Webinar Recap: Thriving Through Change: Building Agility and Resilience

Workplace cultures that embrace agility not only foster innovation but also empower teams to thrive through uncertainty and change. In this insightful conversation with leadership coaches Elaine Jacob and Kathryn Cecil, discover strategies to strengthen resilience, build adaptability, and maintain focus—key elements for leading and supporting teams in today’s ever-evolving work environment.

Building Mental Toughness To Navigate Uncertainty

According to Psychologist Mary Steinhardt, resilience is “a person’s ability to absorb high levels of disruptive change,  bounce back, and even excel in times of change and uncertainty.” As Coach Elaine points out below, an important element of resilience involves embracing a growth mindset.

What other tools and psychological resources can you learn to manage anxiety, conquer difficult emotions, and maintain performance under erratic conditions?

Key Takeaways:

• Adapting to stress and successfully navigating through repeated strategies helps build resilience in the brain. Self-awareness, emotional regulation, cognitive ability, and social support are equally important pillars of resilience.

• “The more we seek feedback, the more we grow,” affirms Elaine.

• Being self-aware means understanding our strengths, weaknesses, and learning zones.

• Build your own Resilience Tool Kit by working with a TaskHuman Coach

Fostering Adaptability To Embrace Change

Because our brain likes to be in its comfort zone, it’s natural to feel uncomfortable thinking about doing things in a new way. As Coach Kathryn points out, leaders play a pivotal role in helping individuals and teams develop flexible thinking. Learn how to create a dynamic environment where teams embrace changing circumstances and try new opportunities while remaining productive.

Key Takeaways:

• Skills traditionally seen as “soft skills” are increasingly important: self-awareness, resilience, empathy, and curiosity.

• Transparency from leaders is key: when employees know their company is in the midst of change but don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, this can be anxiety-inducing.

• Emotional intelligence — the ability to manage and express one’s own emotions — is a key component to managing change.

• Psychological safety is a core component of adaptability — employees must feel safe to express themselves, take risks, and try something new during periods of change.

Maintaining Focus During Times Of Stress

With 44% of employees globally reporting they’re stressed (Source: Gallup), it can feel impossible for you and your team to work at your best. Coach Kathryn shares proven techniques to improve focus, set realistic priorities, and sustain performance during periods of overwhelm.

Key Takeaways:

• For a quick reset and to eliminate or reduce your stressful energy, try mindfulness techniques like boxed breathing (breathe in for four counts, hold for four counts, breathe out for four counts) or sensory grounding.

• Leaders and managers need to model the self-care they encourage their team to embrace — taking a movement break, getting enough sleep, eating a nutritious meal, being intentional about mealtime at work, etc.

• Some useful strategies for building clarity during periods of stress include: practicing reflective thinking, leveraging checklists, prioritizing the most pressing tasks, and writing things down to create actionable actions.

• While multitasking can feel more efficient, your brain is constantly switching to the next task and only using partial attention, meaning more room for error and having to redo tasks.

Creating A Culture Of Agility In The Workplace

Agility “is your ability to stop, change positions, and keep moving,” says Coach Elaine.

In the workplace, this equates to an organization that can adapt to market changes, evolving customer needs, and other opportunities without losing momentum. Learn how to prioritize a work environment that values flexibility, promotes creativity, and supports workers as they adapt to changing circumstances below. 

Key Takeaways:

• Embracing agility can result in increased innovation, enhanced employee engagement, and more effective decision-making.

• Creativity and imagination are core traits for skills development, and trial and error is OK. “A mistake doesn’t mean it’s who we are. It’s what we did,” reassures Coach Elaine. 

• To build agility, leaders must encourage risk-taking, create an environment for innovative practice, and model active listening.

• Build data into decision-making and incorporate it into storytelling with a visual-first approach (as visual learning can help promote growth across teams).

Ready to commit to being a lifelong learner to become more agile and resilient to changing circumstances and environments? Connect with a Coach 1:1 to create a strategy specific to your work context.

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Webinar recorded February 2025. To view the full webinar, head here.