ADAPTABILITY
PRESENTED BY HAMILTON WHITTLE AND ASHLEY TABRON
STUDENT SUCCESS CONFERENCE
MARCH 14TH, 2023
WHAT DO WE MEAN
BY ADAPTABILITY?
Adaptability means easily
adjusting to changing
circumstances.
When do you need
adaptability?
Personal Life
School
Workplace
Today’s focus is adaptability as
a student and professional.
GIVE YOURSELVES CREDIT
You’re already pretty adaptable!
Covid-19 Pandemic
Balancing schoolwork with any combination of
the following:
Life
Family
Work
Adjusting to an everchanging online world
POLL
Before we get into more content
on adaptability, let’s use this poll
to gage our current level of
adaptivity.
Why do We Need Adaptability?
Subskills
OUTLINE
Components of Adaptability
Adaptability in the Workforce
WHY DO WE NEED ADAPTABILITY?
“It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the
strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able
to adapt to and to adjust best to the changing environment in which it
finds itself”
-Leon C. Megginson on Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species
WHY DO WE NEED
ADAPTABILITY?
We can't plan for everything.
Plans go wrong
Unexpected changes happen
How we handle challenges mentally and
emotionally.
How to find paths forward.
Adaptability can lead to a healthier well-being.
It is a highly sought after skill by employers.
SKILLS FOR ADAPTABILITY
BY OUR POWERS COMBINED...
Open-
mindedness
Hosted by
Phil Ershadi Working
Resilience
and with others
Emily Marshall
Emotional Critical
Intelligence Thinking
Hosted by
Joseph Magliocca
Growth
Mindset
WE ARE ADAPTABILITY!
OPEN-MINDEDNESS
Being open-minded means being willing to learn
from different perspectives and take new
approaches.
Without being open-minded, we limit ourselves
to methods and solutions that we have done in
the past, which may no longer be viable.
We often must admit to ourselves that we
don’t have the “answer” and need to look
outside of ourselves to find it.
RESILIENCE
Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to
difficult or challenging life experiences
Resilience alone will not be enough to overcome obstacles, but it is a
key component
What does resilience look like?
School Workplace
CRITICAL THINKING
Processing information
Informing conclusions
Making predictions
Solving Problems
CRITICAL
THINKING IN
COLLEGE
Environment
New courses
Resources
Transferable Skills
GROWTH MINDSET
Challenge as opportunity
Trying something new
Prepare for future challenges
Failure as opportunity
GROWTH MINDSET
Practice to Improve
Seeing Our Potential
Approach with Optimism
Learning as Fulfillment
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional intelligence is our ability to notice and
manage our emotions and to use them in
constructive ways.
Prevent stress from overwhelming us, handle
setbacks better,and improve interactions with
others.
Helps us put thoughts into action while also
preventing us from acting recklessly.
Better deal with the impact of failure.
BEING
EMOTIONALLY
READY TO LEARN
Learning is a lifelong process.
Our emotional state affects
our ability to retain knowledge
as well as our critical thinking
skills.
PRACTICING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Self-reflection Time Management
Identify emotions accurately Keep a planner/calendar
Ask yourself real questions, answer honestly and specifically Create a plan and stick to it
List your strengths and weaknesses Space things out to stay productive and not burn out
What drives your fears?
Stress Management Communication
Step away and decompress Communicate feelings.
Do another chore/activity to get back into a productive Voice concerns
mindset Build a support system
Breathe! You are not alone!
Seek help
WORKING WITH OTHERS
We often find ourselves in collaborative
environments where we are expected to work with
others.
While working with others can be its own challenge
to adapt to, it can also be a skill to help with our
own adaptability.
Learn from various viewpoints.
Be responsive to feedback.
COMPONENTS OF ADAPTABILITY
Concern
Control
Curiosity
Confidence
Resilience
Emotional Intelligence
CONCERN
Thoughts and Goals for the
Future
Immediate Goals
Long-Term Plans
Optimism
Critical Thinking
Emotional Intelligence
CONTROL
We all want to have control over
our current situations
Decision-making and planning
Ask yourself some questions
about your goals and the future.
What can you control vs what
you cannot
Focus your energy on what you
can control
Resilience
Critical Thinking
Growth Mindset
CURIOSITY
New information, skills, and possibilities
Ask questions & do research
Some questions to ask:
What do I need to know? What do I need to do?
How can I reach my goal?
Resilience
Emotional Intelligence
CONFIDENCE
Trust in yourself
Overcoming challenges and setbacks
Anticipation of what’s to come!
ADAPTABILITY IN THE WORKFORCE
SELL YOUR ADAPTABILITY
List adaptability related skills on your resume, be
prepared to give specific instances of when you
applied each.
Use keywords such as “overcame” or “adjusted” to
describe how you adapted to challenges or new
work conditions.
Interviewers often ask about times you faced
challenge. Reflect on your experiences and be
prepared with specific instances where you had to
adapt.
SHOW YOUR SKILLS
Ask questions, do research.
Try new things.
Take initiative.
ADAPTABILITY EXERCISES
Keep your mind sharp.
Incorporate small activities into your routine.
Learn new skills.
Stick to commitments as much as possible to train
our time management.
Get outside your comfort zone.
Take care of yourself!
PERSONAL ADAPTABILITY STORIES
Adaptability is our ability to respond to
and deal with changes in our environment
and in our lives.
It is a necessary skill to effectively react to
and plan around these changes.
Our ability to adapt depends on a variety
SUMMARY of soft skills.
Adaptability's main components are:
Concern,Control,Curiosity,and
Confidence.
Adaptability isn't just meant for us to
survive, but to thrive!
3-2-1 CLOSING ACTIVITY
What are three things you What are two things you What is one question you
learned in today’s session? found interesting? still have about adaptability?
