A successful leader must be able to adapt, inspire teams and make decisions under pressure. But what is resilient leadership, why is it important and how do you become a more resilient leader?
Let’s delve into the concept of resilient leadership, uncover its significance and provide valuable tips on becoming a more resilient leader. We’ll also discuss how pursuing an MBA can equip you with the strategies needed to enhance your leadership skills and become a resilient leader.
What is a resilient leader?
A resilient leader can effectively manage and adapt to disruptive changes, recover quickly from setbacks and navigate challenges while maintaining their composure under pressure. They do all this without compromising their integrity, as well as ensuring their actions support both the team and organisational goals and the mental and emotional wellbeing of those they lead.
Being a resilient leader demands a range of qualities, including emotional intelligence, problem-solving skills, optimism and effective communication. These traits empower leaders to navigate and confront challenges confidently and maintain their composure when faced with obstacles.
“Resilient leadership focuses on guiding teams through adversity, learning from the experience and building skills for future change,” says consultant and coach Amber Gladstone, founder of Progression.
Why is resilience important in leadership?
Resilience is the cornerstone of effective leadership, offering numerous advantages to both leaders and organisations. Leaders who embrace resilience can navigate changes and challenges more effectively, inspire their teams to persevere and make sound decisions in high-pressure situations.
A 2025 report from the World Economic Forum states that resilience, flexibility and agility are some of the top core skills that are sought after by employers. Leaders who can develop, practice and foster resilience are needed now more than ever.
The importance of resilience in leadership is something Amber understands well.
“Change is constant. We can’t know or plan for everything. And, of course, with the pace of change increasing, not just in technology, but also social and economic change, we’re likely to experience more change than ever in the future.”
Resilience is also important in leadership because our perception is impacted by our expectations, particularly if we expect something to be stressful. Amber explains, “If we anticipate an event as stressful, our brain releases cortisol, narrowing our focus, and this might not always be beneficial. This can change your decisions and behaviour.
“Building your resilience builds your confidence in handling uncertainty, making you more likely to respond thoughtfully instead of just reacting on instinct.”
5 steps to becoming a resilient leader
Let’s take a look at some of the steps that may help you to become a resilient leader:
1. Practise self-awareness
Building resilience starts with self-awareness, a fundamental component of emotional intelligence. Leaders who understand their strengths, weaknesses and motivations are better equipped to guide their own decision-making and to lead teams through challenging times.
"Resilient leaders build self-awareness through reflection, asking for feedback and taking on new challenges,” Amber says. “This includes knowing their limitations in that situation and knowing when to ask for help.”
2. Build strong relationships
“It’s important for leaders to have support systems both at work and outside of it,” says Amber.
For you to succeed at work and achieve your ambitions, it’s important to build and maintain professional relationships. However, it shouldn’t be at the expense of your personal relationships. These connections provide much-needed support to help you maintain a work-life balance. Focusing on building strong relationships through both forms of social connections equips you to handle professional and personal challenges and maintain a positive perspective.
3. Have interests outside of work
Amber says having a hobby or activity outside of work that is completely different to your workday can also boost your resilience. It could be almost anything, as long as it helps you to switch off and offers a change to your day-to-day leadership role. “For me, that’s ocean swimming, but for someone in a physical or outdoor job, it might be something creative.”
4. Take care of your overall wellbeing
It’s important to prioritise your wellbeing in order to become a resilient leader. Engaging in regular physical exercise not only enhances your physical wellbeing but also equips you to handle stress effectively and lead with resilience.
Adequate sleep, of about seven or eight hours per night, allows you to detach from work and recharge. Taking the time to practice mindfulness can also contribute to cultivating resilient leadership.
Taking time to celebrate, including small wins, is also important as this helps to highlight progress, which boosts morale, helping you to feel more resilient when things may be more challenging.
5. Continuous learning
Resilient leaders can approach challenges and failures as opportunities for growth and learning. Embracing setbacks and using them as a learning opportunity helps to develop agility in decision-making, helping to drive ongoing growth and success for the business and your team.
Organisational and team benefits of resilient leadership include increased engagement, faster learning and adaptability to change. Amber shares, “Team members feel more connected, motivated and committed to their roles and they are able to adapt and evolve more quickly.”
Are you ready for resilient leadership training? How postgraduate studies can help
If you’re serious about developing your resilience as a leader, pursuing postgraduate studies could be the right path for you. A postgraduate qualification in leadership can give current and future leaders strategies that enhance leadership resilience as well as provide them with the necessary problem-solving, people management and decision-making skills to become a successful leader.
Strategies you learn as part of an MBA course that can also help you to become a resilient leader include:
- focus and prioritisation
- self-discipline
- self-awareness
- feedback and reflection
- building and using a network
Below are some postgraduate programs in leadership offered by universities in Australia.
This graduate certificate explores the importance of developing effective strategies and discusses the legal, managerial, and ethical issues that affect corporate governance.
You’ll immerse yourself in real-life scenarios and issues from various industries, including government, corporate, and community sectors, and formulate creative, sustainable solutions. You’ll also discover how to communicate persuasively and insightfully with diverse audiences, including corporate executives and board directors.
If you have less than three years of leadership experience, you’ll learn how to analyse leadership critically and unpack leaders' roles in building sustainable organisations. If you’re an experienced leader, you’ll explore how to make responsible decisions during periods of crisis and recovery.
The Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Management is designed to suit the professional development needs of middle-level managers in industry and government, enhancing existing practice and preparing for more senior leadership roles.
Developed and taught by industry professionals in active leadership roles, this degree is focused on practical organisational challenges.
You'll develop an understanding of the different types and purposes of teams, and learn how to boost team performance through effective leadership. You'll hone your creative thinking skills and be equipped to convert great ideas into reality through collaboration and positive risk-taking. As a graduate, you'll have the skills and knowledge to translate vision and strategy into action and effectively manage transformation in your organisation.
UniSQ’s Graduate Diploma of Business (Leadership) will equip you with the leadership skills to effectively lead, build valuable professional relationships, manage teams and enable businesses and organisations to thrive.
Become a leader the valuable skills in adaptability and problem-solving, and understand how to balance the competing tensions of organisational stakeholders, society and environment.
The Graduate Diploma in Business (Enterprise Leadership) is designed to help you become an ethical and informed decision-maker who inspires and leads effective teams within complex environments. This program encourages leaders to work on behalf of the whole organisation as well as on their own business unit or team. It is suitable for leaders in corporate, public and non-profit sectors.
The Master of Leadership is an opportunity for you to hone your skills alongside other senior leaders in strategic roles. You will focus on developing contemporary knowledge, and real experience, to ensure you graduate as a business leader.
Through integration of theoretical investigation and professional practice, you will learn to recognise and harness the capabilities of pivotal leaders. You will also put theory into practice through a workplace-based research project. This unique learning opportunity will require you to identify and define a problem, review relevant literature, design a study method, present findings, interpret results and present conclusions and recommendations with the support of a mentor who is expert in the field.
As a graduate, you will be primed for leadership roles in all sectors, including corporate, not-for-profit, government, IT, mining and education.
Available as a full-time program across 18 months (or the equivalent of part-time study), The Master of Leadership will provide you with the skills necessary to secure a leadership role in your chosen field, profession, or industry.
You will complete nine compulsory courses focusing on leadership, strategy and a project and have the option of specialisation in business, liberal arts or three general elective courses.
Each course is developed and offered by a team of respected leaders, combining a solid academic framework with strong commercial and industry experience in the degree program. The Master of Leadership program is a unique blend of class tutorials, networking, mentoring and interacting with guest lecturers.
Develop your resilience as a leader
Ready to become a more resilient leader? Pursuing a postgraduate course can be a worthwhile venture as the units are designed to help you build various leadership skills, including resilience. Discover a wide range of postgraduate programs in leadership offered by top universities in Australia today.