Rigidity Ruins Your Results
Jan 25, 2026
Have you ever doubled down on an approach that used to work only to watch it fail spectacularly?
Were you surprised when your consistent leadership style suddenly stopped connecting with your team?
You have a rigidity crisis that breaks rather than bends, and in a VUCA world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, flexibility determines survival.
The Identity Trap
Think about how deeply rigidity infiltrates your leadership:
You lock yourself into an identity based on personality assessments. "I am a red" instead of "I have these tendencies."
You operate on autopilot, doing something the 67th time exactly like you did it the first 66 times.
You lead the same way in every situation while the VUCA world changes three times in 48 hours.
Kevin Eikenberry taught me something important on the Work Positive Podcast: "When you lock yourself into an identity, you lock yourself out of adaptability."
Shift from Rigidity to Flexibility
The traditional approach to leadership said, "Be consistent so people know what to expect."
Flexible confidence says, "Stable roots with flexible branches survive every storm."
Kevin shared the tree metaphor for developing flexible confidence: Your roots should be stable. Your values, purpose, and non-negotiables remain firm. Your branches should flex. How you communicate, make decisions, and lead different team members must adapt to the moment.
Research shows when leaders develop fixed identities around their styles, they become unable to adapt to novel situations. The very thing that made them successful previously becomes the anchor dragging them down.
The Confidence-Competence Spiral
What does flexible leadership look like in practice? Kevin introduced the confidence-competence spiral.
Here is the crucial insight: In extreme uncertainty, you need greater confidence. Yet uncertainty crushes confidence. The solution? Understand that confidence and competence travel together in an upward spiral.
When you have confidence in your ability to lead people, you do it better. When you do it better, you build competence. When you build competence, your confidence grows. The key is flexible leadership that starts the spiral moving upward.
Flexible confidence has three key ingredients: Intention (willingness to flex when situations demand), Context (pausing to ask what this situation needs), and Flexer Thinking (considering where to adjust your approach right now).
Your Flexible Confidence Challenge
Try these three actions this week:
- Identify Your Roots and Branches: Write down your stable roots: values, purpose, and non-negotiables that should never change. Then identify your flexible branches: communication style, decision-making approach, and leadership adaptations that should flex by situation.
- Pause Before Your Next Three Decisions: Before responding to your next three major decisions, pause and ask: "What does this specific situation need from me right now?" Write down your answer before you act. Notice what changes when you flex instead of react.
- Break One Autopilot Pattern: Identify one situation where you always respond the same way. This week, intentionally try a different approach. What one thing would demonstrate flexible confidence?
The Work Positive Bottom Line
The best leaders today cultivate flexible confidence with stable roots and adaptable branches rather than rigid consistency that breaks under pressure.
Stop breaking under pressure. Start bending with purpose so everyone can thrive with Change @ Work.
Got some burning questions? Ask Dr. Joey here.
Taken from Dr. Joey's newest book, Change @ Work: T.R.A.N.S.F.O.R.M. Negative Chaos into a Positive Culture.
Subscribe to the Work Positive Newsletter
Get the latest blog, podcast, and other resources weekly that help you Work Positive.
We detest SPAM and guard your information carefully. Unsubscribe any time we violate your trust.
