HBR's 10 Must Reads on Mental Toughness (with bonus interview “Post-Traumatic Growth and Building Resilience” with Martin Seligman) (HBR's 10 Must Reads)

it begins with the ancient wisdom that personal transformation comes from a renewed appreciation of being alive, enhanced personal strength, acting on new possibilities, improved relationships, or spiritual deepening

PERMA: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment—the building blocks of resilience and growth.

and one that has the ability to see things as fresh and new

Zen mind as one that is open, allowing for both doubt and

What Are Your Strengths?

THE VALUES IN ACTION signature strengths survey measures 24 positive character traits, among them curiosity, creativity, bravery, persistence, integrity, fairness, leadership, and self-regulation.

discovered that people who don’t give up have a habit of interpreting setbacks as temporary, local, and changeable. (“It’s going away quickly; it’s just this one situation, and I can do something about it.”)

Failure is one of life’s most common traumas, yet people’s responses to it vary widely. Some bounce back after a brief period of malaise; others descend into depression and a paralyzing fear of the future.

Thirty years of research suggests that resilience can be measured and taught

Essential Leadership Skills

Four skills enable leaders to learn from adversity:

Engage others in shared meaning. For example, Sidney Harman mobilized employees around a radical new management approach—amid a factory crisis.

A distinctive, compelling voice. With words alone, college president Jack Coleman preempted a violent clash between the football team and anti-Vietnam War demonstrators threatening to burn the American flag. Coleman’s suggestion to the protestors? Lower the flag, wash it, then put it back up.

Integrity. Coleman’s values prevailed during the emotionally charged face-off between antiwar demonstrators and irate football players.

Adaptive capacity. This most critical skill includes the ability to grasp context, and hardiness. Grasping context requires weighing many factors (e.g., how different people will interpret a gesture). Without this quality, leaders can’t connect with constituents.

Top sports performers don’t allow themselves to be distracted by the victories or failures of others.