Chamber event explores ways to build business resilience
Business leaders and resilience experts explored how organisations can strengthen resilience through people, purpose and collaboration at a Chamber event.
The Building Resilience into your Business event shared insights on how businesses can adapt to economic uncertainty, workforce pressures and rapid change by creating resilient cultures, adaptive leadership and stronger connections.
Tim Marsden, knowledge manager at the Chamber, said: “In today’s ever-evolving environment, resilience is no longer a defensive measure for organisations - it is a core strategic capability.
“Economic uncertainty, supply chain disruption, workforce challenges and rapid technological change are reshaping the business landscape at pace.
“Future-proofing North East organisations brings us one step closer to our goal of unlocking the region’s economy. Working together with NCG, we’ll be exploring this theme further with seminars and workshops about what resilience means for business.”
Sarah-Jane Ethan, leadership consultant at The Soma Academy, considered the people element of building resilient businesses, sharing that the World Economic Forum recently named resilience as the number one core skill for 2030 with the greatest proficiency gap.
She said: “You can make resilient systems but they're only as resilient as the people who use them.”
Sarah-Jane shared that stress-related issues cost UK businesses £57.4 billion each year.
She said: “I think it may have something to do with our definition of resilience, we’re treating it as an attitude rather than an outcome.
“When we believe that resilience means ‘coping’, we disengage the creative-problem solving part of our brain which makes true adaptive resilience impossible.
“If we want to create organisations that stand the test of time, we need to be informed about the science of stress and the true meaning of resilience.
“When we understand the science of stress, we recognise what we need is better connections. You can create connection by staying vulnerable and curious. That's resilience.”
She added: “Self-awareness and emotional capacity are key to your resilience growth strategy. As is being able to express yourself in a collaborative way, and recognising and navigating defensiveness.
“Feeling disempowered and alone changes how our brain perceives connections, it tells us connection is unsafe and unavailable. This is our active flight or fight mode and, in the workplace, this affects interactions with colleagues.”
Tony Lewin, executive principal at NCG, shared how the organisation is building a dynamic, purpose-driven approach to resilience.
He said: “NCG has had to become increasingly focused on developing organisational resilience.
“We have the same challenges that any large business would have but we have the added complexity of being subject to rapid changes in National Educational policy and associated funding rules. We must meet public expectations in a sector that is highly regulated.
“Our thinking has moved away from traditional elements of resilience, such as protection and recovery, to viewing resilience as a way of developing a dynamic capability in the organisation to deal with challenges and changes.
“Our sense of purpose is the anchor that makes adaptation possible.”
Tony emphasised that organisational resilience is built through people, adaptive leadership and collaboration.
He said: “At the core of our business and our approach to resilience is our people. We have invested in creating a resilient culture, this is reflected in a leadership that is adaptive.
“We have found that resilience can become an introspective activity, but that greater resilience comes through broader collective action. We place great emphasis on collaboration and partnerships as this puts us in a better position to adapt to complex developments.”
Steph Edusei, chief executive at St Oswald’s Hospice, discussed leading with purpose and resilience.
She said: “Being a leader is not a one-size-fits-all. In the modern world that's not the type of leader we need. It also isn’t just about getting a seat at the table. It’s about knowing which tables are worth sitting at.
“Our environment can be a massive drain on our resilience. Getting into the right environment and creating the right environment for others as a leader is key.”
Steph also shared that self-worth is not defined by workload and that resilient leadership means adapting to times of growth and recovery.
She said: “I used to think if I was busy, I was needed and that was important. I felt validated. We should instead be thinking about our impact. Sometime saying no to opportunities is the best thing you can do.
“You don’t have to be everything, all the time. There are seasons for driving forward, seasons for maintaining, and seasons for stepping back and restoring.
“Resilient leadership isn’t about constant strength. It’s about recognising the season you’re in and leading accordingly.”
A panel discussion also included insight from Very Reverend Lee Batson, Dean of Newcastle Cathedral, Diocese of Newcastle, Church of England.
Lee discussed resilience through lived experiences. He said: “We discovered things during covid we would not have considered. We adapted as a consequence of the crisis. Longevity is also key - the church has lived through many crises.
“How you rediscover humility in times of uncertainty and how you engage differently and better, and stay true to what you're about is so important. That’s the key to resilience.”
Building Resilience into your Business was sponsored by NCG and took place on 7 May at Newcastle Racecourse as part of the Chamber’s Expo event.
Photo caption: (l-r) Tony Lewin, executive principal, NCG; Sarah-Jane Ethan, leadership consultant, The Soma Academy; Tim Marsden, knowledge manager at the Chamber; Steph Edusei, chief executive, St Oswald’s Hospice; Very Reverend Lee Batson, Dean of Newcastle Cathedral, Diocese of Newcastle, Church of England.