How adversity can create better leaders

One of the biggest growth opportunities for a leader comes in unexpected ways: overcoming challenges and facing adversity.

Adversity is unavoidable in a changing leadership world. Leaders can choose how they respond to adversity and build resilience, confidence, and success along the way.

Like many leaders, Traeger CEO Jeremy Andrus faced adversity when the pandemic hit. With supply chain issues, skyrocketing transportation costs, and a steep drop in grill sales, Traeger needed to rebuild and reimagine its business moving forward.

Facing those challenges head-on and finding creative ways to pivot and adjust led Traeger to incredible success. Jeremy puts it this way: "Adversity is important. Going through tough things with the right attitude and perspective, coming out the other side feeling stronger and more confident. You can do more than you could have done before. It's the best thing in the world."

How can adversity help leaders? Consider these four benefits:

Resilience

Resilience, or being able to quickly respond to and bounce back from challenges, is a crucial skill for leaders. There are opportunities to practice resilience daily, from a changing schedule to unexpected feedback to production issues that cause delays. Learning how to stay calm and adjust in stressful and troubling situations helps leaders stay even-keeled in challenges large and small. Resilient leaders set the tone for their employees by not being emotionally charged and reactive to challenges but moving forward with a confident, agile attitude.

Creativity

As the saying goes, creativity is born out of limitations. When leaders face adversity, they often have to develop creative solutions. Challenges can force leaders to think about their resources differently, make the most of what they already have, or consider a problem in a new way. The results can be more successful and efficient than what would have been created without adversity, giving leaders a fresh perspective on the future.

Relationships

Challenges can strengthen relationships and help leaders rely on their employees and mentors. When Traeger faced adversity, Jeremy was grateful for a talented team and supportive board to help through a time of uncertainty. As leaders face adversity, they learn that they can’t do everything on their own — they need a trusted team to bring new perspectives, help brainstorm solutions, and expand their network to new possibilities and partnerships. Strengthening relationships through challenges builds a lasting bond of trust that can boost leaders and their teams and companies, even when the challenge has subsided.

Compassion

One of the most important yet often overlooked skills for leaders is compassion, or concern for other people and a motivation to stop their suffering. Everyone faces adversity at some point, both personally and professionally. Facing challenges helps leaders be more empathetic to employees and customers as their challenges arise. They can help lift others through their trying times and be more aware of their needs. A compassionate approach to leadership helps leaders be more people-focused and build strategies and products that improve the lives of people around them.

Adversity is a natural part of business and leadership and can provide many benefits. As leaders focus on not just surviving adversity but thriving, they can build skills that will continue to benefit them long after the challenges have passed.