There’s a great post on the Harvard Business Review by Rosabeth Moss Kanter entitled: Surprises Are the New Normal; Resilience Is the New Skill.

Rosabeth writes:

The difference between winners and losers is how they handle losing.

That’s a key finding from my ongoing research on great companies and effective leaders: no one can completely avoid troubles and potential pitfalls are everywhere, so the real skill is the resilience to climb out of the hole and bounce back.

One of the things I have noticed over the years in working with successful executives is that NONE OF THEM had a steady rise to the top.  They all experienced “bumps in the road” as they progressed in their career.  Some of these mistakes were self-inflicted.  Others were the result of factors totally beyond the executive’s control. But what these executives had in common was that while they all experienced adversity – they all possessed the ability to bounce back.  While less successful people would have folded under the first whiff of adversity – these executives just rolled up their sleeves and got back to work.

Bottom line: Successful people just don’t quit.

And Kanter concludes:

Potential troubles lurk around every corner, whether they stem from unexpected environmental jolts or individual flaws and mistakes. Whatever the source, what matters is how we deal with them. When surprises are the new normal, resilience is the new skill.

Adversity is to be expected – And change is the new norm.

Which is why in today’s world – the skill we all need most is Resilience.