Adaptability Should be a Leadership Standard - Not a Hack
Flexibility is essential for effective leadership, enabling proactive responses to change while maintaining core values and fostering team growth.
The future of leadership depends on flexibility. Leaders today must balance core values with the ability to navigate constant change. Organisations that prioritise flexibility are 1.5x more likely to outperform their competitors. Yet, only 16% of employers invest in building this skill.
Key takeaways for leaders:
- Flexibility is proactive, not reactive. Anticipate change rather than just responding to it.
- Core skills include:
- Mental agility: Shift perspectives and approach problems creatively.
- Behavioural flexibility: Adjust leadership style to fit the situation.
- Emotional strength: Stay composed and empathetic under pressure.
- Practical steps: Build self-awareness, foster a feedback culture, and commit to continuous learning.
Examples like Netflix’s transformation and NHS service redesigns show that flexible leadership drives success. Leaders must focus on balancing stability with change, aligning actions with organisational goals, and creating environments where teams can thrive in uncertainty.
Start building flexibility today by seeking feedback, exploring diverse viewpoints, and preparing for the unexpected.
Adaptability Intelligence as a Key Leadership Skill, with Rich Alderton
The Building Blocks of Flexible Leadership
As we’ve already discussed, flexibility is a cornerstone of effective leadership. But what does it actually take to lead with adaptability? Research points to three key pillars: mental agility, behavioural flexibility, and emotional strength.
Interestingly, studies highlight a sobering reality: the inability to adapt is the most common reason for career derailment among North American managers. Clearly, understanding and developing these skills isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s a necessity for thriving in leadership.
Mental Agility
At its core, mental agility is the ability to shift perspectives and turn challenges into opportunities by actively seeking out diverse viewpoints. It’s about breaking free from rigid thinking and staying open to fresh ideas, particularly when circumstances take an unexpected turn.
This skill involves questioning assumptions and exploring problems from multiple angles. For example, a leader facing budget cuts won’t just see limitations. Instead, they’ll look at the situation creatively, re-evaluating processes and encouraging their team to brainstorm innovative solutions. Albert Einstein put it best: "The measure of intelligence is the ability to change."
To build mental agility, embrace uncertainty and consider various scenarios before jumping to conclusions. This practice not only enhances decision-making but also fosters resilience.
Behavioural Flexibility
Behavioural flexibility is the art of tailoring your leadership style to suit the situation at hand. Different circumstances call for different approaches - a company navigating a crisis requires a vastly different leadership style than one experiencing steady growth.
Adapting your behaviour means understanding your team’s strengths and the demands of the moment. Sometimes, a decisive, top-down approach is necessary, while other times, collaboration and consensus are more effective. The key is to read the room and adjust accordingly.
Antoine de Saint Affrique, CEO of Barry Callebaut, captures this idea well:
"I made sure I learned not only from the great leaders I was lucky to work for, but also from the less good ones. From them, I've tried to learn what not to do."
Another aspect of behavioural flexibility is knowing when to use different influence styles. For instance, a directive “push” style might work when you have clear authority, but a “pull” approach - encouraging dialogue and engagement - is often more effective for building buy-in. The hallmark of a flexible leader is their ability to diagnose the situation and respond with the right style.
Emotional Strength
Emotional strength, often referred to as emotional intelligence, is the foundation that supports all other leadership capabilities. In fact, 71 per cent of employers rank emotional intelligence as more important than technical skills when assessing candidates. Leaders who excel in empathy outperform their peers by over 40 per cent in areas like coaching, decision-making, and team engagement.
This capability involves regulating your own emotions while responding thoughtfully to others. It’s about staying composed under pressure and guiding your team through uncertainty without letting morale slip.
The practical benefits are undeniable. Research shows that unresolved conflicts can waste up to eight hours of company time per incident due to gossip and other distractions. Emotionally strong leaders tackle these issues early, preventing them from spiralling into larger problems.
As Kellie Rastegar, a Forbes Councils Member, explains:
"Emotional intelligence has long been considered a vital skill in leadership, often equalling or even surpassing technical skills in importance."
Building emotional strength requires self-awareness, self-regulation, and empathy. Regular reflection, stress management techniques, and active listening are all critical. Leaders who prioritise these skills also create environments of psychological safety, where team members feel secure enough to adapt, experiment, and grow.
Together, these three capabilities - mental agility, behavioural flexibility, and emotional strength - form the backbone of adaptive leadership. They lay the groundwork for practical strategies to navigate the ever-changing demands of leadership.
How to Build Leadership Flexibility
Leadership flexibility rests on three key pillars: mental agility, behavioural adaptability, and emotional resilience. While understanding these concepts is important, putting them into practice is where the real challenge lies. The encouraging part? Flexibility isn’t a fixed trait - it’s a skill you can develop with consistent effort and the right strategies.
Building Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is the cornerstone of flexible leadership. To adapt effectively, you need a clear understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, habits, and how your actions influence others. Honest self-reflection is key here; instead of fixating on why you reacted a certain way, focus on what happened and the impact it had. This approach reduces defensiveness and opens the door to meaningful insights.
The Ladder of Inference can be a useful tool for identifying the assumptions and mental shortcuts that might be limiting your adaptability.
"Unless we are clear about who we truly are, what we value, what difference we seek to make and how the world sees us and our work, we cannot be effective leaders." - Tasha Eurich
Actively seek feedback from a range of people - colleagues, subordinates, and managers. This input can highlight areas for growth and reinforce your strengths. Stepping outside your comfort zone regularly also helps you uncover new opportunities to improve. When leaders embrace self-awareness, they pave the way for a workplace culture that values open, ongoing feedback.
Creating a Feedback Culture
Encouraging open feedback within your organisation is a powerful way to enhance flexibility. Research shows that companies with strong feedback cultures can achieve up to double the net profit margins and ROI of those without. Employees who receive regular, constructive feedback are 12.5% more productive, 64% more likely to stay with their organisation, and 72% appreciate corrective feedback.
To build this culture, start by leading the way - be open to feedback yourself and show your team how you act on it. Equally important is creating a sense of psychological safety, where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts without fear of negative consequences. Prioritise timely, specific feedback through regular check-ins rather than relying solely on annual reviews. Two-way feedback systems, where employees can also provide input to their managers and peers, further strengthen adaptability.
A standout example is Adobe’s shift from traditional annual reviews to a "Check-in" system. This approach, centred on ongoing feedback and coaching, resulted in a 30% boost in employee engagement. Combining feedback with a commitment to learning ensures that both individuals and teams continue to grow and adapt.
Committing to Continuous Learning
Continuous learning is a hallmark of effective leadership. As John F. Kennedy famously remarked, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other". For successful leaders, learning isn’t a luxury - it’s a strategic priority. Setting specific development goals tied to both personal and professional growth ensures that learning efforts are purposeful.
For busy leaders, micro-learning can be particularly effective. Quick activities like listening to podcasts, reading industry articles, or completing short online courses during spare moments can keep skills sharp. Alvin Toffler’s observation remains highly relevant: "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn". Exploring topics beyond your immediate area of expertise can also spark fresh ideas and solutions to familiar challenges. Additionally, regular team learning sessions can reinforce a culture of ongoing growth.
Reflecting on past decisions is another valuable practice. By analysing what went well and what could have been improved, you can turn experience into actionable wisdom. Companies like Amazon exemplify this commitment through initiatives such as their "Career Choice" programme, which supports employees pursuing education in high-demand fields - even if unrelated to their current roles. Such investments show how fostering continuous learning benefits both individuals and organisations. The ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn keeps leaders adaptable and resilient in an ever-changing world.
Case Studies: Flexibility in Action
Real-world examples show how adaptable leadership can transform organisations during challenging times. These stories highlight specific strategies and outcomes when flexibility is treated as a guiding principle rather than a reaction to crises.
NHS Service Redesign
At Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, flexibility and distributed leadership led to outstanding results under the guidance of Sir David Dalton. The Trust adopted a strategy that empowered ward leaders to take charge of quality improvements while maintaining organisational unity.
A standout initiative was the "Nursing Assessment and Accreditation System", which balanced standardised metrics with local autonomy. Instead of enforcing rigid top-down directives, the leadership allowed wards to develop their own solutions. Performance data was displayed openly, and teams collaborated to tackle challenges through problem-solving.
This approach paid off significantly. Salford Royal achieved the lowest mortality rates in the North West, consistently high patient satisfaction scores, and an "Outstanding" rating from the Care Quality Commission. Staff engagement also soared, with 89% of employees recommending the Trust as a workplace.
"Traditional strategic planning assumes a predictability that simply doesn't exist in contemporary healthcare. Effective NHS leaders embrace complexity rather than fighting against it, developing modular strategies that can evolve as circumstances change." - Sir David Dalton, former CEO of Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
Key to this success was the leadership's ability to delegate decision-making authority while upholding accountability. Ward leaders were encouraged to innovate within their specific contexts, crafting solutions that not only addressed local needs but also supported the organisation’s broader goals.
Similarly, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust showcased flexibility in its approach to theatre utilisation. By working closely with surgeons to identify areas for improvement, they increased the number of procedures performed by 14% without adding resources or causing staff burnout. This achievement reflected a leadership style that collaborated with clinical teams rather than imposing external directives.
Digital Transformation in a FTSE 100 Company
While healthcare illustrates flexibility through shared decision-making, the corporate world offers lessons in adapting to complex transformations. A FTSE 100 company demonstrated this by reworking a legacy system using a phased, flexible approach. The project faced numerous challenges, including resilience concerns, intellectual property protection, integration hurdles, vendor risks, and a nine-figure budget.
Leadership tackled these difficulties with innovative risk management. Instead of following traditional procurement methods, they introduced a "Temp to Perm" model - offering vendors a nine-month contract to prove their capabilities before committing to a long-term agreement. This approach allowed for better evaluation and the option to pivot if needed.
Another key move was adopting what they called the "Apple model." This involved launching a platform with basic functionality and refining it through successive updates. This phased implementation allowed leadership to respond to new demands and refine the system as it evolved.
"I challenge risks with practical, creative solutions. The 'magic' that will provide a working solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem doesn't come from a process - it evolves from the first spark of an idea during brainstorming sessions comprising diverse skills and grown into something truly innovative." - Danny Wong, Managing Consultant, Business Risk Practice, Barnett Waddingham
This approach not only delivered customised solutions but also ensured the project could adapt to changing business needs. By building flexibility into the process itself, leaders maintained progress while staying responsive to unexpected challenges and opportunities.
Common Lessons in Flexibility
Both case studies highlight recurring themes in flexible leadership:
- Empowering local decision-making to encourage innovation
- Maintaining clear communication to align efforts
- Building feedback loops to refine processes
- Viewing setbacks as learning opportunities rather than failures
These examples show how a flexible mindset, combined with clear strategies, can drive success in dynamic and unpredictable environments.
Making Flexibility a Leadership Standard
Evidence from thriving organisations demonstrates that flexibility must be at the core of leadership practices. Achieving this requires intentional changes to systems and workplace norms, embedding adaptability into the organisation's DNA.
Building Flexibility into Company Culture
A flexible workplace culture begins with understanding employee needs. Surveys reveal that 86% of workers prefer some form of flexible working, with this figure climbing to 97% among women and people of colour. Yet, many businesses still treat flexibility as a perk rather than a standard. Leading organisations are flipping this narrative by adopting well-structured, inclusive policies.
Take Northern Trust, for instance. They introduced hybrid work models one department at a time, using pre- and post-assessment tools to fine-tune the process. This gradual, data-driven approach allowed them to adapt each department's transition effectively. The outcomes were striking: global office space costs were slashed by millions, and employee stress levels dropped significantly due to reduced commuting.
Similarly, Saul Ewing Law Firm rolled out a "4+4 Hybrid Plan", which includes in-office, 'Zoom-free' Wednesdays and encourages in-person meetings with clients or colleagues. This approach balances flexibility with predictability, creating a structure that employees can rely on.
"It is up to leaders to focus on the work, not the where, and we will provide the tools and resources needed to make the right decisions to support our teams." - Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors
To truly embed flexibility into company culture, clear and consistent frameworks are essential. Leaders must establish written principles to guide decisions around flexibility, encourage open conversations to understand diverse interpretations of flexibility, and celebrate high-performing employees who thrive in flexible arrangements. Additionally, leadership should be mindful of how they communicate about flexibility, ensuring their messaging aligns with company values.
Regular audits of flexible work policies are another crucial step. These reviews help organisations identify and address any unintended inequalities, ensuring that flexibility benefits all employees fairly.
While flexibility is crucial, it must be balanced with stability to maintain trust and cohesion.
Balancing Stability and Change
A flexible culture must be anchored by stability to build trust and confidence among employees. Research highlights that employees are nine times more engaged when they believe their company's financial future is secure. Leaders must navigate the delicate balance between adaptability and dependability.
This balance hinges on distinguishing between what changes and what remains constant. Core values and the organisation's fundamental purpose serve as the bedrock, while processes and practices remain adaptable. Trust plays a central role here - when employees trust their leaders, one in two are engaged; without trust, this drops to just one in 12. Predictable leadership behaviour, even amidst change, is key to fostering this trust.
Successful leaders openly communicate the interplay between stability and change. By addressing challenges honestly, outlining clear action plans, and delivering on promises, they build credibility. Regular check-ins to gauge team members' well-being, coupled with a leadership style that emphasises progress and hope, further strengthen trust.
Implementing change management strategies that align with customer needs while upholding core values is critical. This involves fostering innovation through experimentation, employing feedback mechanisms for rapid adjustments, and encouraging continuous learning and growth.
The results speak for themselves. Research shows that companies fostering a sense of ownership and connection to their vision grow at 141%, compared to just 10% for those that don’t prioritise these approaches. This illustrates that stability and change are not opposing forces but complementary drivers of long-term success.
Conclusion: The Future of Leadership is Flexibility
Flexibility has shifted from being a useful leadership trait to an essential component for navigating the complexities of today’s world. With traditional leadership models often lagging behind the speed of change, those who embrace adaptability are the ones steering their organisations towards success while fostering stronger employee connections.
A striking statistic reveals that the inability to adapt is the most common reason for career setbacks among managers in North America. Examples like former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's handling of the migrant crisis and the Eurozone's economic challenges illustrate how flexibility in leadership can address even the most daunting political and social challenges. Her approach serves as a powerful reminder of the shifts modern leaders must make to stay relevant.
"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." – Dolly Parton
Intentionality is key for leaders aiming to cultivate adaptability. Seeking out mentors, engaging with coaches, and welcoming feedback are all ways to support continuous growth. Equally important is the willingness to step outside of comfort zones and explore unfamiliar environments regularly. As seen in earlier examples, leaders who embrace change tend to create lasting organisational success.
This approach isn’t limited to any one field - it’s a universal necessity. For instance, in healthcare, adaptive leadership helps address rapid technological advances and shifting regulations, all while ensuring high-quality patient care.
Ultimately, a leader’s legacy is shaped by their ability to adapt. Organisations that weave flexibility into their culture, while staying true to their core principles, are experiencing the advantages of a more dynamic and responsive way of operating.
The future belongs to those who see flexibility and stability not as opposites, but as complementary strengths. Reflect on how you respond to change, seek out diverse viewpoints, and build your capacity to adapt - these are the hallmarks of successful leadership.
"Change before you have to." – Jack Welch
FAQs
How can leaders stay flexible while staying true to their organisation’s core values?
Leaders can navigate change with agility while staying grounded in their organisation's core values by anchoring decisions to a clear understanding of their mission and principles. These values serve as a steady compass, ensuring that even in shifting circumstances, the organisation remains on course.
To strike this balance, leaders should nurture an environment where adaptability thrives. This means empowering teams, welcoming fresh ideas, and encouraging innovative thinking. However, being flexible doesn’t equate to compromising on values; it’s about finding inventive ways to uphold them, no matter how the landscape evolves.
By cultivating a versatile leadership approach, leaders can tackle diverse challenges confidently. This not only helps them steer through change effectively but also strengthens trust and integrity within their teams and the broader organisation.
How can leaders build mental agility and adapt their behaviour effectively?
To develop mental agility and adjust behaviour effectively, leaders can focus on a few practical strategies:
- Commit to continuous learning: Step into new experiences, challenge yourself beyond your comfort zone, and take time to reflect on lessons from past mistakes. This not only sharpens problem-solving abilities but also nurtures a mindset geared towards growth and improvement.
- Be adaptable to change: Recognise when a shift in strategy is necessary, plan your next steps carefully, and stay ready to adjust as situations evolve. Showing resilience and maintaining composure under pressure can set the tone for your team, encouraging them to remain adaptable and confident.
- Promote open communication and teamwork: Foster an environment where ideas and feedback are shared openly. This kind of collaborative culture enables teams to tackle challenges more effectively and adapt as a unified group. By doing so, you not only enhance individual flexibility but also contribute to building a more agile organisation.
Why is emotional resilience more important than technical expertise in leadership, and how can it be developed?
Emotional resilience often outweighs technical know-how when it comes to effective leadership. It enables leaders to form stronger connections, inspire their teams, and tackle challenges with confidence. In today’s demanding and ever-changing work environments, staying emotionally steady helps leaders maintain composure under pressure, adjust to shifting circumstances, and build trust within their teams.
To develop emotional resilience, focus on nurturing self-awareness, practising active listening, and deepening empathy. Taking time to reflect on your emotions, inviting constructive feedback, and incorporating mindfulness into your routine can all help you remain grounded and approachable. These skills not only enhance your leadership abilities but also foster a positive and productive environment for your team.