Leaders, Are You Ready for the Future of Work?

Congratulations to Contact Center Pipeline for 15 years of serving our industry!

Wow! Fifteen years of providing insights, resources, and thought leadership to the Contact Center community! With many people keeping their eyes on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and all things tech, I want to focus on the most important assets – the people!

Although technology advancements are amazing, the future of work is all about the people. The leaders that are successful today and, in the future, will be required to possess the advanced Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills of Adaptability. They will be required to adapt to situations, rapid changes, personality traits and temperaments, mergers/acquisitions, and serve as inspirational leaders giving hope to their team members.

Although technology advancements are amazing, the future of work is all about the people.

Have you ever met anyone:

• With lots of potential but not really living the life that they could?
• Unable to see the opportunities around them, maybe even hopeless?
• Losing job opportunities or increasing attrition due to their communication and leadership style?
• Coaching the same way to every team member for the last 10 years?
• Unwilling to adapt to changing times, skill sets, jobs, etc.?
• Who is always stressed out?
• Persevering ahead despite minimal experience or knowledge?
• Struggling but relentless in the pursuit of their goals and dreams?

These scenarios are based on an individual’s ability to adapt and could impact overall personal and team performance.

Let’s look a bit deeper to see the full picture.

Within the framework of Adaptability Intelligence, skills like Grit, Mindset, Mental Flexibility, Resilience, and the ability to Unlearn skills, beliefs, and ideas that are no longer serving you will be required. All of these skills are learnable as we have the choice to develop them. In each sub-dimension, there is a lot to unpack but let’s just touch on a few from a high level.

WHY does Adaptability matter for relevance in the current and future workplace?

As a leader, you might be wondering, why does adaptability even matter?

1. The employee of today does not have the same expectations or requirements from the workplace as the employee from 5 years ago or even pre-COVID.
2. As the competition to attract AND retain top talent increases, the mindset of the leader will shape the workplace culture and environment, which has a direct correlation with retention.
3. Mindsets shape results, happiness, learning, ownership, culture, and overall lens on growth and change.
4. Adapting to others improves communication, minimizes conflict, and builds trust and stronger relationships.
5. Adaptable people have increased Resilience and overall Emotional Health.
6. Change is happening faster than ever before.
7. Technology is changing so rapidly that if you do not adapt, there is a chance of being left behind.
8. No one should be left behind.

What can YOU do?

When looking for your own personal development, put yourself in situations or projects that can challenge you to grow. Each challenge forces you to unlearn some old ideas and methodologies that may not be relevant anymore.

New situations also require you to get a bit uncomfortable and further develop your grit.

In an article by EY, they share that everyone needs to be pursuing adaptability as a skill to build.

Looking deeper into the Human Experience!

As I stated earlier, the future of work is human. My passion is to speak about and create environments where everyone can have meaningful Human Experiences. I want to bring the topic of Hope into the conversation of next-level leadership.

Adaptable people have increased Resilience and overall Emotional Health.

Let me share a story with you.

In my role as a Talent Acquisition and Talent Developer, I have had the privilege to see what types of people achieve their goals and dreams. Let me share the journey of a colleague that has inspired me for over 25 years. In this case, the person arrived in Canada as a new immigrant, a young college-aged student. He worked part-time as a security guard outside of a large financial institution. As most immigrants, he struggled in this new country, saved money, and worked with a hunger to be more. He eventually was hired within the company that he was the security guard for, in a frontline role. With his tremendous work ethic, he was hired full-time and then slowly promoted. His career went on to very senior levels. His mindset was always, “I have to do it and I can do it.” I had asked him many years ago and I remember him telling me that “people come to this country because they have hope for a better future.” The power of hope fueled this person to such heights. The story does not end there. Since he knew the struggles that others go through, he used every opportunity to uplift others through words of hope, and actions leading to better circumstances, as he consistently showed an unwavering belief in others. Reflecting over the years, not only did his positive mindset take him to higher levels but he gave HOPE to so many others so they could also hit many levels of success, reaching many of their own goals and dreams.

(From Business, Life and the Universe, Sangeeta Bhatnagar, Hope, Adaptability and the Human Experience.)

Why is HOPE so important?

“A rainbow is a prism that sends shards of multicolored light in various directions. It lifts our spirits and makes us think of what is possible. Hope is the same – a personal rainbow of the mind.”
—Charles Snyder et al.

Hope is the single most influential dimension helping people adapt to change.

Actionable take-aways

1. The time to prepare and develop your EI and Adaptability Intelligence skills is now.
2. The future of work is human.
3. Seek opportunities to become more adaptable.
4. YOU have the power to give HOPE to others.
5. YOUR words have power to shape the beliefs of others.
6. Hope is the single most influential dimension helping people adapt to change (cite the source).

Looking ahead, we will examine the impact of Hope and how it is a superpower impacting Adaptability skills.

Once again, thank you Contact Center Pipeline for providing opportunities to read many perspectives around people, processes, and technology supporting the Contact Center industry. Here’s to many more years!