1.3.10.4. Harvard Business Review Article
The following Harvard Business Review selection has been chosen to strengthen your understanding of resilience as a core leadership capacity. Rather than treating resilience as a vague motivational ideal, this article presents it as a measurable and observable capability—essential for navigating the uncertainty, volatility, and emotional demands inherent in entrepreneurial work.
📌 Selected Article:
“How Resilience Works” — Diane Coutu (Harvard Business Review)
This article explores resilience not as an abstract emotional trait or inspirational mindset, but as a grounded behavioral discipline that shapes how leaders respond to disruption, ambiguity, and prolonged challenge. Diane Coutu identifies three interdependent pillars of resilience: the willingness to confront reality, a meaningful internal belief system, and the ability to improvise when circumstances shift unexpectedly. Together, these components shape whether leaders adapt, stagnate, or collapse under pressure.
Coutu’s work challenges the common belief that resilience is driven primarily by optimism or emotional toughness. Instead, she demonstrates that resilience begins with clear-eyed realism — the ability to confront facts without denial, distortion, or avoidance. For entrepreneurial leaders, this capability prevents wasted effort, accelerates adaptation, and preserves strategic clarity even when conditions shift rapidly.
The second pillar — a strong sense of meaning — functions as an internal stabilizer. Meaning anchors a leader’s identity and motivation through setbacks, long development cycles, and moments where progress is not visible. In entrepreneurial contexts, where external validation is often slow, this inner clarity is crucial for sustaining engagement.
The third capability highlighted in the article is improvisation. Instead of relying rigidly on original plans or assumptions, resilient leaders stay flexible, curious, and willing to iterate. Improvisation turns obstacles into adaptation points, enabling progress even when original strategies break down.
Importantly, the article emphasizes that resilience is not solely individual — it is shaped by environment. Cultures built on trust, psychological safety, and authentic communication foster greater resilience than environments marked by fear, judgment, or silence.
As you engage with this reading, consider the following:
The goal is not to judge yourself — but to observe your resilience patterns with honesty and curiosity. Resilience is not fixed. It strengthens with awareness, practice, and intentional leadership development.