ADAPTABILITY 101
Image Credit: Herlinde Koelbl/Focus-Contact Press Images
I chose to pursue a career in physics because there the truth isn't so easily bent.
Angela Merkel (1954—) is a German politician who has been Chancellor of Germany since 2005. The key to Merkel's success lay in the unique mix of her background and her abilities. She was the first politician from the former East Germany to take the post following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the first female chancellor the country has ever had.
Her experience of growing up as a pastor's daughter in Communist East Germany has deeply influenced her political decision-making, and as a former scientist with a doctorate in quantum chemistry, she often approaches problems in the same way as complex calculations.
Many of her male rivals had been mired in scandal, and there was a feeling that "she was just going to be holding that place until they could find a real CDU man to replace her," Mushaben said. "They completely underestimated her learning ability."
Merkel demonstrates empathy, stability, and reliability. She’s known for being "calm," "pragmatic," and "diplomatic” in a crisis. While her peers succumb to scandal, she has helped shape what people are looking for in a leader.
Merkel embodies what most Germans look for in a leader: "While we sometimes look at other countries which have more of the charismatic leaders, we don't want these for ourselves, we've had enough of that in history."
Many people don't remember a Germany that wasn't run by Angela Merkel. Germans go to the polls again in late 2021, and Angela Merkel has already announced she won't run again. With no clear successor, a power vacuum is brewing in Berlin. The coming months will determine Merkel's legacy, and the future of Germany and Europe. So how did she get to where she is? How did she manage to stay in power for so long?
ADAPTABILITY 101
We must adjust to any situation at any given time when it is needed.
In life, we can be certain of few things beyond death and taxes. In organizations, the certainty is in change—reorganization, new product launches—the need to pivot never stops. In this way, we can count on change.
We need to recognize, learn from, and grow from change. People who are inflexible, cynical, or stubborn never see the full spectrum of choice because inflexibility, cynicism, and stubbornness cultivate a myopic view of present circumstances.
Observe the first thoughts that come to mind when confronted by a change or crisis event—a change in leadership, a shift in role, etc. If we are to succeed, we must readily and willingly adapt to circumstances as they unfold. Take inventory of the things we cannot change and that things that will take time to evolve.
Our own human development offers an easy example. We crawl until we learn to take our first steps. We teeter until we fall. In our teens, we are adjusting to physical changes. As adults, we go to college, get married, have children and grandchildren, nurture careers, develop hobbies, and retire. Each phase of development brings change, sometimes very disruptive challenges, mostly out of our control. Failing to adapt means failing to move forward, to progress.
To take advantage of changing circumstances, we must survey the situation and then make the necessary adjustments. Maybe we need to observe our circles of influence and bring in new people. Maybe we need to shake up the routine. Maybe we need to change our actions.
How do we increase our adaptability?
PRACTICE
List a few significant times in which you adapted, even if you did so reluctantly. What criteria do you use to determine when you need to adapt?
How do you respond when you are asked to adjust a habit, attitude, or behavioral pattern in your life?
COMMIT
[ ] I commit to myself to being an instrument of change, even in circumstances requiring me to change my thinking.
FURTHER READING/ WATCHING
Angela Merkel: Europe's Most Influential Leader: Story of Angela Merkel’s political ascent, in which she outmaneuvered her male colleagues and made Germany the strongest economy in Europe. Interesting insights into her upbringing under communism, describing how the Secret Police tried to recruit her as a spy, how she lived as a squatter in Berlin, and how she went from distributing leaflets to sitting at the Cabinet table in Helmut Kohl’s government in less than a year. Her staff of mostly female advisors repeatedly outsmarted the old boys network of conservative male politicians in Germany, turning her country into a more liberal and more prosperous place.
“Faust” by Goethe: Recommended by Merkel with the comment, “This work gives you a sense of why we Germans want to get to the bottom of things. It also poses important questions of the responsibilities of scientists.” Faust goes beyond prescribed limits to gain an understanding that is not his to obtain. From dabbling in magic to making an unwise pact with the cunning and diabolical Mephistopheles, this 'everyman' or Ecclesiastes-like poem could describe the lengths to which any human being will go to understand the trajectory of history and their place in both this world and the next.
“The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky: Recommended by Merkel as one of her favorites. This is of the best allegorical novels to explain the fractured nature of 19th century Russia. Each character is representative of one of the ruling classes. There is the father Fyodor, the landowner who is negligent about his land, but greedy in using its produce for himself. There's Dmitri, who has been passed around from house to house and has grown up an entitled but debt-ridden soul. There's the skeptic Ivan, who wishes to live more among cold concepts than people. The third is gentle Alyosha, the mystic and religious peacemaker, and the illegitimate Smerdyakov. Throughout are themes of love, law, and duty, which makes this one of the best Dostoyevsky books to read besides Crime and Punishment.
In her words…
“For me, it is always important that I go through all the possible options for a decision.”
“The problem is, of course, that these interest groups are all asking for changes, but their enthusiasm for change rapidly disappears when it affects the core of their own interests.”—The Financial Times
“The state has to assist and must not constrict. In this spirit, it has to be the gardener and not the fence. We should be confident that the people want to get [socially] involved and want to assume responsibility.” —Interview in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (sueddeutsche.de) on May 20, 2006
“It is true: Europe is no club of Christians. But the following is also true: Europe is a club of core values. Here Human and Civil Rights apply. These Human and Civil Rights substantially are based on the Christian idea of man.” — Speech at the 20th federal party convent of the CDU in the Dresdner Frauenkirche on November 27, 2006
“History has often shown us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their fears and openly confront dictators such as in East Germany and Eastern Europe about 22 years ago. […] The yearning for freedom cannot be contained by walls for long. It was this yearning that brought down the Iron Curtain that divided Germany and Europe, and indeed the world, into two blocs.” — Remarks by President Obama and Chancellor Merkel in an Exchange of Toasts on June 07, 2011.
“The heart and soul of Europe is tolerance. It has taken us centuries to understand this. We have persecuted and annihilated one another. We have laid our own country to waste … The worst period of hatred, devastation, and destruction happened not even a generation ago. It was done in the name of my people.”— quoted in The Criminalization of Immigration: Truth, Lies, Tragedy, and Consequences By Robert Hartmann McNamara
“Fear has never been a good adviser, neither in our personal lives nor in our society. Cultures and societies that are shaped by fear, will without a doubt not get a grip on the future.”—part of acceptance speech here
“In East Germany, we always ran into boundaries before we were able to discover our own personal boundaries.”—The National Review
“I am regarded as a permanent delayer sometimes, but I think it is essential and extremely important to take people along and really listen to them in political talks.”—The Guardian
What we don’t see on the resumes we review or the job descriptions we want is the litany of emotional entanglements we bring to our roles, uninvited, to the team and organizations we work in. Alongside technical skills, people who can master a range of subjective skills are better able to influence, deal with ambiguity, bounce back from setbacks, think creatively, and manage themselves in the presence of setbacks. In short, those who learn lead.
Observing subjective qualities in others past and present gives us a mental picture for the behaviors we want to practice. Each figure illustrates a quality researched from The Look to Craftsmen Project. When practiced as part of our day-to-day, these qualities will help us develop our mastery in our lives and work.
References:
Angela Merkel endured as others came and went. Now world's crisis manager steps down — CNN
6 Things we learned about Merkel from her Q&A with trinity Students — The Journal
Angela Merkel’s reading tips — Wall Street Journal