Magic in the Room #53: Unlocking EQ – Showing Resilience

April 27, 2021

Resilience is the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. But what does it take to develop resilience? In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke, Hannah, and Chris discuss the need for hope, purpose, grit, reflection, and self-care in developing resilience. People with resilience make a bigger impact on the world and attract people to their cause.

Chris begins the episode by asking his co-hosts, would you rather work for a leader who was a great visionary storyteller or a likable leader? Having worked with very nice people who were terrible leaders, Hannah would always choose someone that would show her the vision, tell the story, and capture her imagination. Chris is also someone who wants to embrace the power of positive potential and be inspired by a leader.

 

In our  EQ series,  the hosts have also explored the importance of being self-aware in different situations to overcome various challenges. But how does resilience help us thrive and improve rather than just survive? And what does resilience mean to you? For Luke, it’s about hope, and people who have hope will always continue to move forward.

 

Having a vision and a clear picture of what success looks like combined with a growth mindset will help drive you forward. But as someone who understands that challenge is a part of the journey, Luke advises it’s not so much that we choose an easy path or a hard path. It’s what type of hard path we want to take. Luke shares how resilience is all about hope and a mindset where the challenge can be positive.

 

For Chris, resilience can be the ability to build character or strength through times of discomfort. Hannah also shares how for her; resilience is the time that it takes you to recover from a setback. It’s the ability to keep going or get back up, no matter how many times it takes. It can be a willingness to embrace conflict and challenge and bumps in the road as they come.

 

Resilience can be the perseverance that transcends and helps you to keep doing your thing. But it requires high levels of commitment in many areas. For example, when performing at a very high level that demands a lot of your focus, attention, strength, and stamina, resilience can also be about being aware of what it takes to restore and rejuvenate your energy.

 

Resilient leaders build resilient teams and organizations. But it can be a complex topic to navigate around in the workplace. It’s important to remember that resilience will occur naturally when we are authentic but difficult when we are not. As the world begins to open back up, how are you ensuring that your organization will be more resilient?

 

If you want to start a conversation about this or any of the topics that we have explored in the EQ podcast episodes, please message Chris, Hannah, and Luke at  info@purposeandperformancegroup.com.

 

Magic in the Room #200: How to Lead through Polarities

By Sarah Whitfield • May 5, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke and Hannah explore the concept of polarities. Tensions like purpose and performance, stability and change, or accountability and grace that are often mistaken for problems to solve rather than dynamics to manage. Drawing on insights from Barry Johnson’s work, they explain how these opposing forces are interdependent and must be balanced over time to achieve sustained success. Through practical examples and personal reflections, they show how over-relying on one side of a polarity leads to predictable “shadow sides” such as stagnation, chaos, inefficiency, or burnout, while effective leadership requires recognizing where you are on the cycle and intentionally recalibrating. The episode emphasizes that many recurring organizational frustrations are not failures, but signals of imbalance, and offers a more nuanced approach to leadership. One that replaces rigid either/or thinking with flexible both/and awareness to improve decision-making, team dynamics, and long-term performance.

Magic in the Room #199: The Power of Mattering

By Sarah Whitfield • April 7, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke Freeman, Hannah Bratterud, and Chris Province dive into the concept of “mattering,” inspired by Zach Mercurio’s work, and explore why it is a foundational driver of engagement, performance, and culture in organizations. They challenge leaders to move beyond assuming people matter to actively ensuring individuals feel that they matter by being valued and by contributing value to a shared purpose. The conversation highlights how mattering differs from belonging, why it cannot be replaced by perks or efficiency, and how leadership behaviors like attention, recognition, and presence directly shape whether people feel seen, heard, and understood. Through examples ranging from workplace dynamics to broader societal trends like social disconnection, they argue that disengagement, conflict, and even poor performance are symptoms of a mattering deficit. Ultimately, they position mattering not as a soft concept, but as a measurable, actionable leadership responsibility that underpins trust, resilience, and long-term success.
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