Flexibility: the first of the eight pillars of FABULOUS goal setting: Flexibility, Attitude, Boundaries, United, Laughter, Optimism, Understanding job satisfaction, and Self-compassion.
Emotional flexibility is a vital trait, and it stands as one of the most powerful strengths employees can possess. It refers to the ability to effectively regulate emotions, especially in response to challenging experiences like compassion fatigue or vicarious trauma. This adaptability enables individuals to recover emotionally by finding the most appropriate way to respond when situations change. Those who can flexibly navigate life’s demands and manage negative emotions demonstrate resilience—an essential quality when facing emotionally taxing situations at work.
Improving Workplace Performance
Emotional Intelligence (EI) suggests that emotional flexibility involves the ability to adjust thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in response to stress or challenges, thereby enhancing resilience. Emotional flexibility is integral to emotional literacy—the skill of identifying, understanding, and expressing emotions. It also plays a central role in emotional intelligence, allowing individuals to manage their emotions in constructive ways. Research has shown a clear link between EI and job satisfaction. When employees understand both their own emotions and those of their colleagues or supervisors, they are better equipped to manage emotional dynamics and, in turn, improve workplace performance.
Ten Ways to Leverage Flexibility to Build Resilience in the Workplace
Emotional flexibility enables individuals to navigate problems and find solutions by employing various coping strategies. Here are some examples of how employees can use flexibility to foster resilience:
- Engage in self-care and mindfulness practices (e.g., yoga, meditation, or walking).
- Maintain connections with family to preserve emotional support.
- Find meaning in their career by aligning with their values to enhance motivation, perspective, and a sense of purpose.
- Identify and leverage personal character traits to gain a sense of control and self-efficacy.
- Utilize emotional regulation skills, such as positive self-talk, to manage reactions.
- Reframe trauma or grief by integrating the experience into one’s life through healing and growth.
- Draw on spiritual or religious beliefs when feeling lost or uncertain to deepen the connection to themselves and the world around them.
- Seek out information to identify strategies for emotional recovery and well-being.
- Engage in physical exercise to release stress and promote emotional balance.
- Practice problem-solving by identifying the cause of issues, evaluating solutions, and implementing the best approach.
For employees to thrive in emotionally challenging situations, they must be able to adaptively reframe distressing or traumatic events, shifting their perspective in ways that alleviate stress and foster emotional resilience. This ability to adapt their perspective and responses not only fosters stronger relationships and reduces conflicts but also enhances teamwork. Flexibility in coping allows employees to adjust their emotional responses to fit the situation, helping them manage work-related stress, anxiety, and low mood more effectively. The way employees perceive and respond to challenging situations—by being open to different approaches and solutions—directly influences their ability to overcome obstacles, strengthen emotional resilience, and perform at their best.
Let’s Take a Moment to Reflect
Can emotional flexibility help you to truly perform at your best? Throughout the workday, how aware are you of your emotional state and its impact on those around you? When emotions run high, can you pause, take a breath, and think before reacting? Are you able to maintain a positive, optimistic outlook when faced with setbacks at work? Overall, emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in this process, as it allows you to harness a flexible mindset, enhancing your resilience in challenging workplace situations.
