Alastair Young - Resilient High Performers' Workshop

Resilience is often defined as an individual’s ability to recover from setbacks, to adapt well to change, and to keep going in the face of adversity. 

Resilience matters because strongly resilient individuals are much more likely to be able to function effectively and productively in today’s demanding and ever changing commercial environment. Sustained hard work, long hours and high levels of productivity are not going to go away – the business models of many, if not all, of the UK’s professional services firms depend on these characteristics. 

It is estimated that in the UK £26bn is lost per year due to work related stress and mental ill health. Globally it is estimated that 12 billion working days are lost per annum for the same reasons.   

At its core individual resilience requires that a person is able to function at a high level of performance in a way that is sustainable, measured over years, not months or weeks.

The pressure of work as a senior equity partner in a large law firm is pretty relentless and in 2014 that pressure encroached on every aspect of my life. 

Eventually I realised that I needed help and I took four months off work to obtain the support that I needed. Gradually I began to rebuild my life and in doing so I discovered some of the tools necessary to help me strike a far healthier work and life balance.

I was fortunate enough to make a full recovery. Whilst very unpleasant I now look back on the events of 2014 with some positivity as I believe that I learned, as a result of those events, to see the world with a much healthier perspective. 

One of the things I discovered was how to be a more resilient individual and how to better strike the balance we all need in order to lead a rewarding and fulfilling life. I also believe that, post 2014, my style of working was more resilient in nature, both for me personally and co-incidentally for the teams that I led. 

I recently concluded my career as the Regional Managing Partner of the Dentons’ middle east business and as a member of the Dentons’ Executive Committee, roles I held until my retirement in April 2023. Dentons is a large global law firm with several hundred employees located in nine offices across seven middle eastern countries. 

I was previously a Board member of Dentons and I have held a number of other senior management positions including the Managing Partner of the Dentons’ Milton Keynes and Dubai offices as well as head of the Dentons’ middle east dispute resolution team. 

During my career I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to gain extensive leadership experience, including experience relevant to multi-cultural and multi-geographical locations and the building and maintenance of high performing teams. In these various roles I have coached and mentored a large number of people, in particular a number of individuals both before and after they were promoted into the partnership at Dentons.  

My career started in the British Army in 1987 where I served for nine years as an infantry officer including tours in Norway and Northern Ireland. On leaving the army in 1995 I qualified as a barrister where I practiced as a member of the Independent Bar for 11 years.

Combining the opportunity to reflect, nearly thirty years as a lawyer, eight years in the British Army and the events of 2014, I have designed a workshop where I discuss what drives high levels of individual resilience. 

The workshop, which is both personal and practical in style, addresses:

·  The core attributes of a high performing and resilient individual;

·  How the attendees may improve their own personal resilience; 

·  What led to the events of 2014, their impact upon me and what I learnt; and

·  Why resilience matters and why it leads to improved levels of sustainable individual performance. 

The workshop is adaptable and works equally well in small and intimate groups/teams or as a presentation for a larger and wider audience.