These are challenging times for many founders and it’s these challenging times that formed the basis of our recent Survival Mode On sessions, a series of online talks and events held for our portfolio companies on how to make it through the ongoing downturn. The first session was hosted by our Operating Partner Polly Barnes, in collaboration with founder coach Dannielle Haig. Polly and Dannielle’s session — which tackled how to harness resilience as a founder — has been put into words below.

Last year was only the beginning of the prolonged recession we are now experiencing. Alongside worrying about financial stability, securing investment and attracting business deals, many founders are concerned about their team’s wellbeing and if they will be able to weather this storm.

The link between staff wellbeing and business performance is long established. A 2014 study from the UK’s National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that there is a positive link between healthy workplace culture and business resilience. Meanwhile, the financial services firm Aon’s 2021 survey found a correlation between improved employee wellbeing performance and customer satisfaction and retention.

However, as we are now in a recession, the realities of the cost of living crisis, mass layoffs, record levels of inflation and soaring housing and energy prices are beginning to take hold. This is an incredibly stressful time for many, and a situation that needs to be handled with great care and consideration.

To ensure happy, healthy and productive teams, wellbeing strategies must be rolled out. Access to therapy, support with rising costs, empathetic and kind management styles and building inclusive cultures are essential. This crucial job often falls to a startup’s leadership team, who not only have to dedicate time and budget to these programmes but are also expected to lead by example. They must show up for their staff and steer the ship through testing waters.

Yet this is not a straightforward task for many leaders, who already have sizeable workloads and are under large amounts of pressure to perform. A 2019 report from weare3Sixty found that 77% of founders said running a business had affected their mental health, 70% felt that it has affected their physical health, and over half identified it with complete burnout.

The success of these strategies relies heavily on this busy group of individuals, and so their wellbeing, mental health and productivity are paramount too. In order to take on this task, founders must build resilience — the ability to withstand or recover quickly from something difficult.

What is resilience?

Resilience is a multi-dimensional concept that incorporates four key components: challenge, commitment, control, and confidence, as outlined by psychologist Peter Clough and Doug Strycharczyk in 2002.

Challenge is whether you see a challenge as an opportunity or a threat; commitment is how much you persist to achieve a goal; control is how much autonomy over your life you feel you have; and confidence is the self-belief and the push to approach tasks others would find too difficult. These four components work together to moderate our relationship to stress and determine how we respond to difficult situations.

Founders, by definition, will have high levels of resilience at the beginning of their careers. To set something up that solves a problem in a new and innovative way, often with limited funding and a small team, takes guts and vision.

But at the same time, if not managed properly resilience can be the catalyst for founder burnout. It can enable unsustainable behaviour, where startup leaders take on too much and don’t ask for help. True resilience is formed when founders acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses, hire to fill the gaps and delegate responsibilities across the team. Define your role and stick to it. You are a human, not a machine.

Practical advice to build resilience and manage your mental health

Resilience is not an innate capability you are born with, but something that is built and nurtured over time. We can all learn resilience. And, as a founder, investing in yourself and your mental health is probably the best business investment you will ever make.

Below are some practical tips to help you start on your resilience journey.

Mindset matters

Your mindset, the lens through which you view the world, matters.

Our brains evolved with a survival mechanism that seeks out threats. This facet was very useful for our ancestors, who lived in environments where life-threatening predators were a frequent reality.

Fast forward to 2023 and that frequent threat of death has been minimized. However, that part of our brain still exists, and this can be very problematic for mental health.

When you go through chronically demanding and stressful hurdles, your brain chemistry will change and start looking out for problems and potential threats. Thousands of years ago this would have been useful, but not now for founders who will inevitably face difficult situations regularly. This paranoid approach can lead to mental and emotional exhaustion.

To add to this, the more we think in a certain way, the more neural pathways will form, making it easier for us to repeat particular thought patterns. This can work for you or against you. If you think negatively, it will reinforce negative thoughts and if you think positively, it will reinforce positive thoughts.

Therefore, reframing your mindset and seeing your business through a long-term lens that takes into account both the ups and downs, the recessions and economic difficulties, alongside securing investment and great new hires, will help. Don’t focus on the bad; instead keep looking forward to the future with optimism. It helps shift your brain to success rather than survival.

See your health and wellbeing as a part of your job

As a founder, good mental health is not a nice-to-have. It is inextricably linked to the success of your business, and therefore should be integrated into your business priorities.

When your role is to be creative, to think differently, to problem solve and take controlled risks, you are unable to do this effectively if you burnout.

Give yourself permission to make health a priority. Invest in it daily, whether that’s through exercise, going to therapy, taking breaks, setting boundaries around when you answer emails or building a network who you can trust and rely on.

It is a priority, not a luxury.

Learn how to speak the brain’s language

There is a logic to the brain, the way it functions and why it works in a certain way. After all, it’s an organ that follows physiological and hormonal patterns.

But the brain is also very complex and completely unique to each individual, so a quick Google is unlikely to help decipher what it’s telling you. Instead, find someone who speaks the brain’s language, be that a therapist or coach.

This will enable you to work out what ingredients you need to harness your resilience. Understanding your own mind is the best investment you will ever make as a founder.

Work on your self-awareness and avoid destructive self-soothing behaviors

The ability to recognise behaviors brought on by stress, paired with the ability to self-soothe in a healthy way, helps founders clear their heads and manage their emotions.

However, some self-soothing techniques are destructive and can be addictively chased for a dopamine release, such as smoking, drinking, and unbalanced eating. In the moment they may feel good, but in the long run they erode your resilience.

If you do find yourself relying on these methods, it’s important to reach out and ask for help. Don’t compound your stress with bad habits that will reduce your resilience in the long term and stop you from reaching your long-term potential.

Remember, as a founder, it’s important to put on your own oxygen mask first, before attempting to help those around you. Taking time to look after your mental health is key to overcoming tough times. There is no shame in this. As the spiritual teacher Jeff Foster put so beautifully “even the courageous need rest”. So make sure you get yours.