Companies where managers empower staff when the going gets tough will prosper in the long run

A survey by Robertson Cooper and YouGov of more than 2,000 employees found that the amount of support managers give team members affects the ability of their organisation to bounce back from setbacks. Of the respondents who felt that their company was "very resilient", 65 per cent also said they received "a lot of support" or a "fair amount of support" from bosses.

With cuts in both the private and public sector, where budgets may be slashed by between 25 and 40 per cent, there will be stresses of job insecurity, restructuring, mergers, reorganisations and downsizing. These will require firms to be tougher, and to be able to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. But we shouldn't be frightened of change. As Winston Churchill once reflected: "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often."

It appears that many businesses will have no option but to embrace change, and find a way to become more flexible. The SME sector may be particularly badly hit by cuts, as many firms rely on public sector contracts with local and central government, the NHS, and other public bodies. They will have to dig deep to create a tough, team-orientated culture to withstand pressure.

Research shows that individual and organisational resilience is made up of four characteristics: confidence, purposefulness, adaptability and social support. Anything managers can do during difficult times to provide individuals with some ownership of the problems businesses face will help. Allowing them to take decisions to solve problems, and listening to and supporting them through change, is critical for self-confidence, purposefulness and the ability to cope with upheaval.

Ultimately, it will affect the flexibility of the business. Britain has always responded well to difficulties and hardship. We need real leadership to ensure organisational toughness, as we cope with downsizings, restructurings and public sector cuts as well as issues such as rising competitive pressures from the Far East.

Embracing the challenges rather than being frightened of them is also a characteristic of a flexible individual and organisation. Managers need to see obstacles as opportunities to do something different, a puzzle to solve rather than a problem to worry about. As George Bernard Shaw reflected in Mrs Warren's Profession: "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them."

Resilient leaders make lively businesses. They have energy and drive, they support and nurture people around them and they communicate well and engage employees in decision-making. Britain needs them by the hundreds and thousands, if it is to prosper.

Even in Roman times, this personality was highlighted by the Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, who suggested: "Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren't packed with wise or moral actions. But to get back up when you fail, to celebrate behaving like a human-however imperfectly-and fully embrace the pursuit that you've embarked on."