Emotional Intelligence

It was Morgan Stanley’s hard-nosed realism that enabled the company to benefit from its luck.

When disaster struck on September 11, Rescorla was on a bullhorn telling Morgan Stanley employees to stay calm and follow their well-practiced drill.

Indeed, it was luck that Morgan Stanley was situated in the south tower and could put its preparedness training to work.

When we truly stare down reality, we prepare ourselves to act in ways that allow us to endure and survive extraordinary hardship.

In the midst of staggering suffering, Frankl invented 'meaning therapy,' a humanistic therapy technique that helps individuals make the kinds of decisions that will create significance in their lives.

We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed.

True, I lost many things during my illness, but I found many more—incredible friends who saw me through the bleakest times and who will give meaning to my life forever.

Most of the resilience theories I encountered in my research make good common sense. But I also observed that almost all the theories overlap in three ways: a staunch acceptance of reality; a deep belief, often buttressed by strongly held values, that life is meaningful; and an uncanny ability to improvise.

the ability to improvise a solution to a problem without proper or obvious tools or materials.

We tell our employees to get the job done. If that means they need to improvise, they improvise.