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Activity: Emotional Intelligence

Adaptability

Turning our attention to adaptability, there are countless reasons why employers value adaptable employees such as

  • customer satisfaction,
  • team morale, 
  • the ability for an organization to pivot quickly, and 
  • the generation of new products and services with a result of increased profits.

Here are three perspectives on how adaptability impacts your career strategy:

“Adaptable people….accept change, hone strategies for dealing with the unknown, and shift their behavior to accommodate new situations and challenges. For leaders, adaptability means responding effectively to changing events in the organizational environment” (Calarco & Gurvis, 2006, p. 3).

“Adaptability ….refers to the capacity to respond effectively to new information about oneself and/or one’s situation and to demonstrate the ability to effectively integrate new information into one’s career behavior” (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2009, as cited by Niles, Yoon, Balin, Amundson, 2010, p.102).

“Adaptability involves reformulating your goals and/or strategies to adapt to new work and career realities” (Seibert, Kraimer, Heslin, 2016, p. 245). 

Adaptability embodies a mindset to accept and be open to change as well as an understanding to shift gears within the workplace.