While the idea of adaptability, professionally and personally, has existed for some time, it has never been as relevant as it is today.

Adaptability is essential because it allows employees in your business and entrepreneurs to navigate evolving circumstances and create new kinds of workdays confidently.

This skill makes us more effective and can improve our well-being as individuals become better equipped to handle change.

As the world changes rapidly, it’s no surprise that adaptability has become the most critical skill for leaders. A Harvard Business School study shows that 71% of 1,500 executives from over 90 countries say adaptability is the most important quality they seek in a leader.

What is Adaptability?

The ability to adapt to changing conditions is not just about recovering when something happens but being able to anticipate change before it occurs and being prepared with the necessary skills to face these challenges.

Often, being adaptable means proactively creating change. For example, a flexible executive can help their company evolve by planning to deal with market disruptions before they occur.

An adaptable employee can experiment with new technologies to better target buyers or learn a new sales technique when the landscape shifts.

The Importance of Adaptation

The idea that adaptability is a crucial trait was not forged in the coronavirus crisis. Adaptability has already become increasingly important because the world is accelerating… each of us is being forced to deal with more changes than ever before in history.

A significant part of this is the speed and scope of technological innovation in recent years, requiring people to acquire new skills acceleratedly.

It can be challenging to adjust to changes in general, but it becomes much more manageable when you consider that you are changing one variable at a time.

However, the recent economic downturn has triggered a significant amount of change on multiple professional, technological, and social levels – changes that businesses and workers are still adapting to.

Improving Your Skills

Some people might think that in a time of great change, the only option is to stay the same. But anyone working in a rapidly changing world can benefit from adapting to new situations and developing a more flexible attitude.

A fundamental step is to break old habits and patterns. You can try to replace your various default mindsets, to which we often return in times of flow, with more curious alternatives.

We call these mindsets “protection” versus “learning.” Both can be good, and both can be relevant, but protection mindsets don’t help you when you need to do something new when you need to be creative and innovative.

When you question whether you’re doing things in the best way or even trying a new approach, you can foster a more curious perspective.

Being willing to learn and ready to respond to changing circumstances allows you to continue being successful, not just being angry.

Flexibility

Flexibility is a positive characteristic and should be developed in everyone.

Flexible people develop respect, trust, empathy, tolerance, and positivity. If you are too inflexible, you will struggle with ambiguity and be dissatisfied. You may also be in continuous competition with everyone else.

Better Contacts and Professional Relationships

Keeping in mind the needs of others and being attentive to their feelings will help you adapt more quickly to any situation. If your relationships are based on mutual respect and empathy, they can only deepen over time.

Benefits of Adaptability

Improving your adaptability will help you develop the skills you need in business. For example, entrepreneurs need vision. Without it, they cannot inspire their team members to follow them. Additionally, when you ask for feedback and listen to what others say about your business, you gain new ideas and insights to expand your horizons.

How to Be More Adaptable?

When you keep an open mind and embrace change and novelty, you will broaden opportunities and be more willing to take risks and try new things.

You will become more adaptable over time by putting yourself in the right place to experience innovations.

You can develop your adaptability by knowing how you deal with challenges and working to improve.

But perhaps the best way to do this is to avoid looking at a significant challenge ahead of you as if it were a mountain you have to climb – you might give up right then and there.

Instead, create small goals. In other words, break down your larger business goal into smaller parts and tackle each separately.

Insights

Changing your life, even for the better, is hard work. But you can do it! You must keep trying and be brave enough to put yourself “out there” – accepting that failure is part of the process.

Your mindset is a product of your actions at any age. Living as you desire might be challenging, but with practice and patience, you can change.