This interview is part of our Lessons for Leaders: Conversations with Industry Experts series, where we engage with leading professionals to explore the future of corporate learning, skill development, and workplace transformation.

In this interview, we speak with Dr. Linda Hoopes, founder of Resilience Alliance, to explore one of the most essential skills in today’s rapidly evolving world: resilience

Featuring: Dr. Linda Hoopes, Founder & President, Resilience Alliance
Interview by: Dr. Perttu Dietrich, CEO, LessonLab

Linda, you have been working with resilience for a long time. Could you start by explaining what resilience is?

Yes—I started studying resilience more than 30 years ago in the context of organizational change. We wanted to understand why some people seem to navigate change more easily than others, and undertook research to identify a set of characteristics that contribute to resilience.

Over time, my perspective has evolved. I now see resilience as a process we use to move through challenges in ways that enhance both our effectiveness and well-being. The characteristics we initially identified serve as tools that help us manage, apply, and strengthen our energy as we face different challenges.

Why is resilience particularly important in the workplace, especially for leaders and customer-facing professionals?

One obvious reason is that the workplace is full of challenges—both those we choose to take on and those that come unexpectedly. How we handle these challenges influences not only our own effectiveness and well-being but also affects those around us, including customers, employees, colleagues, and suppliers.

This is a particularly important issue for leaders who are responsible for guiding teams and organizations through change. They need to understand how to communicate and implement change in ways that support the resilience of the people involved.

A less obvious element is that we often juggle multiple challenges while relying on a single supply of energy. If we expend unnecessary effort on one challenge, we have less energy available for others.

I believe the most valuable challenges—the ones aligned with our purpose and aspirations—deserve our focus. While these challenges require energy, they also replenish it. Higher resilience enables us to navigate other obstacles more efficiently, freeing up energy for the work that truly matters.

What are the most effective ways for individuals to build resilience? Are there specific strategies or habits you recommend?

If we think of resilience as a toolkit, building it involves acquiring new tools and sharpening the ones we already have. Some key resilience tools include:

• Calming – The ability to bring our body and mind to a state of mindfulness and presence.
• Reframing – Seeing a situation from a different perspective to uncover new options, hope, or possibilities.
• Connection – Seeking and accepting support from others.
• Prioritization – Aligning energy and efforts with what truly matters for effectiveness and well-being.

The first step in building resilience is understanding how it works and developing self-awareness about our strengths and preferences. From there, we can focus on growth.

One practical strategy is using “micro-challenges”—everyday annoyances like traffic or bad weather—to practice resilience. Paying attention to our reactions in these moments helps us refine our response patterns.

Another approach is to intentionally strengthen a specific “resilience muscle.” For example, we can improve our “calming” skill with simple breathing exercises or stretching activities. We can enhance our “prioritization” skill by setting aside time each morning to focus on the most important tasks of the day.

One of my favorite habits is ending the day by reflecting on one positive thing—something that went well or something I’m grateful for. This strengthens my “positivity” muscle, making it easier to recognize good things even in tough situations.

Could you share an example of a situation where resilience played a key role in overcoming a challenge, either personally or professionally?

For almost 20 years, I’ve been part of a sailboat racing crew. Sailing presents constant challenges—stormy weather, quick decision-making as a team, mechanical failures, and occasional poor performance.

I’ve found that I apply resilience continuously in this environment. In fact, I now think of sailing as my “resilience gym”—a space where I practice the mindsets and skills that also serve me in other areas of life.

For those in leadership positions, what practical steps can they take to foster resilience within their teams, especially during setbacks?

Here are three ways leaders can help build resilience in their teams:

First, be a role model. Leaders who handle challenges effectively and manage their own energy set the tone for their teams.

Second, understand and leverage individual differences. Each member brings a different approach to resilience. One person may excel at creative problem-solving, for example, while another is strong in planning. It requires skill and awareness to work with these various mindsets, and to recognize how to combine individual strengths into effective responses.

Third, create a resilience-enabling culture. In some organizations, people hesitate to take risks because mistakes are punished rather than treated as learning opportunities. In others, employees struggle to prioritize because leadership hasn’t clearly communicated which projects matter most. Leaders can remove these barriers and create an environment where resilience thrives.

With the rise of technology and remote work, how has the role of resilience evolved? Have new challenges emerged?

I don’t think the nature of resilience has fundamentally changed, but technology continues to shift the nature of the challenges we encounter and our options for addressing them.

For example, one of the most effective ways to engage our “calming” tool is by being in the physical presence of a relaxed and composed person. Remote work makes this harder. Yet online tools also bring benefits, such as the increased ability to draw on a wide range of perspectives and information.

New technologies affect how we learn skills and interact with colleagues; they create new ethical dilemmas and present unforeseen opportunities. Each of these challenges requires a different response—and a different set of resilience tools. The key to ensuring that we continue to adapt and flourish, no matter how the workplace evolves, is to have a robust set of capabilities and the ability to draw on the ones we most need in each situation.

What are some common misconceptions about resilience that people often have?

One common misconception is that resilience is something you either have or don’t have—as if it’s a fixed trait. In reality, resilience is a verb—something you can practice and learn to do better over time.

Another misconception is that resilience is only about bouncing back after adversity. While recovery is part of it, resilience also involves proactive strategies—developing strong habits, avoiding unnecessary difficulties, and preparing for challenges before they arise. By building our resilience toolkit in advance, we’re better equipped to handle unexpected difficulties and take advantage of new opportunities.

Looking ahead, how do you see the concept and importance of resilience evolving over the next decade?

Over the years, resilience has gone through cycles of attention and fatigue. It became a widely discussed topic during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now I see some resistance—people are frustrated by the expectation that they should simply “be more resilient” in the face of systemic problems.

Moving forward, I believe resilience will remain essential as we continue to face an increasingly complex and demanding world. However, we must work on both sides of the equation—helping individuals develop resilience while also holding organizations and systems accountable for creating environments where resilience can thrive. This includes preparing leaders to incorporate an understanding of resilience into their work.

Ultimately, we need to shift from simply “getting through challenges” to fostering sustainable resilience—an approach that supports long-term well-being, growth, and success.

Practicing resilience and navigating change

Resilience is a critical attribute that shapes how individuals navigate challenges, especially in the workplace, where constant change has become the norm. Paradoxically, many change initiatives fail due to a lack of understanding of personal resilience and its role in adaptation and commitment.

To address this, LessonLab, in collaboration with Resilience Alliance, has developed Taito Communication—an AI-based educational simulation that helps trainees explore how individual resilience profiles influence commitment to change and practice change communication that effectively activates and engages the resilience of all team members.

For more information about our validated simulation or to request test access, contact us at info@lessonlab.org.

Dr. Linda Hoopes

Dr. Linda Hoopes is the founder and president of Resilience Alliance, an Atlanta-based firm focused on helping individuals, teams, and organizations learn to thrive in turbulence. She brings over 30 years of experience in psychology and organizational change to her work, and is the author of three books: Prosilience: Building Your Resilience for a Turbulent World, Managing Change with Personal Resilience, and Embracing Another Normal: Resilience Stories and Strategies for Raising Children with Disabilities (coauthored with Kris Burbank).

Linda has built a global community of practitioners who apply resilience concepts and tools as part of their work in organizational effectiveness, coaching, and training. She is currently exploring the role of leaders in supporting resilience and human energy sustainability, and working on the Six Challenges project, a series of coauthored works that apply the Prosilience framework to specific groups and communities. She writes two Substack newsletters: Prosilience and Organizational Change Intersections, and also authors two family history publications based on her great-grandmother’s journals and her great-aunt’s world travels.