How do we build motivation and resilience to grow our leadership skills?

Health care professionals have had a tough few years with reducing resources, overstretched staff, and the impact of the Covid pandemic.

How do we find the motivation and resilience to rebuild ourselves, find a way forward, lead our teams and support our patients safely and effectively?

Motivation is the driving force behind human actions. Cherry (2023a) describes motivation as “the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal- orientated behaviours.” Cherry suggests two types of motivation exist- extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic relates to rewards- e.g. praise or recognition for your work and intrinsic relates to our internal attributes- feeling satisfaction in completing something or doing well.

Resilience is the ability to cope and recover from setbacks (Rice, 2022), manage our available resources and find ways of managing situations we face. Resilience is also knowing when we need help and seeking it.

Motivation and resilience can be impacted by physical, psychological and social influences, including stress or being overwhelmed by the workload. We may diminish our own motivation and resilience with self-doubt and self-criticism. External influences such as criticism of our work, lack of gratitude can also deplete our motivation and resilience.

A lack of motivation can lead us to avoid progress and doubt our abilities. We need to recognise the factors that influence and block our own motivation, only then can we manage these and move forward.

A resilient person has a fighter/ survivor mentality. They regulate their emotions; this doesn’t mean being unemotional or not losing control but understanding that these things pass and can be managed. The resilient person has good problem-solving skills, but also encourages others in solving problems through compassionate leadership, good communication, teamwork and support (Cherry, 2023b).

Bailey and West (2022) describe that people need their core needs supporting in the workplace to feel well, motivated and resilient, these are- 

• Autonomy- controlling one’s work life; acting within one’s values with authority, empowerment and influence; and working in a just and fair environment with good working conditions and workloads. 
• Belonging- being connected, valued, respected and cared for by colleagues; and supported within a team with good leadership and culture. 
• Contribution- experiencing effectiveness at work and recognised for their contribution, having access to education, learning and development through good management and supervision.

Alongside these, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD, 2022) steps to ensuring well-being in the workplace add: 

• Health- physical and mental health and safety
• Ethics and diversity
• Lifestyle choices- access to physical activity, healthy eating in the workplace
• Financial well-being- pay/ benefits, retirement planning, childcare support

In healthcare, leaders also use human factors alongside understanding core needs to study impacts on staff behaviour, motivation and resilience; these incorporate-

• Environmental (the physical workspace/ personal space),
• organisational (work patterns, culture, resources, communication and leadership)
• Job factors (nature of work, workload, procedures and policies),
• Individual characteristics (competence, personality, behaviours) 

An organisation with well-being at its heart has motivated and resilient staff with higher morale and engagement and are likely to have a better work-life balance. Compassionate leadership that includes supporting all these aspects has been shown to increase staff retention and support a healthier, more inclusive environment.

Individually, we can increase our own motivation and resilience by understanding and acting on the things that block or impede our progress, using past experiences to help us grow and to support others in their journeys. We can-

• Adjust goals, break tasks into smaller chunks so things don’t appear so big and impossible to achieve.
• Prioritise the important things, achievable things and things that give satisfaction.
• Remind ourselves of achievements, strengths and how we can use these to progress.
• Be our authentic self, maintain our identity 

References

Bailey S., West M (2022) What is compassionate leadership? Kings Fund. www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/long-reads/what-is-compassionate-leadership

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2024) Wellbeing at work. CIPD. www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/well-being-factsheet/#the-key-domains-of-wellbeing

Cherry K (2023a) Motivation: the driving force behind our actions. Very Well Mind. www.verywellmind.com/what-is-motivation-2795378

Cherry K (2023b) How resilience helps you cope with life’s challenges. Very Well Mind. www.verywellmind.com/what-is-resiliance-2795059

Rice A (2022) What resilience is and isn’t. Psych Central. www.psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-resiliance