Please see this good article (link is also at the bottom of this post) over at Leadership Caffeine.  It speaks to the need of adaptability in leaders, adaptability indeed being THE crucial leadership skill needed in this century.

For those of us who enjoy martial arts and combatives, adaptability is also THE fundamental of all fundamentals.  The inimitable Bruce Lee shared with us: Set patterns, incapable of adaptability, of pliability, only offer a better cage.  Truth is outside of all patterns.

He taught us ways of manifesting this in movement, in fighting, in life.  Our survivability or triumph (we should aim for the latter, and not settle for former) depend on our ability to extemporaneously respond (not react) to what our opponent does, and not on our set, inflexible plan (aka: cage).

It’s a similar process also in crisis management and resolution of conflict.  One absolutely must be adaptable, adroitly agile, and ever-ready to change course in response to how the person or persons with whom we’re dealing are changing in our presence.

And in life too, adaptability is a major key for balance, for success, for happiness.

Leadership Caffeine—Becoming Agile and Adaptable is THE Leadership Issue.