Article | Harvard Business Review

How to Bounce Back from Adversity

by Joshua D. Margolis and Paul G. Stoltz

Abstract

The article focuses on how companies can be managed to overcome adversity with resilience. The characteristics of resilient managers who provide leadership for their teams and can build resilience in their employees are discussed. The manager's ability to shift from cause-oriented to response-oriented thinking depends on the four perspectives or lenses controlling the factors causing the crisis, impact of management's actions, breadth of the crisis, and duration of the situation. A resilience regimen of questions that managers can use to reframe negative events and understand their thought processes is explained.

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Leadership; Crisis Management; Managerial Roles; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking;

Format: Print Find at Harvard

Citation:

Margolis, Joshua D., and Paul G. Stoltz. "How to Bounce Back from Adversity." Harvard Business Review 88, nos. 1/2 (January–February 2010).

About the Author

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Joshua D. Margolis
James Dinan and Elizabeth Miller Professor of Business Administration
Unit Head, Organizational Behavior
Chair, Program for Leadership Development
Organizational Behavior

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