{"id":31245,"date":"2025-09-24T15:09:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T15:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=31245"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:10:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:10:36","slug":"adaptability-change-is-everywhere-and-leaders-must-respond-all-the-time-its-no-small-ask","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/adaptability-change-is-everywhere-and-leaders-must-respond-all-the-time-its-no-small-ask\/","title":{"rendered":"Adaptability: \u2018Change Is Everywhere and Leaders Must Respond All the Time. It\u2019s No Small Ask\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 24 Sep 2025 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Adaptability: \u2018Change Is Everywhere and Leaders Must Respond All the Time. It\u2019s No Small Ask\u2019<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In a recent Leaders Virtual Roundtable, Tim Cox of Management Futures discussed the traits of adaptable leaders and the common problems that trip up their rivals.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By John Portch<\/h6>\n
\u201cI hear a lot these days about how the pace of change is getting faster and faster. I actually think we\u2019re almost past that now,\u201d said Tim Cox.<\/h6>\n
\u201cIt feels like change is everywhere all of the time, which means that we need to be as good as we can be, so that we can respond appropriately all of the time. It\u2019s no small ask.\u201d<\/h6>\n

Cox, the Director & Lead for High Performance Research at Management Futures, is leading a Skills Sprint Session virtual roundtable for Leaders Performance Institute members on the topic of adaptability.<\/p>\n

It is a skill, as Cox explained, that was highly coveted by the coaches and practitioners who contributed to our Trend Report<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Not that this is anything new. \u201cIt is well known that Charles Darwin did not talk about \u2018the survival of the fittest\u2019,\u201d Cox continued, with reference to Darwin\u2019s 1859 book On the Origin of the Species.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe endpoint of Darwin\u2019s research was that it\u2019s not the strongest or the most intelligent of the species that survives, it is the one that is most adaptable to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the course of 25 minutes, Cox discussed traps that people can fall victim to in pursuit of better adaptability. He also brought into focus the qualities of adaptive leaders and the skills that can aid adaptation.<\/p>\n

Firstly, those four traps that inhibit adaptation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Operating on outdated assumptions<\/strong>. Look at the decline of \u201990s giants Nokia and Blockbuster: what works today will not always work. As the business author Jim Collins half-joked, \u201conly the paranoid survive\u201d.<\/li>\n
  2. Being hijacked by emotions<\/strong>. If you\u2019re emotionally affected by the challenge ahead, it can inhibit your response.<\/li>\n
  3. Failure to create sufficient buy-in for the change<\/strong>. Sharing the message is one thing, but you have to understand how others feel about it and work with them.<\/li>\n
  4. Overly directive leadership<\/strong>. A crisis may require directive leadership, but not indefinitely. Over time, when people look to take the cue from their leader it reduces autonomy and inhibits adaptability.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Cox then set out the four qualities of adaptive leaders and the skills and tools that support those qualities:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. They spot the need for change<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201cIt is important to actually spot the need for change and not just continue doing what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Adaptive leaders\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Are able to shift perspective<\/strong>. \u201cAdaptive leaders don\u2019t just sit within their position,\u201d said Cox. \u201cThey can see it from others\u2019 perspectives, whether it\u2019s a stakeholder\u2019s or your competition\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Are good at listening<\/strong>. \u201cOur response to challenges to the status quo: how are we receiving them? Are we hearing them or are we just simply emotionally responding and cutting them down in whatever way?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Conduct regular debriefs and reviews<\/strong>. Cox mentioned both the OODA Loop<\/a> and the STOP framework, the latter of which he outlined:<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    \u201cThere are many other frameworks. You will have your own,\u201d said Cox. \u201cBut in whatever shape or form, remove yourself and take a moment on the balcony to see things from a different perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Scan for assumptions<\/strong>. \u201cWhat we are assuming may not be that useful. Think of an issue you\u2019re currently dealing with and write down eight assumptions you\u2019re currently holding about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Cox then invited Leaders Performance Institute members to ask themselves two questions:<\/p>\n