There has never been a more important time to cultivate an environment of resilience within your business or organization. As businesses look to find their new normal after a year of disruption and change, Deloitte published their fourth annual readiness report that identifies what traits define resilient organization and business leaders.

The report outlines 5 characteristics of resilient organizations that help create a culture that is adaptive and nimble.

So, what will help your business bounce back when facing unexpected challenges?

Be Prepared – Plan for the long term but be prepared to pivot in “real-time” to short-term realities. Keeping a balance on both is essential.

Collaborate – within your organizations, it helps speed up decision-making, helps minimize risk and increases innovation among your team. Those leaders that worked to remove silos and increase collaboration prior to the 2020 disruption were more prepared to adapt.

Be Adaptable – Leaders need to surround themselves with a team that is flexible and adaptable. This was identified as the most critical workforce trait necessary to lead their organization’s futures.

Be Trustworthy – It’s not always easy to build trust. But trust between leadership and employees is essential to building a culture that supports strong transparency, improving communication and leading with empathy.

Be Responsible – Business must be responsible for more than just the bottom line. Eighty-seven percent of those surveyed said that by looking beyond the bottom-line they were more able to adapt to disruptive events impacting their stakeholders.

According to the report, most resilient organizations focus on all of these traits to some degree. But keep in mind that these characteristics won’t happen without deliberate action to cultivate and maintain. It’s never too late to be prepared for the next unexpected event.