Episode Transcript
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My motto for adaptability is make a plan, work the plan, don't fall in love with the plan.
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In fact, I've come to developing three plans. I have a plan A, what I really want to do, or what I really want to happen,
a plan B, which is my backup plan, and a plan C, which is a backup to my backup,
which increases my chances of success in whatever I'm wanting to, whatever outcome I'm wanting
because I've come up with three options that are acceptable to me, but hey, sometimes all three of those fail.
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And when that happens, it's really important if you're going to develop the skill of adaptability,
not to consider it a failure, but to consider it an opportunity, an opportunity for personal growth and development
and opportunity to flex those adaptability muscles.
Today's episode is your call to action for developing accountability.
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Want to know more? Let's dive in to today's episode.
Hey, friend, are you a people-pleasing conflict-avoiding leader?
Is your secret relationship with fear affecting your leadership decisions?
Do you want to learn how to build credibility and confidence or to navigate difficult conversations?
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Do you long to manage your time without sacrificing your family or self-care?
Welcome to leadership becomes her.
I'm Becky Burroughs, your host and a minister in life and leadership coach with over 50 years experience in leadership.
I firmly believe God has given you everything you need to lead well.
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You have the toolbox. You just need to learn how to use the tools.
So get comfy or start a mindless task. You know how to pause or rewind if you need to.
Let's get started.
In episode 68, I post the question, "How adaptable are you?"
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And I set the stage for that question by making the statement that in the world, in a world that's constantly changing,
culture, technology, expectations, having the ability to adapt, it's no longer optional, it's absolutely essential.
This world is changing at such a fast pace. We cannot hold on. We cannot cling to outdated modes and methods and ways of doing things.
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We absolutely must learn how to adapt.
The good news is being able to adapt is not a personality trait. It's not like being a fast runner.
It's not a physical gift like that. It's not being naturally good at math.
There may be some people out there who are naturally good at adapting, but it's a skill.
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And it's a skill that every single one of us can learn and must learn to survive in today's ever-changing, fast-paced world.
And as a reminder, adaptability is just having the capacity to pivot, to adjust to new conditions, to unexpected challenges, to evolving goals,
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while maintaining integrity and purpose, while maintaining a good attitude about it.
I think if you're adapting, but you're griping and complaining about it, then probably you don't have the skill of adaptability that you could, because I think attitude is very, very important.
And not only must we learn how to be adaptable in our personal lives, but certainly in our professional lives, whether we are in ministry, or the nonprofit world, or in small business, or business of any kind, really, we've got to be able to learn to adapt to the changes that are going to come our way.
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Not maybe, they are going to come our way.
In last week's episode, episode 69, I talked a little bit about what happens when we're not adaptable, and some of the challenges that we face as organizations and as individuals when we refuse to adapt to changes that are happening in our world, in our homes, in our lives, in our businesses.
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But today's episode, which is the final episode in this three-part series on adaptability, I'm going to leave you with some challenges. This is your call to action.
To develop accountability, or to strengthen your account, I said accountability, to develop adaptability, or to strengthen your adaptability in areas where it's just not as strong as it could be.
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For any of us in the work world, no matter where you work, or if you go to school, no matter what level of school you're at, we have been forced to adapt because of the explosion of technology.
You can't, I can't think of very many jobs you can have without some exposure to computers, some exposure to the internet, even phones are walking computers.
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That's what they are. This phone is a tiny computer that you can put in your pocket, but hopefully you won't sit on because it is never good to sit on a computer.
So I want you to think about in terms of adaptability, there is internal adaptability such as how do you deal with, which is really largely emotional, how do you deal with disappointment, how do you deal with stress, how do you deal when things are changing?
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I remember when my first daughter left home for college, daughter number two, who was two years behind her, just could not be consoled. We were all sad and grieving the day she left, but I'll never forget daughter number two, crying and saying, "Why do things have to change?"
And that could really be a motto for life because life is constantly changing. I remember, I'm old enough to remember when all we had were landlines.
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And it was a big deal when they invented cordless landlines and you weren't held by the distance of that cord, that swirly cord.
We had a phone hanging on the wall in our kitchen and my dad had bought a long swirly cord and I learned that I could stretch that baby and I could go into the pantry and have a private conversation.
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Otherwise, you're out there in the hall or the kitchen where everybody can hear you. There was another phone in their bedroom, but it wasn't on the wall, it had a long cord and you could stretch it as far as you could, maybe go into the closet and have a private conversation.
Then cordless phones came out and that was so awesome because you could go anywhere in the house and have a private conversation.
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And of course now, I don't even own a landline. I have a cell phone, which also happens to be a computer and I really work hard not to sit on it.
So as you're thinking about internal adaptability, it's really how do you deal with it? How do you deal with change on a personal level on the inside?
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Whether you're showing it or not, how are you dealing with it on the inside? And then your external would be more like what you're doing with it.
For example, how are you leading others through change? How are you leading others through the transition?
So I believe it was last week's episode. I asked you to reflect on a time that you had adapted and really think about what a good job you did or not.
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You know, what worked about your ability to adapt in that changing situation? What did not work?
And sometimes changes temporary, like I told the story of my house flooding and how I'm in a period of transition now because every room is that was damaged by the flood has now had my hardwood floors cut out and they've got these fans running, drying everything out.
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I've got plumbing that doesn't work and eventually they're going to get it fixed and I'm having to make some very serious adjustments.
And I have to decide every day what attitude am I going to have about the way things are? The good news is I know they're temporary.
Absolutely 100% sure they are temporary. My insurance company is on it, my plumber is on it, all these different professionals are on it. They're going to do their job. It's just a matter of time.
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But sometimes transition is not temporary. Sometimes it's a move toward permanence such as all the things have changed since the explosion of technology in our world.
Before the technology explosion, before the internet, no churches had websites because there was no such thing as the internet.
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Now it's not only expected that a church will have a website you are being judged by the quality of your website as and people are deciding based on what they're seeing on your website, whether or not they're going to step foot in your door.
It's the same thing about a business. If your website is hard to navigate, if it's challenging to make a purchase, people are, we're also spoiled by how easily you can purchase things on Amazon.
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So that and the return policy on Amazon and every business that the e-commerce is being compared to Amazon because if it's ease of operation.
So when I purchased something, I think it was clothing. From a business, I got it, it didn't fit, I go to return it.
Their return policy was so complicated, so incredibly complicated, before I could return the item, I had to take pictures of the item and show that the tags were still on it and it hadn't been worn and blah, blah, blah, blah.
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And before they would send me return information and I had to pay for the return. And so businesses that have rules like that, which are smaller businesses, they have to do things like that, I have a hard time competing with the bigger businesses that are able to be more customer friendly.
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And there are churches that invest time and money in their website that where you can get on their website and almost feel like you're there because they use pictures of real people and not stock photos and they really tell what they're, who they are and what they're about.
And you can tell that their website is designed for a potential guest. It's not designed for the members with a lot of insider language that nobody understands what that means if you're not a member there.
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Those people are more likely to have guests than the church that puts up the obligatory website and then never updates it and it doesn't show me anything other than has too many words on it, not enough pictures, all of that.
You know what you're looking for when you're trying to make decisions about a church or about a business based on their website.
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And so that ability to adapt as times change is absolutely essential. And so my first call to action to develop accountability is really, really simple.
Do one thing every week. Designed to stretch your adaptability muscle. You can do this either personally or you can do this professionally.
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Let me give an example personally. We all get into most of us do into schedule, ruts, how we spend our time during our waking hours during the day.
So think of something that you need to be doing that you want to incorporate into your day, but you've got to figure out what are you going to give up in order to do that.
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That's adaptability. Any change is adaptability. So you don't work out every day and you want to start doing that. You've got to find a time, you've got to find a place, you've got to make a commitment, you've got to adapt to this new schedule you have set for yourself.
Maybe it's how you eat. Maybe it's daily Bible study. Maybe it's intentional time with each child separately.
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Whatever it is, whatever change you know needs to take place and developing a plan, plan A, plan B, plan C, and then adapting your schedule to fit that plan.
Or maybe you're dealing with some kind of transition right now and you are ignoring it.
Deciding to address it and flexing those adaptability muscles is how you become more adaptable. And not only is adaptability an important life skill, it's an important leadership skill.
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Whether you are in ministry, small business, non-profit, it's that ability to pivot when things change to respond rather than to react, to innovate when what used to work doesn't work anymore.
And sometimes we get so attached to the method, the way we've always done things, we lose sight of the mission. And that's when as leaders we get stuck.
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In ministry it can look like clinging to outdated program because this is how we've always done it, even when people aren't showing up anymore.
In business it's resisting technology, refusing to delegate because you don't trust anybody else with your vision.
In non-profit it's running that same tired fundraiser year after year even though it's losing money but you're afraid to try something new.
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And here's the truth bomb, that ability, that inability to adapt can look like faithfulness. We're going to do what we've always done.
But it might actually be fear in disguise..
So as you think about how you can become more adaptable, ask yourself some questions, what are you holding on to, to tightly?
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What is part of your leadership that might need a fresh lens? Is there a change that God has been nudging you to make but you've been resisting?
But take a breath, you're not failing, you're growing. Adaptability is a muscle, it gets stronger with use.
And as you think about that one thing, that one area where you can practice being more adaptable, maybe it's adapting how you lead.
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Maybe it's adapting how you serve. Maybe it's as simple as adapting how you listen.
And as you're thinking about what you're going to choose, how you're going to practice adaptability.
Sometimes it seems like business but it's personal. Maybe you're quick to dismiss new ideas because it makes you feel insecure.
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Maybe you take feedback as a threat instead of an opportunity to grow. Maybe you're still trying to lead with tools and methods that worked before the pandemic but they don't work now.
So ask yourself, is God trying to do something new in me but I'm stuck in the old? Am I making space for innovation or am I resisting it out of fear?
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What is one area in which I have felt stuck lately? And if you really, really, really want to work on your adaptability, ask a trusted friend or mentor.
Where do you see me resisting change? Is there any way in which you see me stuck in a certain way of doing things or stuck in coming up with my own ideas and not asking for input?
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Where do you see me stuck? Now this has to be someone who's opinion you trust but it's up to you to make it a safe place for them to be honest.
You have to accept their honesty and be thankful for it. Listen with humility, pray over it and then act in faith.
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And once you've tried that call to action, one thing a week and you've talked to that trusted friend to get their opinion, here's how you can take it to yet another level.
Ask yourself, what is something in my leadership life that has changed in the past year? And how did I respond to it? Or think of a recent challenge that you've had?
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Did you pivot or did you push through? Did you freeze or did you flex? And what were the results?
Maybe think about a way in which you've adjusted how you serve or how you communicate based on the people you leave or how you failed to adjust.
And what is a method or strategy you've been holding on to even though it's not working or it's clearly not working as well as it used to?
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What's an area in which you have felt stuck recently? Was it lack of resources or was it resistant to change?
Can you think of a time when you found yourself reacting negatively to new ideas or feedback and why do you think that was?
Is there a fear that you're struggling with, a fear of failure, a fear of judgment, a fear of being wrong that's holding you back from trying something new?
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So think through these things, ask a trusted friend and just commit to one thing per week that you're going to work on practicing that skill of adaptability and I promise you over time as you continue to flex that muscle is going to get stronger.
You're going to begin to not only feel more adaptable, you're going to start thinking in terms of adaptability and don't forget to commit this to prayer.
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Ask God what you need to release so that you can receive the new thing that he is doing.
I hope this has been helpful to you.
Hey, let's do this again next week.
It is my prayer that this podcast inspired you, blessed you, or made you think.
If so, please share it with a friend, subscribe and please leave a review.
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Hey, I want to connect with you. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, send me a DM or email me at hello@beckyburroughs.com.
If you are a Christian woman who leads and you are interested in one of my Leadership Bootcamps for Women in Ministry, this is a four week workshop or becoming part of a Kairos Cohort, your long group coaching, send me a DM or an email for more information.
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We'll talk soon.
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