There is a famous Chinese proverb that states that the wise adapts to circumstances, as the water takes the shape of a jug. Adaptability – the ability to change (or be changed) in order to correspond to new circumstances is the most important skill for managers and one of the components of emotional intelligence.
In 2008, the Economist Intelligence Unit conducted a study called Growing Global Executive, which revealed three leadership qualities that are of the greatest importance in management: the ability to motivate staff (35 percent); the ability to work well in different cultures (34 percent); and the ability to promote changes (32 percent). Technical knowledge (11 percent) were less important.
An example of a leader who personifies these valuable qualities is Robert McDonald, Chief Operation Director of Procrator & Gamble Company, which spent most of the last two decades on various foreign trips. In a recent interview, he said: “I did not expect that I would live outside the United States for 15 years; The world has changed, so I had to change myself. If you look at my biography, foreign languages are my weak side. But when you get out of your culture, you must study them “.
The willingness to leave your comfort zone, and continuously learn as a way to adapt to changing conditions is a key difference between successful and unsuccessful leaders.
Lawrence Gonzalez, a teacher in the Livermanship National Laboratory, author of the book “Daily Survival: why smart people make nonsense”, speaks of the stupid mistakes that we make when we rely on attitudes that do not meet the requirements of real situations. He explains that one of the reasons for this behavior is the way the brain processes new information. This creates what he calls the “behavioral script”, or a mental model that automates almost every action we perform. For example, growing up, we master the script necessary to tie the laces. Through practice, this scenario is ultimately fixed and ultimately we perform this action easily and automatically. Behavioral scenarios simplify our world, make us more effective and help us move faster and with less effort. They affect not only our actions, but also how we perceive and believe. Gonzalez says that “we, as a rule, do not notice things that are not consistent with our models”.
The effectiveness of these scenarios also carries the flip side: they can distract our attention from important information coming to us from our midst. In other words, models and scenarios, make us not pay attention to the reality of the situation, and miss signals.
Psychological scripts can also lead to stubbornly following thought: “We have always done this,” and the refusal to understand and accept the realities of a new situation. Gonzalez quotes Henry Plotkin, a psychologist at the University College in London, who claims that we, as a rule, “summarize what worked in the past”. Thus, everything that worked in the past must be transferred to the future, and everything that did not work is to forget.
To be adapted means to be flexible under the influence of rapidly changing external conditions. Of course, you can be tough, not responding to changes, and do not want to study and master new ways, but this will have a negative impact on your ability to survive and succeed in the long term. People with high adaptability are able to work more positively with the management of changes, and they can do everything to adapt their approaches and transfer their priorities.