82. On Living and Working with Ordinary Resilience with Luis Velasquez

Overview

Today I’m joined by Luis Velasquez, an expert in resilience. Luis is an Executive Coach, Stanford University facilitator, and an HBR Ascent contributor. He is also an avid endurance athlete and a brain tumor survivor.

In our conversation, we dig into the definition of and Luis’s equation for resilience, which = Commitment + Persistence x Optimism. We hear core themes of what resilience truly looks like through Luis sharing his own personal experiences from his childhood in Guatemala to surviving a brain tumor to completing endurance events. What comes through is that resilience isn’t a superpower. Sure, resilience might start as being about survival, but Luis notes that it is really about adapting and thriving. He also believes that we are all already resilient. We just need to unlock it and take the next step.

Luis - It was wonderful to have you on! I appreciated hearing your personal journey and lessons on resilience, as well as how you are shaping what Sustainable Ambition can really look like through your own life and work choices.

More About Our Guest

Luis Velasquez is an expert in resilience and executive coach who focuses on helping leaders accelerate learning, change and growth. To do that, he helps leaders and teams better understand what their organization defines as a success profile and how others perceive them relative to that profile. By integrating these two components, he is able to help leaders and teams achieve a positive, sustainable, and measurable result at a personal, interpersonal, and organizational level.

Luis is an HBR Ascent contributor, has written for Fast Company, and is a Stanford University facilitator.

He is also an avid endurance athlete and a brain tumor survivor. He’s completed over 100 marathons and ultramarathons (some at the 100-mile range), several Ironman triathlons, and cycling events.

Topics Covered

  • We start by hearing Luis’s beautiful personal story of resilience: born and raised in Guatemala, Luis came to the United States for college, which opened his eyes to what was possible. He went on to receive two Phd’s, and then was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Luis survived the tumor, yet his career and marriage didn’t survive that experience. He found himself asking “what’s next?” (not the first time he had asked that question), because he wasn’t motivated by his current work anymore. One person gave him a chance, which led to his next career. In that experience he learned how one person can change a person’s life, motivating him to do what he does today as an executive coach.

  • I ask Luis about where he finds courage. He frames this around what is required to take risks. For him to take risks, he needs to have options. So, a core mantra for Luis when one finds themselves at a crossroads is to ask: “What options do I have?”

  • We talk about the importance of optimism and how that plays into activating one’s resilience.

  • Luis has an equation for resilience: Resilience = Commitment + Persistence x Optimism. Optimism is a multiplier. Commitment is: “I want to do this.” Persistence is: the realization that it isn’t easy.

  • Luis shares his own ambition with us, and to me it’s a beautiful example of Sustainable Ambition. He goes on to note how he thinks about ambitions or setting the next goal or aspiration within this context of resilience. Luis says how he sets his aspirational goal as a direction, breaks down his goals into big bets or strategies, immediate actions, and the habits that support them.

  • Luis is also an endurance athlete. He shares how his lessons from those experiences relates to how he thinks about resilience. The three things that are important in an endurance race are: 1) feet, 2) nutrition, and 3) pacing. When translating this to a work context, thinks about: 1) feet is about caring for your resources (relationships are really important here); 2) nutrition is about content like acquiring new skills; and 3) pacing means you don’t need to get everything at once.

  • Luis believes that we are all already resilient. We just need to unlock it. To do so, he says to lean into: looking for options, taking care of relationships, and stretching ourselves more.

  • We talk about the “Authenticity Paradox” and how that can hold us back from growth and stretching ourselves. Luis adds to this discussion the importance of intention, as well, and thinking about how you want to show up.

  • Luis shares his thoughts about self-compassion and its role in resilience.

  • I ask Luis about his thoughts about the term toxic resilience, and he uses the opportunity to give us more insight into resilience. He says that resilience is about survival, adapting, and thriving.

  • Given Luis’s experiences, I wanted to get his counsel on how to manage one’s career when facing the need to pivot and reinvent oneself. He shares: 1) focus on learning the fastest and apply that learning to what’s next; and 2) build relationships (e.g., mentor, mentee, competitor, partner).

  • Luis’s final counsel around resilience is that it is a mindset and that you have everything you need right now. Just take the next step.

Resources Mentioned

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82. On Living and Working with Ordinary Resilience with Luis Velasquez

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2022-2Kathy OnetoRight Aspiration, Right Success, Right Effort