For leaders and their organizations, resilience is not just about rebounding from adversity. It also means viewing today’s constant changes and disruptions as opportunities for growth. In an environment of profound technological, geopolitical, and workplace shifts, leaders—and CEOs in particular—can focus on fostering resilience and adaptability to help their businesses thrive. This involves guiding their teams to develop new capabilities, consider new mindsets and behaviors, and rally around new directions for the organization’s future. This week, we look at how CEOs can be “chief resilience officers” and play a singular role in infusing resilience into their companies’ DNA.

THE VULNERABLE CEO

Don’t confuse vulnerability with weakness. McKinsey research indicates that showing vulnerability can help leaders build organizational resilience by enhancing trust and psychological safety within their teams. CEOs have found that being vulnerable can help them strengthen relationships with their leadership teams, employees, and even investors. Leaders may not naturally feel comfortable embracing or showing vulnerability—but it’s a critical step in their growth, according to McKinsey’s Dana Maor, Hans-Werner Kaas, Kurt Strovink, and Ramesh Srinivasan, the authors of The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Learn to Lead from the Inside Out. The key for leaders is to shift their mindsets from proving to improving themselves. “You must be willing to take risks, to invest in relationships that may or may not work out, and to act with no guarantees,” the authors say. “Vulnerability is the willingness to be touched by others’ perspectives while also allowing yourself to be seen fully by others—even if you fear being judged.”

Lead by building resilience.