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Leadership Insights
Often, during times of change, we rely on resilience to help us navigate stress and bounce back. But resilience isn’t just valuable during transitions. What if you’re feeling stuck in your role, or stagnant?
When you’re feeling stuck, resilience becomes the foundation for creating movement and possibility. Here’s how it works differently in these situations:
Breaking invisible barriers: Often when we feel stuck, we’re operating within self-imposed limitations or patterns we can’t quite see. Resilience work helps to make these invisible constraints visible—maybe you’re avoiding certain conversations, staying in your comfort zone, or unconsciously sabotaging opportunities. Once you can see these patterns, you can start dismantling them.
Finding energy for risk-taking: Feeling stuck often means we’ve become risk-averse, choosing the familiar discomfort over the uncertain change. Resilience gives you the emotional reserves to take calculated risks—to apply for that role, have that difficult conversation, or try that new approach—because you trust your ability to handle whatever outcome emerges.
Reframing “stuck” as “preparing”: Sometimes what feels like stagnation is actually a necessary pause before growth. Resilience helps you to distinguish between productive reflection and unproductive rumination and gives you the tools to use those quiet periods for building capacity instead of just enduring them.
Advocating for yourself in static situations: Even when external circumstances aren’t changing, resilience empowers you to advocate for yourself within existing structures—in negotiating responsibilities, setting boundaries, or creating micro-changes that accumulate into meaningful shifts.
The key insight here is that resilience transforms your relationship with being stuck from helpless frustration into purposeful preparation for your next move.
Practice Building Resilience Today
If you’re feeling stuck in your role or like you’re unsure of what’s next for your leadership journey, here’s a 10-minute exercise to build into your day:
The Control Audit Exercise
Write down what’s currently causing you stress or making you feel stuck. Draw two columns headed by “I can influence this” and “This is outside my control.” Be honest about where each item belongs.
Then, for one thing in the “I can influence” column, identify one small action you might take this week. If you’re struggling to come up with actions, take your column to Sophia, the AI leadership coach in My Path, to help identify some actions to try.
For the “outside my control” column, practice mentally releasing those items—even just saying “I’m letting this go for today” can be surprisingly powerful. This builds your capacity to focus energy where it can actually make a difference.
Continue to build your resilience by returning to your list next week and identifying another action to try from your “I can influence” column.
The beautiful thing about this approach is that these practices compound—each small act of intentional choice builds confidence for the next one. This creates momentum even when external circumstances haven’t yet begun to change, so that continuing to set aside this time for intentional work in your schedule will grow your resilience muscle.
And in those moments when you feel especially stuck, here’s a question to reflect on:
“What am I avoiding, and what is that avoidance protecting me from?”