A friend was recently, painfully, recounting the post-election-text-battle he got into with his brother. We’re the guys who are happy to hear the gory details—the he-said-what?! of it all—but tend to steer the conversation to “…and how are you feeling about all that?”

“Fine,” he said. “I’ve been using resiliency tactics I learned at work. I’m not gonna give it any thought. Pushing through!”

*Insert YouTube face*

You might think two people who use words like resilience nearly as often as we use basic conjunctions would be all warm and fuzzy about company sponsored resilience training.

You’d be wrong.

Waipi’o Valley Overlook, Hawaii. Photo Credit: No Vacation Required

Resilience with a side of beliefs.

Companies love to offer resilience training for employees, which makes perfect sense.

Regardless of how it’s labelled or packaged (empowerment training, leadership training, problem solving training, etc.), the goal is the same: employers want to increase your ability to deal with stress and handle all the things that can go sideways in an organizational environment. You know, fun things like downsizing, mergers, bad quarters, job expansion, etc. They want you to remain present and productive regardless of environmental pressures.

That’s not a bad thing, is it?

As Taylor growls riding her mirrored Roomba down the Eras Tour stage, but what if it is?

While company-sponsored resilience training is better (probably? maybe?) than no resilience training, the ideal way to build resilience is on your own—outside of a work environment.

Here’s why. In the process of providing tactics for you to remain resilient when bombarded with workplace demands and stressors, companies do a little something called Beliefs Transference. A bonus gift of corporate indoctrination.

Resilience training can not-so-subtly encourage employees to adopt corporate beliefs and values by shaping their mindset and attitudes in ways that align with the company’s culture and goals.

Here’s what that can look like.

Framing Adversity Through Company Values: Resilience programs often focus on reframing challenges in ways that reflect corporate beliefs.
Promoting a Company-First Shared Purpose: Resilience training often underscores the value of purpose and meaning, which can skew too closely to a company’s mission.
Building an Overly Team-Oriented Environment: Many resilience programs emphasize corporate values around teamwork and mutual support, sometimes underplaying individual agency.
Influencing Behaviors and Attitudes: Resilience programs teach techniques for embracing a “can-do” (read: ask no questions!) attitude.
Enhancing Commitment and Loyalty: Employees report equating gratitude for the training with a greater alignment with the company’s values. You might recognize this as, “They went to the expense of training me, so I owe them my loyalty.”
Embedding Resilience in Leadership Development: For companies that include resilience training in leadership programs, these future leaders tend to become evangelists of the company’s values.

In essence, corporate resilience training tends to foster a mindset and behavioral alignment with the corporate culture and organizational objectives. That means employees are more likely to adopt, internalize, and reinforce the company’s beliefs and values. That’s called workism, and it’s to a big no-no.

Waipi’o Valley, Hawaii. Photo Credit: No Vacation Required

Beliefs need to be evaluated.

We’re often telling clients and readers that beliefs need to be regularly evaluated. The truth is that external forces are constantly—consciously or unconsciously—trying to shape our beliefs. And what we believe plays directly into our self perception and, by extension, our actions.

Beliefs shape who we believe ourselves to be and who we are becoming. We simply can’t be our authentic selves with interloping beliefs filling our brains.

You have many roles, but there is only one you.

Let’s be perfectly clear. We fully support of building resilience. We just encourage people to do it on their own instead (and, sometimes, because) of corporate resilience training. Doing this on your own leads to a more authentic form of resilience that empowers you from the inside out. Here’s what that can look like:

Staying True to Your Values: When you develop resilience on your own terms, you’re aligning with your own values, not someone else’s agenda. That kind of resilience doesn’t just hold up under pressure—it thrives because it’s rooted in what you truly believe and care about.
Freedom from External Pressures: Outside of work, resilience isn’t tied to quotas or deadlines. Instead, you’re focused on building a foundation that keeps you strong regardless of what’s happening around you. This kind of growth is about fortifying yourself from within, not simply meeting organizational expectations.
A Holistic, Balanced Approach: Shocker, life’s challenges go beyond the workplace. Learning resilience outside the context of work lets you see the big picture. Whether it’s family, community, or health, you learn to meet all of life’s demands with a steadiness.
Keeping Perspective: Corporate resilience programs, even well-intentioned ones, can promote pushing through stress without questioning the underlying conditions. Building resilience outside of work means you can set your own boundaries, identify when you need rest, and decide for yourself when to push forward and when to step back.
Self-Discovery and Personal Strength: Personal resilience work lets you tap into what truly lifts you up, without being influenced by external pressures. It’s a chance to explore what supports your growth, from self-reflection to habits like exercise or creative outlets.
Permission to Be Vulnerable: In our personal lives, there’s often more space to show up fully, even with our struggles and vulnerabilities. Embracing this honesty allows for a deeper form of resilience, one that’s courageous and grounded in who you truly are.

Well say it again. You have many roles, but there is only one you. Every self-improvement action you take should be done with that mantra in mind. Resist the urge to let any one role (Career, we’re giving you the stink eye) be in charge.

Keep a close eye on your resilience building and well being as we close out the holiday season. There’s still a lot to be grateful for and hopeful about, but let’s not candy coat it: things feel dark and fragile. It’s quite likely you’ll find yourself in a text war or two. Oh, who are kidding… Or three.

We want your well being to remain in tip top shape. Which means your sense of resilience needs to be way more robust and self-aligned than the “push through at any cost” attitude that corporate resilience training would have you aiming for.

Onward and Upward,