Here is our list of the best employee resilience books.
Employee resilience books are guides that provide employees with strategies, skills, and knowledge for navigating difficult situations. Examples include The Resilient Employee by Rosalind Cardinal, Managing for Resilience by Monique Crane, and Rising with Resilience by Cathy L. Davies. The purpose of these books is to help readers develop a positive mindset that can help them bounce back from challenges and traumas.
These books are a subset of books for work and help employees develop resilience in the workplace. Readers can also read these publications alongside decision making books and problem solving books.
This list includes:
- books on resilience psychology
- emotional resilience books
- resilience books for adults
- books on resilience for employees
Here we go!
List of employee resilience books
Resilience books help readers discover skills and tools for thriving during a disaster, trauma, and pain. From The Resilience Workbook to The Prepared Leader, here are the best books to read for building resilience at work.
1. Managing for Resilience: A Practical Guide for Employee Wellbeing and Organizational Performance by Monique Crane
Managing for Resilience is one of the best books on resilience psychology. The book highlights how stress and regular organizational change affect employees’ output and health. Nevertheless, the author explains that companies can manage these factors and support employees’ well-being by incorporating a culture of resilience.
Furthermore, Managing for Resilience guides readers on how to promote psychological resilience. While reading, you will find practical advice you can implement in various organizational structures. Each chapter addresses key issues, including ways to communicate change. The book also guides readers on selecting the best resilient training for their organizations.
Notable quote: “There are individual differences in how people respond to demanding circumstances; managers need to understand these differences in order to develop and maintain a resilient workforce.”
Learn more about Managing for Resilience.
2. The Prepared Leader: Emerge from Any Crisis More Resilient than Before by Erika James and Lynn Wooten
The Prepared Leader is an insightful read for employers and employees who want to learn how to take advantage of challenging situations. You can also check out this book if you are transitioning to a new role in your organization. This book will prepare you to navigate any present or future crisis. Also, the book reveals how to make sound decisions while working under pressure.
In addition, you will gain insights into the five critical phases of crisis management and the essential skills needed in each stage. This guide also explains how leaders can build a high-performing team during a crisis.
Notable quote: “Just as one crisis starts to revolve, another is already taking shape. Unfortunately, human beings are not ideally equipped to rationalize threats like this. We do not ordinarily plan for the atypical, the anomalous, the irregular, or the exceptional on a day-to-day basis. We are hardwired to neglect the possibility of a crisis.”
Learn more about The Prepared Leader.
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3. Resilient: How to Grow An Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness by Rick Hanson and Forrest Hanson
Resilient is one of the best resilience books for adults. This guide explains the 12 essential inner strengths for building resilience. The book also shows readers ways to develop these strengths. Notably, the authors state that resilience does not simply mean enduring challenging situations. Individuals can also build resilience in day-to-day experiences, from health issues to work stress.
Each chapter shows how you can navigate daily downfalls, which helps you develop resilience in the long run. The writers use their personal experiences and practical examples to engage readers. Rick and Forrest Hanson take a scientific approach to resilience building, which involves transforming your brain’s negative feelings into positive ones.
Notable quote: “Try to see the big picture. Whatever has happened is probably a short chapter in the long book of your life.”
Learn more about Resilient.
4. Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton
If you are looking for the best guide to managing anxiety and overcoming difficult times, then you can check out this guide. The authors point out how anxiety can negatively affect an employee’s life and cause stress. This book addresses eight strategies to help employees become more productive and manage uncertainties.
Also, the authors note that building a calm work environment requires employers and employees to work together. In addition, the guide shows how managers can balance the team’s workload and encourage employees to speak out more often. Anxiety at Work is an excellent read for overwhelmed employees and leaders looking to prevent burnout.
Notable quote: “The best leaders are beginning to understand that creating a healthy place to work can embrace those with anxiety—people who may be extremely capable and intelligent—while creating an environment that is more positive for everyone.”
Learn more about Anxiety at Work.
5. The Resilient Employee: The Essential Guide to Coping with Change and Thriving in Today’s Workplace by Rosalind Cardinal
Rosalind Cardinal’s The Resilient Employee is one of the best books on resilience for employees. The book addresses how change is inevitable and a leading cause of many negative emotions, including fear. This practical guide is excellent for employees struggling with organizational change and individuals questioning their resilience.
The author encourages readers to quit resisting change. Instead, you should embrace the challenges and get the best of the changing situation. The book features life-changing lessons, including the emotional skills needed to deal with change.
Notable quote: “When change does enter our lives, it can have a powerful effect. It can cause us to question long-held beliefs and values, who we are and what our role in life has become. Moving through its uncharted territories can be uncomfortable, painful, and challenging. But moving through change is the only way to move forward with our lives.”
Learn more about The Resilient Employee.
6. Rise Together: A Leader’s Guide to the Science Behind Creating Innovative, Engaged and Resilient Employees by Dr. Sam Mather
Rise Together is an excellent book that can help teams bond and become more resilient than ever. The book highlights the five essential comforts employers should provide for employees to survive through uncertainties.
The book also addresses ways to make your team members flexible and productive. Furthermore, the author takes a psychological approach to explain that positively conditioning the brain is critical to building sound employees. This eye-opening guide helps leaders gain insights into how workers react to crises and the reason for their reactions.
Notable quote: “We are surrounded by information, some of which can create stress: work, family, neighbors, health, the economy… To function and ‘rise above’ these stressors, our brains need the right resources.”
Learn more about Rise Together.
7. Camel Resilience: Dr. Dan’s Guide for Turning Surviving into Thriving by Dan O’Brien
This easy-to-read guide features Dr. Dan’s professional insights into how to be resilient through vulnerability. The author explains his point in the context of sports. He points out how sports show that, aside from fast adaptation, we can also build resilience during a change.
The writer also illustrates a camel’s resilience to explain how adaptation works. He notes that this animal evolved with different biological changes to survive and make the best of the environment. Through his experience and deep research, Dr. Dan explains that accepting rather than fighting change can help organizations adapt like a camel and build resilience.
Notable quote: “What if, instead of surviving and recovering, we keep shaking the snow globe in search of newness as we refuse to settle for a new normal?”
Learn more about Camel Resilience.
8. Resilience at Work: Practical Tools for Career Success by Kathryn Jackson
Kathryn Jackson’s Resilience at Work is one of the best emotional resilience books. The author writes based on her personal experience of finding her resilience while working under challenging circumstances in post-earthquake Christchurch. The book talks about emotional honesty being the basis for building true resilience. Also, the book is excellent for leaders, career coaches, and employees in various fields.
With the author’s approach and writing style, you can use the book’s strategies to start your personalized resilience journey. Additionally, Resilience at Work appeared on The Business School Award’s Best International Business Book shortlist.
Notable quote: “You’re already resilient. It’s very unlikely that you’ve been able to get this far in life (whatever point you’re at) without creating and using coping strategies, and learning some lessons along the way.”
Learn more about Resilience at Work.
9. Beyond Resilience: Trench Tested Tool to Thrive Under Pressure by Dan Diamond
Beyond Resilience offers valuable tips organizations and employees can use to flourish under pressure. This book will teach you to take advantage of global disasters and challenges. The book looks beyond being resilient alone and teaches readers how to transform difficulties into clarity.
Although Beyond Resilience focuses on the healthcare sector, you can learn from the helpful tips regardless of your industry. Furthermore, the writer notes that change is almost inevitable. While many people may not thrive and survive in changing circumstances, many will thrive. Therefore, you can check out this book to learn more about the tested tools to help you, your team, and your organization survive under pressure.
Notable quote: “You do not need an earthquake to have a disaster.”
Learn more about Beyond Resilience.
10. The Resilience Workbook: Essential Skills to Recover from Stress, Trauma, and Adversity by Glenn Schiraldi
The Resilience Workbook is an excellent read for employees looking for ways to navigate difficult situations, whether the loss of a loved one or work stress. This guide is among the best books on resilience psychology.
The Resilience Workbook reveals how readers can build resilience with several approaches, including stress management skills and mindfulness. Also, this guide features practical exercises to help you remain calm even under pressure. In addition, the author adds that resilience begins with the brain. Schirald follows the conceptual model for building strength, which involves optimizing the brain’s hardware and software.
Notable quote: “Nearly everyone can learn how to be resilient at any age. Ideally, we can develop resilience before crisis strikes. Sometimes adversity causes us to summon courage and apply strengths we didn’t know we possessed. And sometimes, looking back, we learn from difficult experiences and ‘get it together’ later in life, recognizing weaknesses and turning them into strengths.”
Learn more about The Resilience Workbook.
11. Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being and Resilience by Paula Davis
Beating Burnout at Work features the author’s personal stories from her experiences while working closely with leaders. Paula Davis is the founder of the Stress & Resilience Institute. In this book, she explains the three chronological stages of burnout: exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy.
The book also provides a reliable method organizations can use to develop resilience and support employees’ well-being. In addition, Beating Burnout at Work will teach you how to create positive change within your organization. The author has reliable experience working with organizations to help employees fight burnout and become resilient.
Notable quote: “Burnout refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”
Learn more about Beating Burnout at Work.
12. Rising with Resilience: Inspirational Stories Through the Eyes of Medical Professionals, Front-line Workers, Survivors, and the Families and Friends of Those We Miss by Cathy L. Davies
Rising with Resilience by Cathy L. Davies is one of the most exciting resilience books for adults. The book features stories from individuals with different backgrounds and experiences, including survivors and medical professionals.
From these inspirational stories, you will learn how the storytellers built resilience through their challenges. The book shows how resilience can help folks survive a global health crisis and personal challenges.
Notable quote: “Remembering that we can take a breath and make an informed choice can change your day from not so good to great.”
Learn more about Rising with Resilience.
13. The Resilience Advantage: Stop Managing Stress and Find Your Resilience by Richard Citrin and Alan Weiss
In The Resilience Advantage, Richard Citrin and Alan Weiss write about how readers can easily navigate challenges. The book also addresses the need for organizations to stop focusing on stress management. Instead, employees and leaders can work toward building resilience.
Based on the authors’ insights, finding your resilience can help you bounce back after a difficult time or even move forward and thrive. The book also teaches employees and companies to adopt a positive mindset. Furthermore, this guide contains strategies that can help you see the bright side of adversities and use them to succeed.
Notable quote: “We all tend to focus on negatives far more than positives and we have to train ourselves to focus more on things we do well and succeed in than those things that drag us down.”
Learn more about The Resilience Advantage.
14. Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams By Jim Clifton and Jim Harter
Wellbeing at Work is among the best books on resilience for employees. In this guide, you will learn helpful tips to develop a resilient culture within your team. Wellbeing at Work also addresses the need for leaders to help employees maintain good mental health.
Aside from highlighting the importance of building resilience, the book offers practical solutions you can easily implement. The book also features over 100 Gallup interviews on increasing employee performance and supporting mental health.
Notable quote: “All things being equal, thriving in what you do every day makes for stronger relationships, a more secure financial life, good health, and greater community involvement.”
Learn more about Wellbeing at Work.
15. Building Resilience at Work by Kathryn McEwen
Building Resilience at Work is an interesting guide focusing on becoming more resilient using a psychological theory. This book will guide employees on how to be more independent, adaptive, and optimistic. Building Resilience at Work also touches on other resilient features, including problem-solving abilities and self-control.
Furthermore, this book sheds light on achieving emotional balance, mental toughness, and the right mindset to build resilience.
Notable quote: “Resilient teams, like people, can be described as having characteristics such as flexibility, adaptability, a sense of fun, support, and good problem-solving skills.”
Learn more about Building Resilience at Work.
16. Bounce Back: How to Fail Fast and Be Resilient at Work by Dr. Susan Kahn
Bounce Back is one of the best emotional resilience books. The book explains how fear of failure can discourage workers and the entire organization from reaching their full potential. The author takes a unique approach to resilience and teaches readers to build courage and fail.
This book will shape your response to failure and teach you how to bounce back quickly after failing. Furthermore, the guide features case studies, self-assessments, and exercises to help readers grow in their resilience journey.
Notable quote: “Never say you can’t do something, or that something seems impossible, or that something can’t be done, no matter how discouraging or harrowing it may be. It is our minds that hold us back and it is here that resilience helps us to chart our own reality.”
Learn more about Bounce Back.
Conclusion
These employee resilience books are essential for individuals who want to learn adaptation skills and incorporate a growth mindset. Resilience is a key trait employees need to navigate through struggles in their personal and work life. Since change is inevitable, resilient employees can easily adapt and even make the best of their difficulties.
These books address how to build resilience and embrace positive emotions. Also, the guides feature strategies, case studies, resources, and interesting stories that can help readers adopt a positive mindset. Getting these books for your employees is a great way to invest in their personal and professional growth. Also, resilient employees tend to be more productive and handle challenges better.
Next, check these employee experience books and employee engagement books. You can also check these productivity tips to boost employees’ productivity.
