The Last Word: Resilience

Kathleen Kueht was the victim of a brutal assault and robbery in March. She is recovering from the trauma and using the event as motivation to help others to tap into the resilience of the human spirit.

“I believe that most of us would agree we have entered a time of greater uncertainty and challenge. If we want to survive and thrive, we need to become more resourceful, adaptable and resilient.

“Over the years I have navigated through many of life’s challenges having learned from others how to challenge and shift my perspective and meaning of events beyond my control. Based on my experiences in the workplace, with search and development of talent and ongoing reorganizations to working with victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, elite athletes and executives, I became curious as to why and how some people survive and thrive and others are not quite so hardy. The secret has to do with being resilient and developing a ‘hardiness perspective,’ a term used and based on the research of Drs. Sal Maddi and Suzanne Kobasa. They identified three characteristics of hardy people: commitment (they give it their best effort); control (they feel they can influence events and surroundings); and challenge (they welcome new situations for the opportunities to learn).

“And anyone who wants to be hardy must have one person or more to share the perceived threat or stress with, a confidante who is willing to be there when times are tough and uncertain. Over the years, I have learned from many ‘teachers’ and developed specific practices that I incorporate into my presentations, learning programs and coaching as to how to become more resilient, and I pass them on whenever I can.”