Pivot. Adaptability. Change.
You are probably hearing these three words a lot these days.
COVID-19 makes them non-negotiable.
- Pivot – Alter your direction.
- Adapt – Accept what is different internally.
- Change – Take action on necessary new practices.
You might pivot and change because you just don’t have a choice. But the best way to accept the challenge of a difficult situation and leverage the opportunity for the best results is to personally adapt to what is happening around you.
The leaders I’m talking to, including myself, (yes – sometimes I talk to myself 😉) are all saying they have changed their ministry practices more in the past three-four weeks than over the last three-five years.
Life and leadership online is the new norm. And we are all thinking about what that looks like on the “other side.”
Ministry to those who battle fear, worry, and anxiety is at an all-time high. And if we are honest, leaders are in that group at some level too.
Ministry to basic needs such as food and essentials is unprecedented.
Learning how to work at home, with your whole family as your “office mates” is not just a two-week adventure.
Adaptability!
Not only is the amount of change significant, but it’s also fast.
The amount of time we have to process is minimal. “Praying through” something is more like mid-flight refueling and repairs. You are praying while moving, and by the time you say “amen,” something else just changed.
This much change that fast, and lack of knowing what next week will bring, can rattle the confidence of even the strongest of leaders.
Adaptability is essential to navigating this season of crisis, and it is a core component in developing your confidence.
I have an entire chapter on adaptability in my newly released book Confident Leader! But I want to give you extra content on the same topic that is focused on the context of COVID-19.
4 practical insights on adaptability:
1) Adaptability is a character quality that begins internally at a soul level.
Comfort, routine, and predictability. Those are all words that breathe a little peace into our souls. We need some of those things to function normally over the long haul.
Yet the truth is that if you are leading, you’ve never really had long term consistent comfort, unchanging routine, and guaranteed predictability.
Here’s why.
If you are leading change and making progress, you are a strategic disrupter of the status quo.
