Developing Mental Toughness: Strategies to Improve Performance, Resilience and Wellbeing in Individuals and Organizations

by Peter Clough, Doug Strycharczyk, John Perry

Overview

How can individuals and organizations understand and measure mental toughness to deal with stress and challenge, and so improve performance? This fully updated third edition of Developing Mental Toughness provides the answers to unlock this potential.

Tracing its development from sports psychology into the business sector, Developing Mental Toughness provides a reliable psychometric measure to apply at the organizational level. With coverage on how mental toughness relates to other behaviours and can be applied to employability, leadership, performance, creativity, emotional intelligence and motivation, the practical guidance and exercises in this book make it essential reading for academics, managers and coaches alike.

This third edition includes an expansion of the 4Cs model to include concepts on learning orientation and resilience and new chapters on evidence-based practice and using the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ48) to gain richer self-awareness. Featuring case studies from Deloitte and Ethiad, Developing Mental Toughness is the practical coaching guide for developing capabilities and resilience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781398601840
Publisher:	Kogan Page, Ltd.
Publication date:	09/28/2021
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Peter Clough is former Head of Psychology at Hull University, UK. Based in East Yorkshire, UK, he is recognised as a leading applied academic authority in this field.

Doug Strycharczyk, based in Chester, UK, is MD for AQR, an organisation which has been instrumental in most of the pilots which lead to the adoption of mental toughness in new sectors.

John Perry is Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Limerick, Republic of Ireland, and was formerly Head of Psychology at Mary Immaculate College.

Table of Contents

** Chapter - 01: Introduction; ** Chapter - 02: The importance of stress; ** Chapter - 03: Developing the model and the MTQ48; ** Chapter - 04: Mental toughness and the MTQ48 measure; ** Chapter - 05: Control; ** Chapter - 06: Commitment; ** Chapter - 07: Challenge; ** Chapter - 08: Confidence; ** Chapter - 09: Mental toughness and its relationships with other important models – Mindset, positive psychology and emotional intelligence; ** Chapter - 10: Decision making; ** Chapter - 11: Mental toughness and fatigue – The impact of mental toughness on the development of fatigue; ** Chapter - 12: Mental toughness and the world of work (1) – Stress, motivation, leadership, coaching and teamworking; ** Chapter - 13: Mental toughness and the world of work (2) – Assessment and development, and talent management; ** Chapter - 14: Employability – A key issue for the 21st-century employer and employee; ** Chapter - 15: Using the MTQ48 measure to improve self awareness; ** Chapter - 16: Mental toughness and the world of education and the development of young people; ** Chapter - 17: Mental toughness in sport; ** Chapter - 18: Mental toughness and its link to the social and health sectors; ** Chapter - 19: Can mental toughness be developed? – The practitioner’s and psychologist’s perspectives; ** Chapter - 20: Using the mental toughness model and the MTQ48 in coaching and mentoring; ** Chapter - 21: Positive thinking; ** Chapter - 22: Visualization; ** Chapter - 23: Anxiety control and relaxation – A physiotherapist’s perspective; ** Chapter - 24: Attentional control; ** Chapter - 25: Goal setting; ** Chapter - 26: Research and evidence-based practice using the MTQ48

Editorial Reviews

"This revised edition presents the detail behind the beautifully simple yet scientific and academically proven Mental Toughness concepts. This book helps us to understand something which has been hard to do until now - self-awareness about how we approach things mentally when events occur to us or around us - and what that means for our performance our wellbeing and our ability to thrive in a VUCA world."

Jason Wyatt

"The book reveals that our level of mental resilience is not something that is decided upon at birth; it can be improved over the course of an individual's life. There are many practical strategies for building mental resilience and I have recommended the utilization of Mental Toughness as a main assessment tool for candidate selection and filtration for leadership development programs. For anyone who seeks a genuine change in his life or others' lives; this is the starting point!"

CEO - HR Policies Sector Federal Authority for Gov Aisha Al Suwaidi

"As a Mental Toughness Coach, I find that having the self-awareness of your own mental toughness and of others around you, can enhance both personal development and leadership skills. This is a great and informative update for those seeking to better understand themselves and the application of Mental Toughness."

Lucy Julian

"As a major contribution to understanding what makes us resilient, purposeful and effective in our everyday lives, this book remains highly relevant to meeting the unprecedented challenges we face today. Offering a unique blend of deep and rigorous inquiry, enriched with compelling evidence and human insight, it is a must read for anyone concerned with optimizing human effort, workforce wellbeing and organizational success."

Dr Neil Wooding

"Developing Mental Toughness is a must-read for psychology practitioners, HR professionals, coaches and anyone working in a development related field. The model can be applied in any formal and informal setting, and the case studies are very useful and relatable. Since 2020, this topic has become very important, as developing mental toughness is crucial to being able to cope in the current global climate."

Dr Alia Serkal

"MTQ is the new science of resilience and mental toughness, testing our teams and supporting them in their growth continues to be pivotal for their success and ours. This is an essential tool for leaders looking to identify, support and escalate talent growth across their teams and organizations."

Andrew Stotter-Brooks

"This book provides an excellent introduction to an increasingly relevant concept. Strycharczyk, Clough and Perry debunk misleading myths and explain the evidence base in accessible and engaging ways. This is a 'must-read' for applied Psychologists and for professionals from Human Resources, Organisational Development and Sports Performance domains. For the lay-reader, it provides an excellent toolkit for helping both 'the tough' and 'the sensitive' deal with the constantly shifting challenges of life in the 21st century."

Professor Fiona Earle

"Many books will make a reader smarter, or better informed. This is one of the few that will make the reader much wiser. A very useful addition to any manager's library."

Neil Scales OBE

"In their 3rd Edition of Developing Mental Toughness, the authors have taken their decades-long investigation into defining, describing and developing mental toughness to the next level. Thoughtfully updated for the third decade of the 21st century, it includes new assessment tools such as the MTQ Plus, deeper explanations of the critical components of mental toughness, updated case studies, and hints toward the direction of future developments in mental toughness with the leveraging of the latest technologies and digital applications. As a former special operations military officer, professional educator and mental toughness practitioner, this edition becomes my new cornerstone reference."

Daniel C. Daoust

"For over 21 years we have scoured the world to bring our clients the very best Organisational Development programmes possible. The Mental Toughness tool immediately stood out for its robustness, ability to measure, practicality and, most importantly, ability to develop and support individuals and teams across the broad spectrum of organizations we work with in Australia."

Dean Gale