Author: Michelle Jones (Page 1 of 51)

Workplace adaptability is the ability to respond effectively to different scenarios and challenges within the workplace. Adaptable employees are not frazzled when a campaign that works brilliantly one day totally flops the next, or the colleague they’ve always relied on is suddenly out on leave.

However, it’s not as simple as just being more flexible. Adaptability, in both life and work, means you are able to weather changes in your environment without experiencing debilitating amounts of stress, anxiety, frustration, or confusion.  Adaptable people develop targeted skill sets, processes, and frameworks that allow them to quickly and efficiently deal with different situations as they arise. As you develop this skill set, you’ll be able to face any change that comes your way.

It’s worth noting that adaptability doesn’t come easy to most people, because change is naturally uncertain, and uncertainty breeds anxiety and stress. Even those who are supremely adaptable to change will feel these emotions when something unexpected happens. The difference is that they won’t let these emotions overtake them and prevent them from forging ahead in the face of change.

An organization’s ability to adapt can be considered a competitive advantage. The same is true for individuals: Employers increasingly want workers who can adapt to an ever-changing workplace. Someone who’s adaptable is open to new ideas and doesn’t need to do things a specific way just because that’s how they’ve always been done. They can anticipate changes and don’t panic when things don’t go according to plan.

So, why is adaptability important?

Promotes resilience. Bad things happen to all of us. But if you’re adaptable, you take adversity in stride, never letting it destroy you. Instead, you adjust your thoughts and expectations to suit your new reality rather than dwelling on what could have been. Being adaptable means being resilient, and resilience will get you far in life. Challenges won’t seem all that challenging when you’ve built a tolerance for accommodating changing circumstances.

Helps you to handle career transitions better. When you’re adaptable, you’ll learn how to manage and lessen the stress resulting from a career change. You’ll stop putting off whatever you need to do to set yourself up for future success. People who are adaptable are more willing to explore outside their comfort zone, take risks and embrace uncertainty, with the understanding that transitions are a normal part of life.

It’s effective in sidestepping office politics. Adaptable individuals deal with office politics the same way they deal with change: by focusing on facts and work-related outcomes rather than personal disagreements or power plays. This approach not only preserves professional relationships but also keeps you focused on what matters: Doing your job, getting paid, and going home.

Improves company culture. Workplaces that teach and promote adaptability inspire their workforces to grow mentally and emotionally. Teams that adapt well to change can improve collaboration, communication and the overall daily working environment.

Enhances efficiency and improves work-life balance. When you’re adaptable, you’re more willing to adopt new technologies, processes, or strategies that streamline tasks and reduce unnecessary labor. This not only increases productivity but also frees up your time, allowing for a better work-life balance.

If you want to become more adaptable in the workplace or have been told you need to be more flexible, realize that the above benefits are well within your reach, but they may take a little practice. Here are some tips to get you there.

• Challenge your brain.
• Be a leader.
• Ask for help.
• Don’t be afraid of growth.
• Don’t be close-minded.
• Don’t let your ego get in the way.
• Don’t get stuck in your comfort zone.

When you’re adaptable, anxiety about your future is diminished. When you anticipate changes and adjust your attitude and expectations, changes don’t need to disorient you; they become just another expected part of life.

References:
Asana (2024, June 21) Alicia Raeburn: 6 Ways to Develop Adaptability in the Workplace and Embrace Change.
Business.com (2024, August 29) Julie Thompson: How Well Do You Handle Change? The Benefits of Being Adaptable.
The Vector Impact (2024, May 4) Liam Carnahan: Why Adapting to Change is a Workplace Superpower.

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. And there’s growing research showing that when you train your brain to be mindful, you’re actually remodeling the physical structure of your brain.

How could simply tuning into your thoughts and feelings lead to so many positive outcomes throughout the body? Researchers believe the benefits of mindfulness are related to its ability to dial down the body’s response to stress. Chronic stress can impair the body’s immune system and make many other health problems worse. By lowering the stress response, mindfulness may have downstream effects throughout the body.

Stress reduction is often an effect of mindfulness practice, but the ultimate goal isn’t meant to be stress reduction. The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes. As you spend time practicing mindfulness, you’ll probably find yourself feeling kinder, calmer, and more patient. These shifts in your experience are likely to generate changes in other parts of your life as well.

• Mindfulness trains your body to thrive.
• Mindfulness boosts creativity.
• Mindfulness strengthens neural connections.

It can take a little while for mindfulness meditation to feel natural and to become a part of your regular routine. But with practice, you may discover a powerful tool for relieving stress and improving well-being.

Ready to give it a try? Learning mindfulness is easier than ever. LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, offers several opportunities to practice mindfulness each month. Take advantage of these opportunities to flex and strengthen your mindfulness muscles.

Mindful Moment – Every Tuesday at 2 p.m., take a moment to relax, recharge, and re-center yourself with Mindful Moment, a group mindfulness program offered by LIVE FOR LIFE. During these quick, 15-minute sessions, you’ll learn and practice simple breathing and mindfulness techniques that can reduce stress, increase self-awareness, improve concentration, and promote overall well-being. Drop in and reframe your day with calm and clarity.

Mindful Movement – Every Thursday at 10 a.m., add some movement to your mindfulness practice with Mindful Movement. The 15-minute Zoom sessions will combine movement, breathwork, visualization and intention to create a moving meditation practice that enhances relaxation and improves well-being. Drop in for an enhanced mindfulness experience through a focus on mobilization.

References:
American Psychological Association (2019, October 30): Mindfulness Meditation
Mindful.org (2021): Getting Started with Mindfulness

It’s one thing to lead through a normal range of uncertainty with its ups and downs. But how do you lead when the inflections, disruptions, dislocations, and other threat conditions pile up? While leaders have little to no control over the external competitive environment, they have astonishing influence over the internal performance environment, including employee engagement, morale, and productivity. How can leaders help their people flourish during extreme uncertainty? Here are some practical strategies to help you engage employees under the most unforgiving of circumstances.

Communicate clearly, simply, frequently. A crisis limits people’s capacity to absorb information in the early days. Focus on keeping employees safe and healthy. To convey crucial information to employees, keep messages simple, to the point and actionable. People tend to pay more attention to positively framed information; negative information can erode trust. Frame instructions as “dos” (best practices and benefits) rather than “don’ts” (what people shouldn’t do, or debunking myths).

Choose candor over charisma. Be honest about where things stand, differentiating clearly between what is known and unknown, and don’t minimize or speculate. Give people a behind-the-scenes view of the different options you are considering and involve stakeholders when making operational decisions, if possible. Judiciously share your own feelings and acknowledge the personal effects of emotional turmoil. Remember that what you do matters as much as what you say in building trust, and scrutiny of leaders’ actions is magnified during a crisis.

Go from surviving to thriving. One of the most important personal attributes for any executive operating in high-stress and high-uncertainty environments is the ability to be effective under pressure. It starts with turning outward, not inward.

• Leaders who do well under pressure do not isolate. They pull in the team, access internal resources, and reach out to external advisors. They seek input and triangulate ideas to shape their working hypothesis.
• Leaders engage stakeholders early and often, bringing others along as they move through ambiguity. They communicate by setting nonstop context. When people do not know what is going on, they freeze. But when leaders give them enough direction to create micro-certainty, people will unlock and start moving again.
• Finally, leaders employ the hardest skill of all: absorption. The ability to absorb pressure and uncertainty without passing it on. When leaders do this well, they create a calmer and more focused environment that gives the people around them space to contribute and think clearly.

Growth Mindset. Growth-minded executives show up with a “learn-it-all” approach. They are wired to figure it out. Even when things are hard, and the path forward is unclear. They hold a deep belief that the team collectively can solve what is in front of them. And they do not wait for perfect answers. They come with hypotheses, iterate on ideas, pressure test with reliable colleagues, and adjust their think to deliver the best outcome. They move constantly, therefore leading with speed and efficiency over time.

There is no escaping uncertainty right now. But how we approach it changes how we experience it. Relying on these practices will help to infuse understanding and meaning in communities, helping to carry an organization through a crisis with a renewed sense of purpose and trust. Leaders who manage pressure well, stay outward-focused, and carry a growth mindset do not just weather the storm. They become a source of stability for their teams. And in doing so, they can manage to better outcomes for their teams and organizations.

References:
Forbes (2025, April 4) Stephen Miles: Change is the Only Constant: Leading Through Uncertainty and Pressure
Harvard Business Review (2024, February 28) Timothy R. Clark: What Employees Need from Leaders in Uncertain Times
McKinsey & Company (2020, June 18) Ana Mendy, Mary Lass Stewart, and Katie Van Akin: How to Communicate Effectively in Times of Uncertainty