In the 1999 Bond movie. “The World Is Not Enough”, there’s a scene with James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) and Q (Desmond Llewelyn) in which Bond is introduced to all the latest gadgetry and has his last conversation with Q before Q’s retirement. (Trivia: Desmond Llewelyn died of a car accident shortly after the movie was released.)
The conversation was:
Q: Now, pay attention 007. I’ve always tried to teach you two things. First, never let them see you bleed.
Bond: And the second?
Q: Always have an escape plan.
This conversation triggered my thoughts towards application of these two lessons in leadership.
“Never let them see you bleed”
In the movie, 007, following the bombing of the MI6 building, jumps into a high-speed jet boat, chases the villain through the River Thames, dodges several bullets and a missile, flips through the air, dives into the water while straightening his tie and comes out immaculate — and looking cool.
This is exactly how leaders are expected to be – resilient.
“Always Have an Escape Plan”
The term “escape plan” can also define resilience. While leadership resilience is important, they don’t work alone. We all know that a leader is only as good as his team is. And, resilient teams are extremely important for leaders to overcome adversity.
When facing setback, the following 4 areas distinguishes successful teams from teams that don’t succeed: (Source HBR Research)
1. The team believes in one another and collectively.
2. They have a model in place for getting out of adversity.
3. They adapt and reconfigure seamlessly by drawing upon one another’s skills and competences.
4. Last and not the least, they trust one another completely, offering psychological safety.
The need is for managers and leaders to develop these four attributes in their teams in order to improve their resilience.