Dr Lizzy Bernthal has led teams in extreme conditions across 18 countries, including Afghanistan, survived a landslide in Nepal, and extreme conditions on Mount Snowdon, but it was a much smaller moment that made her decide on her mission to end workplace toxicity.
“One day, my boss undermined me one time too many and something switched,” Lizzy explains on her recent appearance on Dandelion Video Production’s What Do You Do? podcast. “We had our board meeting the next day, and my moment came. I literally stood up, physically stood up, and I said, “enough’s enough”. This has to stop.”
Dr Lizzy’s approach to ending workplace toxicity is to help leaders show up as their authentic selves, and a big part of that is resilience. Most of us think resilience is something other people have. The people who run ultramarathons, lead companies through crises, or seem to take everything in their stride. But according to Dr. Lizzy that’s exactly the wrong way to think about it.
“Resilience is not just for strong people,” she says. “When facing adversity, you don’t feel resilient, but you are.”