Few animals are resilient enough to live life above the Rocky Mountains’ treeline year round, but southern white-tailed ptarmigans have adapted to not only survive in this environment but also thrive.
Even if one journeyed above 11,500 feet to see these elusive birds, they would be difficult to spot due to one of their key adaptations. In the winter, their feathers are white, but when spring comes, their color changes to brown and gray, allowing them to camouflage with the surroundings as the seasons change.
Unlike southern white-tailed ptarmigans, our adaptability is not solely innate and biologically predestined. In humans, resilience can actually be taught, learned and developed. Likewise, our ability to respond to challenges depends on the support we receive from the people around us and the health of the environment where we live, work and grow.
East of the Rockies, one leader at Denver-based company Red Canary is proving this to be true as he builds a resilient team that can weather challenging times and work together to overcome roadblocks.
Director of Sales Zach Bolden shared insights into how he models resilience for his team, the specific actions he uses to boost engagement and the strategies he leverages to strengthen bonds.
Security operations teams use Red Canary’s solutions to analyze and respond to endpoint telemetry, manage alerts and provide cloud environment runtime threat detection.
How do you, as a leader, model resilience for your team? And what does that look like in action?
For me, there are two key factors to consider when it comes to building a resilient team: preparedness and understanding what we have the ability to control. Preparation involves anticipating possible challenges we may be presented with as a team and talking through different solutions we can leverage that are within our control.
For example, as we have recently transitioned into a more difficult economic climate, our team anticipates that we will have more challenging contractual discussions with customers as budgets tighten. As a result, we’ve proactively built playbooks that highlight what contract flexibility we are able to offer and how we can work with customers through the challenges they are facing.
Ensuring that we concentrate on what we can control instead of what we can’t will keep the team focused on goals and outcomes they have a direct influence on rather than falling into rabbit holes of unknowns.
What are some actions you take to keep your team engaged, happy and motivated to come to work every day?
Happiness and motivation come from transparency and open communication on a consistent basis. It is key to understand personal and professional motivators for every individual and even more important to highlight how their daily activity helps drive toward achieving each goal.
It is key to understand personal and professional motivators for every individual and even more important to highlight how their daily activity helps drive toward achieving each goal.”
In one-on-ones, I make a point to not only talk through goals but also provide a forum to gather feedback on what’s working and what isn’t. Creating a work environment with measurable goals and the opportunity to provide transparent feedback drives high engagement on multiple levels.
Outside of individual engagement, it’s also of utmost importance for leaders in the organization to be transparent regarding the current state of the company and the work environment they are looking to create. That transparency helps to shape realistic expectations of what is possible to achieve. People are most happy, engaged and motivated when they fully understand the environment they are working in, their goals and how the company and team are set up to help them achieve those goals.
When people feel connected to and trust their colleagues, it’s easier for them to weather the challenges that come their way. What are some activities or rituals your team does to strengthen bonds and create the kind of team camaraderie that supports resilience?
As a sales leader, I often try to identify commonalities across reps to drive alignment and team engagement that will allow individuals to help one another when faced with similar situations. Whether that’s aligning sales reps with similar geographic assignments, quotas or customers, where there are commonalities across multiple individuals, those individuals may be drawn to naturally help one another when roadblocks come up.
Groups are also more likely to come to an effective decision when working together versus alone, so I encourage my sales reps to reach out to each other and collaborate with colleagues around them when they encounter a challenge or problem before coming to me for help. It’s a common saying, but I firmly believe that two heads are better than one, and we look to practice that on a daily basis.
