Resiliency – a coaching superpower for leading teams

Hi, we’re Helen Zink and Dr Cathryn Lloyd. As coaches who work alongside leaders and teams, we understand the challenges leaders face in today’s complex and fast-changing environment. To support you, we’re sharing 10 coaching superpowers that can help you grow as a leader and make a lasting impact on your team and organisation.

We’ve divided the superpowers into two categories:

Mindset Superpowers (1-5): How you think and approach challenges.

Behavioural Superpowers (6-10): What you do and how you take action.

These superpowers overlap, but each one brings a unique strength to effective leadership.

⭐ Superpower 10: resiliency

Our last but by no means least superpower.

Resiliency is more important than ever for both leaders and teams. The ability to bounce back from setbacks, adapt to new challenges, and maintain focus in an unpredictable and fast-changing world is crucial. Leaders who develop this quality themselves, and support their teams to do the same, create an environment for perseverance, agility and the ability to handle disruptions with confidence. By building resiliency, leaders empower their teams to stay grounded, maintain momentum, and thrive, no matter what challenges arise. By building resiliency, you’re also future-proofing your team and your organisation to skillfully navigate whatever might come next.

Here are a few ways to nurture resiliency:

💡 Physical and mental wellbeing: Encourage healthy habits and stress-reduction activities such as: regular breaks away from the screen, a walk outside, and healthy office snacks. Minimise work done outside of office hours. A well-rested team can weather storms.

💡 Purpose and meaning: Understanding how individual roles and team purpose tie into the bigger picture provides a sense of ownership during uncertain times.

💡 Camaraderie: Build connection and belonging within your team. Celebrate wins together and support each other through challenges.

💡 Resources: Know what you and your team can draw on - strengths, skills, or external resources (you’ll find more on this in superpower 9). When you understand what’s available you’ll be better equipped to take on challenges.

📌 Practical tip – resiliency timeline

On a whiteboard (virtual or physical), draw a timeline with "past" at one end and "present" at the other.

Invite your team to add in key challenges they’ve overcome together, marking them along the timeline.

For each challenge, discuss what helped the team get through it - what actions, strategies, or mindsets supported them?

This exercise not only gives your team a chance to recognise their shared strength but also helps them see the patterns in how they’ve been resilient in the past. These insights can serve as a powerful resource when tackling future challenges.

We’d love to hear how you’re using these ideas with your team. What’s worked for you?

Image: Cathryn Lloyd

Easter and the end of Q1 – how is 2025 going?

Can you believe we’re already a quarter of the way through the year? Like many of you, I kick off each new year with a bit of reflection - personally and professionally. I’m not big on strict resolutions, but I do think about what I want to dial up... and dial down.

For 2025, I’ve been focusing on two things:

🥚 Holding the high ground (even when the world feels wobbly)

🥚 Practicing what I preach (easier said than done!)

Oh, and ticking off a few bucket list things would be good too.

So… how am I going? I’d give myself a B- so far. Some progress made, with room for improvement.

How about you? What score would you give yourself?

Easter is the perfect time to reflect, re-set and adjust your strategies.

If you’d like some support navigating the rest of the year, working with a coach can really help.

If that sounds like you, please get in touch - either to me or one of my fabulous coach colleagues.

Take care and happy reflecting.

#coaching #flection 

Resourcing – A coaching superpower for leading teams

Hi, we’re Helen Zink and Dr Cathryn Lloyd. As coaches who work alongside leaders and teams, we understand the challenges leaders face in today’s complex and fast-changing environment. To support you, we’re sharing a series of 10 coaching superpowers that can help you grow as a leader and make a lasting impact on your team and organisation.

We’ve divided the superpowers into two categories:

Mindset superpowers (1-5): How you think and approach challenges.

Behavioural superpowers (6-10): What you do and how you take action.

These superpowers often overlap, but each one plays a unique role in shaping effective leadership.

⭐ Superpower 9: resourcing

Great leaders go beyond providing tools and budgets, they shape an environment where teams can thrive. Resourcing is about recognising potential, advocating for your team, clearing obstacles, and tapping into networks to create opportunities.

Leaders who excel in this don’t just fix problems; they equip their teams with the skills to navigate challenges independently and innovate with confidence. Leadership isn’t about being the primary problem solver. The shift from providing resources to facilitating access encourages self-sufficiency, resilience, and shared ownership. Without adequate resources, frustration builds, bottlenecks emerge, and opportunities are lost. When teams are resourced, they engage more deeply, think creatively, and manage uncertainty with confidence.

Resourcing connects closely with superpower 6: sensing and superpower 8: linking. Effective leaders identify patterns and dynamics (sensing) and create meaningful connections between people, ideas, and opportunities (linking).

Ways to strengthen your resourcing superpower

💡 Build relationships: strengthen networks inside and outside your organisation.

💡 Negotiate effectively: identify needs and create mutually beneficial solutions.

💡 Influence strategically: develop compelling business cases to secure resources.

💡 Simplify processes: remove unnecessary barriers and complicated procedures that slow progress.

💡 Encourage open dialogue: create space for team discussions about support and resource needs.

📌 Practical tip – resource mapping

When facing a challenge, use a resource map to visualise available and needed resources.

1. Write the challenge in the center of a whiteboard (physical or virtual).

2. Draw three concentric circles around it, labeling them: within our team, within our organisation, and outside our organisation.

3. Brainstorm and categorise available resources. Ensure all voices are heard and ideas valued.

4. Identify how to access or strengthen key resources.

This approach helps teams gain clarity on what’s available and where to focus efforts.

We’d love to hear how you’re applying these ideas. Share your thoughts with us or get in touch—we’d love to continue the conversation!

Image: Cathryn Lloyd