USAG-DETROIT ARSENAL, Mich. -- We all face challenges in our lives at work, at home, with friends and in our finances.
Those of us serving in the Army face the same adversities as everyone else but often have a multitude of other challenges people are not naturally prepared with which to deal. Our resiliency is dependent on the life tools we learn along the way through trial and error or just dumb luck. That's why it's important we provide our Soldiers, Families and Civilians with the tools necessary to face those challenges and bounce back ready to face what's ahead.
Taking care of people is priority number one. Everything else leads back to that. The missions we do and the services we provide are all dependent on our people being healthy and prepared!
Changes in the Army and the way we do business are putting additional strain on us all. In creating a resilient workforce those same tools will transfer to our families which in turn help us all deal with changes and challenges allowing us to excel.
In his book, Managing at the Speed of Change, Darryl Conner lists five characteristics of resiliency. These features are to:
- Be Positive - See life as challenging, dynamic, and filled with opportunities.
- Be Focused - Determine where you are headed and stick to that goal so that barriers do not block your way
- Be Flexible - Open yourself to different possibilities when faced with uncertainty.
- Be Organized - Develop structured approaches to be able to manage the unknown.
- Be Proactive - Look ahead, actively engage change, and work with it.
These resiliency features are important in all parts of life but are even more important when applied to the life of a Soldier, Family Member or Army Civilian.
Being positive has a lot to do with faith in self and faith in leadership. The IMCOM Campaign Plan emphasizes programming designed to strengthen faith, instill confidence and help foster a positive attitude. Being focused is often an individual effort but supervisors can play a key role in helping people stay focused professionally through mentorship and performance feedback. Leaders learning people's goals and helping them achieve those goals plays an important part in helping keep them focused as well as motivated.
Flexibility is something most of us learn early in our Army careers. To stay relevant, the Army must change. To stay relevant in the Army, we must change with it. Priorities shift and missions come and go. It's our ability to adapt to those changes that will be the key to our success.
A key to flexibility is organization. Being organized is a learned trait. Sometimes it takes guidance. Sometimes it takes education. We offer both in the Army; guidance from mentors, supervisors and coworkers, education through classes offered throughout the Army.
Army Community Service and the Employee Assistance Program offer classes on organization, how to make keep a schedule and how to set priorities in your life. Organizing the things you can control makes it easier to handle the unknown when it arises.
It's also very important for leaders to be proactive when we're creating a resilient workforce. Waiting for people and programs to break or become outdated will not lead to resilience. Being proactive means looking at those people and programs and constantly adjusting to where the Army is heading. By looking ahead you can modify programs as you see changes coming and always be actively engaged when change occurs.
The U.S. Army Garrison - Detroit Arsenal is committed to developing a resilient workforce. Through leadership, education and commitment to our Soldiers, Families and Civilians we will be ready to face the challenges the Army and our personal lives present to us.
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