What does it really take to develop leadership resilience, and to stay balanced and effective as a leader, even in the face of personal and professional crises?
In our conversation with Enrico Cañal Bruland, a seasoned leader in the pharmaceutical industry, explored how leaders can stay balanced and effective by cultivating curiosity, empathy, and well‑timed humor. These practices help restore psychological safety, preserve executive presence, and guide teams through uncertainty without burning out.
Listen to the full episode “Develop Leadership Resilience – with Enrico Cañal Bruland” on all major podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or here on this website.
Rethinking Leadership Resilience: Beyond “Bouncing Back”
The common understanding of resilience often revolves around “overcoming difficulties” or “bouncing back from challenges”. While these definitions hold truth, Enrico encourages a deeper perspective. He suggests that true resilience goes beyond simply returning to a previous state; it’s about applying a growth mindset to challenges, transforming them into opportunities for personal and professional development. As he aptly puts it, the goal isn’t just to be “stronger,” but to emerge a “better version of yourself,” perhaps more balanced or possessing other positive attributes.
“It’s not just about going back to where you were. It’s about becoming a better version of yourself through the challenge.”
The Three Cornerstones of Resilient Leadership
When faced with adversity, our initial human reaction is often “why me?” or “why now?” The key, however, is to minimize the time spent in this negative phase and swiftly transition to a more positive, balanced, and forward-looking approach. From his personal reflections, Enrico has identified three core elements that support one’s ability to navigate challenges and strengthen resilience—both in a professional capacity as well as in personal life:
1. Curiosity: The Intellectual and Self-Awareness Stimulus
Instead of reacting with frustration or blame, curiosity invites leaders to ask: “What can I learn from this?”
On an intellectual level, challenges force us to think outside the box and explore novel solutions to problems like supply chain issues or market disruptions. The covid-19 pandemic, for instance, despite its severe difficulties, served as a powerful lesson in what’s truly possible in a chaotic environment.
Beyond the intellectual, curiosity also fosters self-awareness. A crisis presents a unique opportunity to observe how one responds as a leader:
- What kind of leader am I in a moment of crisis?
- Do I become nervous or calm?
- Do I exacerbate fear or enable others process the situation effectively?
This self-reflection is crucial for understanding one’s personality and typical responses to difficult situations. It provides an opportunity for growth and learning about how to manage one’s energy and stress levels.
2. Empathy and Compassion — for Oneself and Others
Empathy begins with oneself. “When the news is ‘hard’, I must not be hard on myself in addition to that”, says Enrico. When things go wrong, recognize that it’s okay to falter, and acknowledge your continued worth as a person and leader. You need to have self-compassion.
In addition, a leader must be able to respond resourcefully to his or her own emotions first. Yelling or blaming does not help, it makes things worse. “If you can’t mange your own emotions, how can you possibly help others to manage their strong emotional reaction to a crisis?”
A leader who projects calmness and demonstrates empathy and compassion in exceptionally stressful situations helps their teams reduce the “bounce back time” significantly. Instead of asking “whose fault is it?” leaders must shift to “what can we do now?” This perspective, however, doesn’t diminish the importance of accountability.
Enrico highlights the stark contrast between how organizations often respond to personal crises (e.g., family illness) with immense empathy, and the struggle to apply similar understanding in “normal” or less severe professional situations. Cultivating this daily empathy can alleviate numerous workplace issues and challenges.
In “the West”, we can learn from the Asian wisdom traditions. For instance, the Buddhist concepts of Metta (loving-kindness) and Karuna (compassion), advocate for approaching situations and individuals, including oneself, with kindness and understanding at all times. We do not need to wait for a personal tragedy to occur, we can make compassion a daily leadership practice.
3. Humor: Lightening the Load and Fostering Psychological Safety
“Humor is human.” While often overlooked in serious discussions about leadership, humor plays a vital role in resilience. A well-timed laugh or a lighthearted comment, particularly after the initial shock of bad news has subsided, can effectively take the negativity and the fear out of the room. This, in turn, helps to restore psychological safety, an essential ingredient for moving forward and fostering innovative solutions. Humor can be a powerful tool for a leader to demonstrate their human side and ease tension.
While humor needs to be well-timed and culturally appropriate to avoid backfiring , Enrico advises trusting one’s intuition to gauge the right moment. Humor isn’t about minimizing problems—but about inviting perspective and calm after the initial emotional storm has passed.
Beyond the Three Pillars: The Importance of Balance
Enrico also shares a profound personal learning: the critical importance of balance in navigating tough times. He admits to previously being overly reliant on his intellect; IQ-focused, and very “brain-heavy.” However, true resilience, he discovered, often requires drawing upon more than just cognitive abilities. It involves recognizing the interconnectedness of intellectual, physical, and spiritual well-being.
This means actively working on integrating physical elements (staying healthy, sleeping well, eating well, and listening to one’s body) and spiritual aspects (often more openly discussed in Asian contexts) into one’s daily life. This holistic approach prevents over-reliance on a single dimension and provides a more robust foundation when challenges arise.
Presence: The Underlying Foundation of Leadership Resilience
Reflecting on our conversation, the concept of “presence” emerged as an overarching theme. Being truly present means not dwelling on past mistakes or anxieties about the future, but rather focusing on the here and now. Leaders who embody presence exude a calmness that is contagious, enabling both themselves and their teams to navigate stressful situations with greater clarity and effectiveness. This ability to be present, to be truly “here,” underpins the successful application of curiosity, empathy, and humor, ultimately contributing to a more resilient and balanced leadership approach.
Leadership Resilience: Reflection Questions
- Think back to a situation where you felt out of control. How did you respond? What did you learn from that experience? Consider how curiosity, empathy, and humor played a role, or how they could have played a role, in your approach.
- What steps can you take to cultivate better presence — not just at certain times, but all the time?
- What kind of leader do you truly aspire to be? What truly matters most to you in your life? How does this clarity of direction empower you to overcome challenges and find the energy to persevere?
Your Next Step
If you want to develop your leadership resilience further and would like to partner with a trusted confidant along the way, please don’t hesitate to contact me for complimentary consultation at any time.
For more insights and practical advice, listen to the full episode ‘Develop Leadership Resilience — With Enrico Cañal Bruland’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or or here on this website.
Second Crack – The Leadership Podcast is hosted by Martin Aldergård and Gerrit Pelzer. In each episode, we explore complex leadership dilemmas and paradoxes and provide thought-provoking questions. If you’d like to explore how we can support you in accelerating your leadership development—either through individual executive coaching or a company-wide initiative—please reach out to us for an obligation-free exploratory session. We look forward to hearing from you.