Why Adaptability is Important in Helping You Manage Change

How do you prepare yourself mentally to handle whatever life throws at you when you wake each morning?

Do you end up feeling anxious and worried when you think about what each day holds for you?
Change is inevitable in life. Though emotionally disturbing, arming ourselves with lots of adaptabilities will go a long way in handling change. People who adapt easily are flexible set of people who you find excelling in a team.

To measure your level of adaptability, you will need to seek the opinion of others who understand you well. People who fail to adapt end up being too rigid, making them form unhealthy habits.

Though adaptability may not be an inherent ability in us, it is something anybody can learn with time. Adjusting our expectations will go a long way in helping flow with the winds of change, by making us more adaptable.

Ways adaptability helps us
There are lots of benefits we can gain by being flexible and adaptable. If you have reached that point in life where adaptability becomes necessary, just know there are lots of benefits to be gained. It will definitely not be easy at first, but patience and practice can do a lot.

#1 Your value will increase at your workplace
In this modern era, adaptability has become the watchword of doing business. What this means is that as an employee, you must be willing to adapt as well.

Adaptability opens up your mind to new ideas, makes you question status quo, and gives you the willingness to go against convention. Adaptable people aren’t scared of change, as they will first make necessary plans to handle it.

Most organizations are now emphasizing the importance of adaptability amongst the employees, and this trend will definitely continue into the future. 91% of HR experts believe that by 2018, the major criteria for recruitment will be the ability of a candidate to adapt. If you really want to shine out in the job market by then, it is important for you to start now in sharpening your adaptability skills. Doing so ensures you remain marketable even in the ever changing business atmosphere.

#2 Adaptability is a skill every leader must have
Adaptability can’t afford to be missing if you want to do well as a leader. Adaptable leaders earn the respect of their colleagues and motivate those they lead to embrace change, making business operation as smooth as possible.

In an article titled; Why Flexible and Adaptive Leadership is important, Rubina Mahsud and Gary Yukl said; “Threats which are often unanticipated will always arise to sink an organization, damage properties, and lives. One way an organization can survive this threat is by responding quickly to these threats when they arise. Adaptive leadership is what every organization need if they are to survive troubling times.”

Leaders are always confronted with challenges that require them to be decisive in implementing change. Failure to arrive at a decision as fast as possible can cause their organization to sink in fast.

#3 Adaptability creates more happiness and overall life satisfaction
According to Guy Winch, there is so much we stand to benefit when we are willing to adapt. One of the most prominent ones is more happiness in life. “We will always be confronted with Psychological challenges in life. Some after waves of hopelessness take a bow; some courageously take on these setbacks, learn whatever lesson life gives them, and then move on with life. One fact we can’t deny is that our happiness, satisfaction and ability to build a quality relationship; is largely dependent on our adaptability skill.”

Adaptability helps you stand strong in seeming hopeless situation. Once you assure yourself that you have all it takes to begin the change process right within you, you will have unlocked more happiness for yourself.

#4 Makes it possible for you to smoothly go through career changes
Let’s say you find yourself back again in the job market after some major downsizing in your place of work. What will you do first? Throw in the towel, and then let hopelessness take over you as you search for jobs? Or will you consider all your options, and then find out where your strength really lies, and then search for jobs in industries you haven’t worked in before?

If you are adaptable, finding another job won’t be much of a work and when you finally find it, managing the job’s task won’t take much effort from you. Overcoming procrastination will become quite easy for you, as you will find updating your resume something you will be doing all the time. Adaptability increases your chances of succeeding, as you will find yourself trying out different job roles while searching for a job.

#5 Whenever life knocks you down, bouncing back will become easy
There are times we experience unexpected unpleasant situations in life. Being adaptable ensures you stay afloat when adversities of life try to sink you down. Instead of running away from reality, you embrace it and flow with it.

Adaptable people are resilient people. Dean Becker, an expert in resiliency is the view that our success in life is built on our ability to adapt.

He went on to say, “An individual’s success isn’t dependent on their level of education, intelligence or experience. It is their level of resilience that really matters. This is true in sports, medicine, business etc.”

Adaptability expands your capacity to handle change, no matter how serious it might be. Instead of throwing away your energy trying to change your circumstance, you will change yourself right from within, thus making you thrive in whatever situation you find yourself.