed strategy. I’m not the only one.
The US military were genuinely concerned about the declining wellbeing of service people after they became civilians again. Many felt alone and lacked meaning after a lengthy period of service. Lots of them struggled with PTSD.
They were so concerned that they commissioned renowned positive psychologist Martin Seligman to develop a strategy to help. He developed a program called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.
They US government ended up spending $500+ million on the program. So how did it go?
Not good.
Some meta-analysis results for Seligman’s Penn Resiliency Program conclude that “data show no evidence that the program is superior to active control conditions.”
One study of nine trials across Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States found “no evidence of the program reducing depression or anxiety….The large-scale roll-out cannot be recommended.”
THE LARGE-SCALE RESILIENCE ROLLOUT CAN NOT BE RECOMMENDED.
So, what was missing?
True resilience occurs in groups.
We have a deep desire to feel connected and that we belong. We need to feel safe and know that we have each other’s back.
We need to know we are on life’s journey with others.
I think this is why my most requested keynote topic in 2022 has been “Building more caring, psychologically safe, and resilient teams”. See topic outline at link below
BUILDING MORE CARING, PSYCHOLOGICALLY SAFE, AND RESILIENT TEAMS
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