Crises demand both intensity and sustainability. Leaders who burn out early in a crisis fail themselves and their teams. The key is pacing, not heroism.

Strategies for sustained crisis leadership:

• Focus on what you can influence; release what you can’t.
• Prioritize ruthlessly — not everything is equally urgent.
• Communicate clearly and often to reduce others’ anxiety.
• Build rotation systems so no one (including you) bears all the load.
• Protect basic self-care even when the world is on fire.

Remember: you cannot pour from an empty cup. Your team needs your judgment and presence, which requires you to remain functional.

How to become your own island of stability in chaos?

Change can be a very stressful thing, especially when it disrupts our stability and basic certainties. It is at such times that it is important to build safe islands of stability to help us find our footing. A number of specific techniques or strategies can help us to do this. Let’s take a closer look at them now:

1. ✅ Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a concept that is appearing more and more often in connection with relaxation, meditation and the present moment. It is a mindful observation of the present moment that allows us to stop the merry-go-round of thoughts and turn our attention to what is happening within us right now. Instead of thinking about the past and the future, mindfulness leads us to focus on the present.

Specific mindfulness techniques to try are:

• The 5-4-3-2-1 Sensory-Focused Technique: Name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you can smell with your nose, and 1 thing you can taste with your mouth.
• Breathing exercises (breathing into a square): Breathe in deeply for four periods, then hold the breath for four periods, breathe out for four periods and hold the breath again for four periods.
• Visualisation: for breathing exercises, you can also help yourself by visualising, for example, that you are sinking below the surface and coming up again. 

2. ✅ Small steps

Sometimes change is a big mouthful for us and we can feel overwhelmed. In this case, it is good to “cut the elephant”. That is, break the challenge down into small steps and always focus on the immediate one. In this way, we gradually adapt to the change. It is also useful to form micro habits, i.e. to focus on small, achievable changes and repeat the same thing every day for 5-10 minutes, for example, and keep doing this for at least 30 days.

3. ✅ Anchors

Anchors can be thought of as personal values, habits, fixed points and supportive relationships that help us reduce stress and adapt to change with greater ease. A concrete example of an “anchor” might be a daily routine such as morning coffee, exercise, a short walk, or an evening reflection on the day. Our relationships with close people are also an anchor. As well as the values we believe in, which are our personal compass.

4. ✅ Internal resources

It is very important to understand what sources we draw our energy from, what recharges our batteries. Not infrequently, rest is neglected and seen as something that is superfluous. In the same way, we can sometimes neglect sleep, exercise and nutrition. However, it is these qualities that are essential for us to develop and grow. Other resources that strengthen us are our values, strengths, skills, self-confidence, perception of our self-worth, etc.

5. ✅ Growth mindset

Growth mindset or “growth mindset” is the ability to see mistakes as opportunities to learn and not as evidence of failure. Thus, instead of blaming ourselves for failing and making a mistake again, we can ask ourselves what the experience has to teach us. A great example of this is learning from the stories of famous people. Everyone remembers Edison as the inventor of the light bulb. But few people know that he first had to go through thousands of failed attempts before he was able to invent a working light bulb. Each failure was an opportunity for further learning.

6. ✅ Relationships

The support of those around us, our loved ones, our close community or society as a whole, also plays an important role in overcoming obstacles. When we know that “we are not alone”, we feel a sense of belonging. Shared experiences and mutual support reduce feelings of isolation and strengthen our resilience. At the same time, we build collective resilience.

👉 We learned a number of practical techniques and strategies to manage change. I hope you will try many of them and find the ones that appeal to you the most. These techniques will help you in the last part of this module to create your own plan for building personal resilience. Let’s do it.