Raising Resilience and Adaptability

Over the past several decades the organizations and the people that make them up, have had to swiftly adapt to the vast changes occurring in the world and within their specific business industries. These organizations have not only been the ones to survive, they have been the organizations that THRIVE and become industry leaders. We can all think of several examples of these organizations (DuPont, Nokia, and Apple to name a few).  

Why is Resilience a requirement for Adaptability?

! In a world that is now changing faster than ever before, an organization and the individuals within that can swiftly adapt to the changing business landscape has never been so imperative, to not only keep the business relevant but to assure it will continue to thrive above the competition. Most of us know this is to be true but what does resilience have to do with being able to adapt?

To help us to answer this question let’s take a look at what these terms mean so we can better understand their important relationship with each other. Resilience is the capacity to prepare for, recover from and adapt in the face of stress, challenge, or adversity.  Adaptability is the ability to adjust course, product, service, and strategy in response to unanticipated changes in the market. But how do we build our resilience and become adaptable to this ever changing world?

We can think of our resilience as the amount of energy we have stored in our “internal battery” that can be used physically, mentally and emotionally. When your internal battery is high you have the capacity to stay focused, be calm yet aware, and maintain control over your emotions. So when your battery is high you are able to understand multiple challenges your organization is facing or the best ways to determine what challenges can be addressed, while simultaneously creating the solutions needed.  On the other hand, when your internal battery is low or depleted it can be quite difficult to maintain a clear focus, identify challenges, create solutions, and even to just communicate well with team members. You simply need to have the energy to be effective and when your internal battery is low and you are experiencing depleting emotions (such as anger, fear, or frustration) your energy is “leaking” out. Being able to “plug the leaks” immediately and consistently is important to building and sustaining your resilience battery.  What this means for all of us is that when we keep our resilience battery high our ability to adapt to challenges being faced is significantly heightened!

Our adaptability is at its highest when we are able to implement new strategies, service modifications, or product updates at the same time as our customers are facing new needs or serving a previous need the has not been solved in the marketplace already. Our greatest capacity to do this occurs when are internal batteries are high and energy leaks are plugged quickly, i.e. our resilience is high. 

To learn more  and to schedule a customized training for your organization contact Tomas German-Palacios at tomas@theheartfocusedlife.com or 970-946-2036. Tomas is a HeartMath® Trainer, Coach and Heart Ambassador.