Workplace challenges are inevitable. But being resilient doesn’t mean simply pushing through them.
That’s one of the ideas at the heart of Leading Resilient Teams, a new online course from Rice University psychological science professor Danielle King Jordan that brings years of research on workplace resilience out of academic journals and the traditional classroom and makes it available to anyone.
Launching Oct. 25 through Rice’s Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, the course is designed for people who lead or support teams in fast-paced, high-pressure environments. That includes managers but also employees who may not have a formal leadership title but play a critical role in keeping teams and organizations moving.
For King Jordan, who is also associate dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies, the course is an opportunity to translate more than a decade of research into tools people can use in their own workplaces.
“Most of the courses I teach are for Rice students, so I’m excited about the opportunity to make this work available to a much broader audience,” King Jordan said. “This course brings together years of my research on motivation, leadership and resilience and translates it into something people can use to foster healthy forms of team resilience.”
King Jordan’s research that is integrated into the course also includes topics like employee idea generation and sharing, emotions and the organizational resources needed for employee thriving and recovery. Earlier this year, that work earned her the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology’s Distinguished Early Career Contributions to Science Award, which recognizes one scholar each year who has advanced the field while maintaining relevance to real-world workplace experiences.
Her research also offers concrete lessons for the workplace. In one study, King Jordan and a collaborator examined 48 teams at five technology startups and found teams were more effective and resilient when leaders encouraged employees to speak up with ideas, take risks and learn from the process. Creating an environment centered on learning and open communication helped teams remain ready to adapt and learn as they took on new challenges.
Those kinds of findings are woven throughout Leading Resilient Teams. Participants will encounter King Jordan’s research through readings and recorded lectures, along with self-assessments in each module that allow them to reflect on different aspects of their own resilience.
The course also challenges a common idea about what it means to be resilient.
“Resilience isn’t about just plowing through when things get hard,” King Jordan said. “It’s recognizing that difficult moments are going to happen and knowing how to respond to them without losing sight of our humanity. Sometimes that means taking a break, giving yourself space to recover and finding a balance that allows you to enjoy your work and your nonwork life.”
The course builds on King Jordan’s broader efforts to move workplace resilience research into practice. Her five-year National Science Foundation CAREER Award, received in 2023, supports research aimed at improving workplace experiences and fostering resilience with an educational component that includes developing courses for Rice and Glasscock School students and online training materials for organizations.
The pilot offering includes about six hours of on-demand video content broken into short modules that participants can complete on their own schedules from anywhere. It also features fireside conversations with Rice leaders, including Glasscock School Dean Robert Bruce, about how resilience shows up in their own work.
Two live Q&A sessions with King Jordan, hosted in each course offering, will help participants clarify any confusion, further explore topics of interest and develop a final project centered on an actual challenge facing their team, allowing them to leave the course with a plan they can put into practice.
That translation from research to real life is central to the Glasscock School’s mission, said Lori Cykala, associate director of professional and corporate programs.
“Rice develops exceptional talent, and we want more people to know that includes them,” Cykala said. “Leading Resilient Teams is one way we’re opening that door. Houston runs on these people. In classrooms, hospitals, offices and along the Ship Channel, teams count on someone to keep them steady when things get hard.”
Cykala emphasized the course is designed to reach not only managers but people who lead and support teams regardless of their title, part of the Glasscock School’s broader mission to “engage, educate and empower” lifelong learners in Houston and beyond.
The course is open to anyone with no prerequisites required. Participants who complete all course assignments and the final project will earn a certificate in Leading Resilient Teams from the Glasscock School.