The relevance of a resilient force cannot be overstated. As a matter of fact, as Sinclair and Britt (2013) point out, “many of history’s great armies have distinguished themselves by demonstrating superb individual and organizational resilience” (79). Towards this end, there are various strategies that a CSM/SGM could employ in an attempt to not only manage organizational stress, but also develop resilient organizations. To begin with, it should be noted that the resilience building ought to be a continuous exercise. It is not a one-time exercise. This essentially means that resilience ought to be normalized and embraced as part and parcel of organizational identity. The institutionalization of resilience as a behavior that is largely normative calls for constant training.
The CSM/SGM should see to it that resilience is underpinned by physical wellbeing. On this front, physical wellbeing has got to do with the effective management of fatigue and implementation of deliberate measures to promote fitness within the operating environment’s constraints. Alongside physical wellbeing, the relevance of ensuring that service men develop a high cognitive ability cannot also be overstated. With adversity being the only constant in most conflict scenarios, there is need to ensure that those in service have a mental approach that is both constructive and positive.
There is also need for the CSM/SGM to foster teamwork and see to it that service men recognize the need to leverage their personal strength and that of team mates so as to overcome adversity and other related challenges. In this context, teamwork could, according to Meredith et al. (2011), be described as “work coordination among team members, including flexibility” (22). In the final analysis, the strategies employed by the CSM/SGM should be effective in as far as ensuring that when service members are confronted with adversity, complexity, challenge, or risk, they are well prepared to not only recover, but also adapt and thrive.
References
Meredith, L.S., Sherbourne, C.D., Gaillot, S., Hansell, L. Rtschard, H.V., Parker, A.M. & Wrenn, G. (2011). Promoting Psychological Resilience in the U.S. Military. Retrieved from https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2011/RAND_MG996.pdf
Sinclair, R.R. & Britt, T.W. (2013). Building Psychological Resilience in Military Personnel: Theory and Practice. New York, NY: American Psychological Association.
