Anchoring resilience: the secret of strong auditors

Key players in the professional services industry work under constant deadline pressure and expect the highest quality,
adherence to deadlines and precision from themselves at all times - for the benefit of their customers. The rapidly changing framework conditions and an ever-increasing flood of information add to the pressure. Under constant pressure, it becomes apparent that some professionals cope better than others with this high workload. But why is that? One key lies in mental and emotional strength and the ability to recover quickly from stress and setbacks. This skill is also known as resilience. For auditors, resilience is far more than a buzzword - it is an essential ability to cope with the increasing demands while remaining healthy and confident.

Resilience as a key competency
This concept is often lightly equated with hardness, abrasion resistance and resilience, but the idea of resilience actually goes far beyond this. The term comes from the Latin and literally means ‘to bounce back’ or ‘to rebound’. It describes the ability to recover from setbacks, to cushion stresses and strains and to remain confident even in difficult times. This inner fire is increasingly becoming a key skill for staying healthy and happy in our world in the long term. But how can it be strengthened?

Eight spheres for more resilience
With the Executive FiRE model, I have developed a structured approach with which the mental and emotional immune system can be specifically expanded and strengthened in the long term. The abbreviation ‘FiRE’ stands for ‘Factors improving Resilience Effectiveness’. The model is aimed specifically at professionals who are very performance orientated and also define themselves by their shaped cognitive problem-solving skills. Many methods are derived from work with people in crisis areas and are also used in the military and competitive sport.

1. Personality: Our personality forms the basis for resilience. Three factors play an important role here: the need for emotional stability, the degree of extroversion and openness to new experiences. In order to strengthen personal
   ity and manage yourself better, it is important to know your own protective and risk factors - because resilience is
   above all a leadership skill. Scheduling time for self-reflection, keeping a diary at and regular reflection meetings in the team can help.
2. Biography: The second sphere of the FiRE model - the relationship to one's own biography - is a valuable resource in turbulent times. Those who manage to deal with setbacks and learn from mistakes, who look back with gratitude on good decisions and personal successes, gain confidence in their own resilience, creativity and self efficacy. To build confidence in your own self-efficacy in difficult times, it helps to document past successes and analyse challenges that have been overcome. This is because patterns of success that have worked in the past can also help with current challenges.
3. Attitude: In the third sphere, our inner attitude towards life plays a central role. Those who can see life's hardships as a challenge rather than an excessive demand will become emotionally and mentally stronger. This attitude is above all an inner decision - but not an easy one. This is why is about internalising strategies that help us to switch from victim to creator mode. The main keys to success are acceptance, responsibility and gratitude in particular proves to be a successful cognitive strategy in practice.
4. Mental agility: Increasing mental agility is another important building block for resilient behaviour. The ability to adapt well to new and changing conditions, is becoming increasingly important, especially in our unpredictable world. This requires a mental muscle that allows us to leave our own comfort zone and consciously engage with spontaneous, unknown and new things. As with strength training, the level of difficulty should be increased in a well dosed manner.
5. Energy management: Energy managment is about the ability to deal effectively with strong feelings without suppressing them. How do I deal effectively with anger, fear or shame? How do I charge myself with positive energy to prepare myself for a difficult situation? How do I strengthen my mental energy to keep a clear head in turbulent times? Rituals, visualisations and cognitive practices play a central role in this.
6. Mind-body axis: The mind-body axis is also aimed at cognitive and emotional self-regulation, but with the body as a lever. For example, physical exertion is extremely effective in driving away gloomy thoughts. A healthy sleep rhythm allows us to develop our full problem-solving skills Mindfulness practices help to centre ourselves, and a balanced
   diet not only strengthens our well-being, but also our confidence.
7. Authentic relationships: Trusting, authentic relationships with people who understand our busy world but do not pursue their own interests and mean well for us offer emotional support and a change of perspective in stressful times. Nevertheless, they are hard to find, which makes such relationships precious and require a lot of care.
8. Meaning: The last sphere emphasised by the model is meaning, which means seeing a deeper meaning in what we do. People who succeed in this also experience difficult times as more fulfilling. The awareness that your own work or commitment has a positive effect strengthens motivation and helps you to feel orientated and stable in times of crisis.

Resilience strategies in practice
A well-implemented resilience concept such as the Executive FiRE model offers concrete, practical methods for promoting mental and emotional resilience. In our work with auditors, we have noticed that there is often a particularly strong lever hidden in the latter sphere. If it is possible to see their own work not only as economically successful, but also as meaningful, this can have a positive impact on the entire organisation. Audit firms that invest in the resilience of their employees create a stable foundation for long-term success and promote a work culture in which motivation and performance are maintained even in difficult times. But be careful: promoting resilience is not a panacea. It only makes sense for a company if the management is also prepared to set an example and take aspects such as work stress, personnel capacity and the compatibility of family and career into consideration. Companies that succeed in promoting resilience as a value in their strategy and culture are laying the foundations for sustainable success. Resilient teams remain productive and innovative for longer, learn continuously and thus contribute to the long-term stability of the entire organisation.