How these new 10 things about mental toughness can help you?

I was lucky enough to attend the Australian Mental Toughness conference last week in Melbourne and Sydney and hear new insights in mental toughness from the excellent and entertaining speakers Doug Strycharczyk, CEO of AQR International and Dr John Perry Dean of the Arts at Mary Immaculate College in Ireland.

Here, direct from the Conference, are ten of their insights on mental toughness that may interest you;

1 Mental Toughness may have originated from the Ancient Greeks and Romans 

The work of Plato and subsequently the Roman slave, Epictetus who influenced Emperor Marcus Aurelias and the rise of Stoicism, explored fortitude and engaging with and letting go of destructive emotions. Epictetus observed that “men are disturbed, not by things, but the view of which they take of them”

These ancient concepts are central to the modern definition of mental toughness.

2 Self Awareness reflection are the key to successful development 

The MTQ framework enables you to measure and then develop mental toughness through a range of common interventions. However, the key to successful development in all situations is self-awareness and understanding why you do what you do.

This self-awareness leads into;

·     Reflection (what does it mean?  should you take another path or option?)

·     Action (Choosing to do something else, preparation and selection) and 

Purposeful Practice (practicing the new approach creates a new habit)

3 A positive attitude is a key life skill in demand by employers 

Whilst this is old news it needs reaffirming.

Ability and Skills are important for career and life success but without the right attitude they may never be used.

·      A 2015 CBI Survey showed that Employers valued attitude highly – ahead of literacy and numeracy. 

·      The World Economic Forum 2016 confirmed this identifying, perseverance, adaptability, problem solving, creativity, initiative (risk-taking), curiosity and collaboration were key components for successful people.

·      Mental Toughness is central to a positive attitude.

In 2015, AQR in collaboration with 3 Careers Organisations asked 1500 Business Leaders to describe what they meant by Attitude and four themes emergedat the top of the list which were essentially about Mindset:

·      Can do

·      Delivery orientation

·      Response to change

·      Confidence

These are essentially the core elements of Mental Toughness

4 What Mental Toughness isn’t 

There are at least four common fallacies about mental toughness:

·     Mental Toughness is a macho, male dominated concept

Many independent research studies show male and female patterns are generally the same.

·     Mentally Tough people are uncaring and self-centred

Mentally Tough people are statistically as caring and emotionally literate as Mentally Sensitive people.

·     Mental Toughness is all about winning.

Mental Toughness is about being the best you can be. Winning-and Losing - is a by-product of this.

·     Everyone should be Mentally Tough

Whilst Mentally Tough people are generally able to manage life’s challenges better than Mentally Sensitive people there is no obvious benefit for everyone in an organisation or society to be all one or all the other. This cognitive diversity is helpful and indeed advantageous to an organisation.

5 The new MTQ Plus psychometric measure and its 8-factor model interdependence generates 40,000 different profile combinations 

The development of MTQ48 to the MTQ Plus measure released in 2018 with its 8 sub scales and 40,000 different profile combinations has seen a rapid growth in our understanding of the concept and of its applications. This continues and helps us guide individuals and organisations to being the best they can be in terms of performance wellbeing, adaptability and positivity. 

6 We now can use a family of Mental Toughness measures to determine an Organization’s mental toughness profile and potential deficiencies.

The MTQ Plus and MTQ 4C’s measures offer Organizations both a premium and standard option to test employees for mental toughness. The MTQ Plus can be used to provide a very useful and detailed picture of an key aspect of an organisations culture in term of resilience, agility and positive behaviour.

Data can be aggregated to show differences between:

§ Levels in an organisation

§ Departments or functions

§ Locations

§ Gender

§ Age, etc.

This is particularly useful in assessing groups before and after an event.

7 There are benefits to being Mentally Sensitive…….. 

All their potential weaknesses might be obvious:

·      They don’t feel in control.

·      They feel pressure when working to goals.

·      They prefer to do what they have always done.

·      They often lack confidence.

A Mentally Sensitive person will generally be ;

·      very good at sensing the mood and atmosphere around them.

·      sensitive to overload before most people.

·      they can be creative in a different way – artistic types are often sensitive.

·      they can bring a different caring “approach” when that is useful.

8……..and drawbacks to being too Mentally Tough 

Whilst the potential strengths of a mentally tough person are clear;

·      they approach most things in a “can do” positive way and bounce back from setbacks quickly. 

·      they get things done and show less anxiety.

There are some potential weaknesses;

·      they can believe they can do everything – and not understand why others can’t. 

·      they can be scarily unflappable.

·      they can over commit – themselves and others.

·      they can burn out – and not recognise the warning signs.

·      they can take too many risks – they can “brown out” if bored.

·      their confidence can be overpowering and again they can overcommit.

9 The enduring importance of scientific evidence for mental Toughness 

The MTQ Plus is simple to use, contemporary with regular updates and scientifically led.

Combining 17 years of carefully observed practice with academic rigour has led to a major leap forward in understanding the concept and its importance for practitioners.

Around 100 peer reviewed research papers and application with several hundred thousand applications and major reviews over four years led by Doug Strycharczyk, Professor Peter Clough, and Dr John Perry now means we have:

·      An 8 factor concept – each independent

·      Improved reliability (from an already impressive level)

·      A deeper understanding of the constructs and their applications

Confirmation that it is a universal concept and ….. it makes a real difference.

10.Mental Toughness and the Matrix 

One of the exciting developments in the ongoing research is that of Network Analysis of completed measures connecting the Big 5 Personality, Mental Toughness, Dark Triad and Stress Measures.

There are some interesting connections and deductions between them and we are beginning to understand why some interventions work for some and not for others – and in the future we may be able to predict this to improve how we develop people and organisations.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

To learn more on mental toughness contact Mental Toughness Partners

Paul Lyons is an experienced CEO who coaches leaders to improve their performance and wellbeing by developing their mental toughness. 

View our range of workshops and coaching packages

To learn more contact Paul or Mental Toughness Partners

View my daily posts