The real resilience that leaders need

I have read numerous articles recently about resilience of leadership. On the whole it seems that the thought leaders are saying that those who are resilient excel during the most daunting times. However businesses are increasingly reliant on a network of suppliers, customers and distributors and therefore are reliant on other resiliant leaders for their success. As such resilient organisations need to use their ability to collaborate not just to survive, but to thrive as a competitive advantage in turbulent times.
However we need to avoid encouraging resilience for resilience sake because there are good reasons to consider that mental toughness is a critical component of success and a critical component of failure too. In addition resilience can also generate a defence mechanism that facilitates the avoidance of calling it a day and the denial of choice when faced with difficult decisions. In short, resilience could be used as a way of facilitating an addiction to power. In such cases it isn’t resilience that we need but the wisdom to know when to be resilient and when to recognise that resilience is the problem, not the solution. Think of Steve Staunton when he managed the Irish Football team or Brian Cowen heading the current Government. Resilient, defiant, stubborn, pig headed, strong, lost - you choose. I found this quote interesting:

The leaders I met, whatever walk of life they were from, whatever institutions they were presiding over, always referred back to the same failure, something that happened to them that was personally difficult, even traumatic, something that made them feel that desperate sense of hitting bottom — as something they thought was almost a necessity. It’s as if at that moment the iron entered their soul; that moment created the resilience that leaders need.”
Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California.