Here's how you can excel in a leadership role by being adaptable.

In your journey toward leadership excellence, embracing adaptability is paramount. By remaining open to change, actively listening to your team, continuously seeking knowledge, and flexibly adjusting strategies, you pave the way for success, inspiring both yourself and those you lead to reach new heights.

Start reflecting your inner dialog (your mind) while listening to someone. Is it talking to you while you are listening? Is it talking about your counterpart or yourself? Does the inner voice help you in this conversation or does it distract you? The more focussed you can listen the more the other person will feel heard and the easier you'll stay in good rapport. By that it will be easier for you to get through with your message afterwards.

When I shifted from a leadership to coaching role almost a decade ago I didn't have the same mindset when it comes to continuing to learn and growth that I do now. What I have discovered as a coach is that there is no finish line when it come to our development. At times, leaders may feel they have arrived with acquiring the skills necessary to be successful. However, are they playing an infinite game? Simon Sinek discusses this mindset and if you are a leader that approaches the workplace as an infinite game, there is no stopping point as we want to continue to grow our skills. Focus on learning consistently so that you can acquire skills that will support your success in your current role as well as prepare you for the future.

If I want to be able to react to changes and different types of people more easily it's important to work on my own flexibility and thereby the bandwith of my personality. How much can I stretch my own way of thinking? How much flexibility do I have in my ways to communicate? And how can I discover new sides in myself without losing my authenticity? - Try out new things every day and meet with people that bring you out of your comfort zone. - Since change takes energy (your brain has to change some neural networks), let yourself times to reflect and meditate or do sports for example. - Some say that a flexible mind comes with a flexible body (since it's all connected anyways). Try to make your body more elastic too with exercises (yoga?)

Flexibility is like the secret sauce of adaptability - it's what makes the theory work in practice. It's about being open to change and ready to switch gears when circumstances demand it. As a leader, showing flexibility not only sets a great example but also encourages your team to embrace agility and adaptability themselves. It's like being the conductor of an orchestra, knowing when to speed up or slow down the tempo to ensure the symphony remains harmonious, no matter what unexpected notes come our way.