If you’re experiencing a lot of uncertainty in the workplace, you’re not alone. Unstable markets and global conditions have people panicking. A recent study found that one in three adults feels anxious about losing their job, and that number rises to 40% among Gen Z workers.
The good news is that you can combat this anxiety while developing a skill that is rapidly in demand in the workplace: adaptability. It’s the number one skill required in the modern workplace, according to both job candidates and employers.
Adaptability is the ability to remain effective in changing or difficult circumstances. It’s not just about reacting to new situations, but also about anticipating problems, adjusting your mindset, and maintaining composure in the face of pressure.
Here’s how you can start building adaptability as a core professional skill.
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the bedrock of adaptability in your personal and professional life. It allows you to view situations more objectively, maintain a more stable emotional state, and handle whatever comes your way.
There are five dimensions of EQ, and while they all apply to adaptability, self-regulation is particularly important. It’s your ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods, as well as the propensity to suspend judgment and think before acting.
Instead of getting swept away by difficult or high-pressure situations, you can adapt by relying on your self-regulation instead of responding impulsively.
Excellent communication skills are one of the most important aspects of building adaptability. If you understand your own behavioral style and communication preferences, you can adapt as needed when faced with a challenging situation.
A good rule of thumb is: when in doubt, over-communicate. This is where knowing other people’s behavioral styles using DISC becomes useful. For example, if a naturally Reserved communicator (low I score), is navigating a tense situation with a Reflective communicator (low D score), they might run into issues. The Reserved person might think they’re communicating clearly, but the Reflective communicator still has questions.
The Reflective person will probably avoid following up to avoid potential conflict, but that can cause problems in the future when the Reserved person isn’t getting what they need out of the situation.
That’s where adaptability comes in. The Reserved person can adapt by clearly outlining their thoughts, preferably in writing. That way, their Reflective peer can review on their own time and rely on those clearly expressed needs to act and react.
Over-communicating is often the best approach to preventing future problems and correcting current ones.
Understanding others is crucial for effective adaptation, and one of the most common situations that tests adaptability is conflict. That’s where using the right tools comes into play.
By using reliable, data-driven assessments, you can gain a deeper understanding of how you and others respond to stress or change. This allows you to meet people where they are and pivot as needed to find successful outcomes. Instead of letting elevated stress and emotion lead your interactions, you can turn back to tools that work for the best way forward.
Once you’ve developed an awareness of yourself and others, the next step is learning how to apply it in real situations, especially when things get tense. While conflict is inevitable, it doesn’t have to be an overall negative part of your life. Conflict resolution is a skill you can improve over time.
A study from the International Journal of Advance Research in Nursing found that conflict resolution training is directly linked to improving adaptability and resilience. This means that by learning to navigate conflict with composure and flexibility, you’re not just solving problems; you’re strengthening your long-term capacity for growth. By investing in your personal conflict resolution experience, you will be building adaptability as a core professional skill.
A growth mindset goes hand-in-hand with increasing adaptability. It helps you see challenges not as failures, but as invitations to grow. This mindset shift gives you more freedom to find the best way forward and approach challenging situations with a flexible mindset.
You can develop a growth mindset by setting stretch goals. Stretch goals are ambitious, long-term objectives that push you beyond your comfort zone to achieve outcomes that might not currently seem possible. They require problem-solving, innovation, and a willingness to take risks and try new things with the possibility of failure.
When you practice setting stretch goals, you practice a growth mindset. All that practice pays off when you need to adapt in the future. When you embrace learning as a lifelong process, adaptability becomes second nature.
One of the most important parts of building adaptability is often overlooked: taking time to reset after a period of change. Adapting anything, be it your behavior, your responsibilities at work, or your approach to communication, will cause stress in the long run. If you want to remain agile and able to respond to challenges in your personal and professional life, you need to give yourself time to recover.
For example, if you are pursuing a stretch goal by taking a course to learn a new skill, celebrate after completing the course and give yourself time to adjust to using the new skill before pursuing the next one. You don’t have to constantly stress to move forward; that motion comes from periods of activity and then periods of rest.
By setting aside time to learn from your experiences and figure out your next move, you can avoid burnout.
Adaptability isn’t just a professional advantage. It’s a mindset that supports long-term growth, confidence, and well-being. In an unpredictable world, the ability to stay grounded, communicate clearly, and adjust to new challenges can transform uncertainty into opportunity.
Ready to build your adaptability? Get the right tools for the job.