My whole body inhaled when I read a recent article from Pam McLean – Founder and Chief Knowledge Officer of the Hudson Institute of Coaching – on the practice of seeking awe in everyday life. Her ideas stayed with me, and I wanted to explore them in my own way. So here we are.

How many Christmases do we actually get? It’s a number I think about sometimes, though I can never quite bring myself to calculate it exactly. If you’re lucky, maybe 70 or 80. But the ones that really matter – the ones with your kids still believing in magic, or your parents still healthy enough to host dinner, or your family (blood or chosen) all gathered in one place – those number far fewer than we’d like to admit.

As the days grow shorter and darkness settles in earlier each afternoon, conventional wisdom might suggest we should power through with extra coffee and sheer determination. But successful leaders know that doesn’t work. They lean into the slowdown rather than fighting against it. Strategic rest (what some might call laziness) isn’t the opposite of productivity, it’s the foundation of sustainable high performance.

Recently, I’ve been reflecting on something I’ve started seeing in clients with whom I’m using the Adaptability Quotient (AQ) assessment – a tool I’ve written about a few times recently (check out my last few blogs for a deep dive). These clients score exceptionally high on Grit in their AQ assessments; what you’d expect from people who have climbed to success through unwavering determination. Yet some have expressed a concern: their relentless drive seems to be undermining their resilience.

If you’ve read my last two blogs and your interest is piqued, I hope you’ll find this final one on the topic of Adaptability Quotient (AQ) as interesting as I did researching it. AQ blog #1, Navigating the Fastest Period of Change in History, introduced the AQ concept, acknowledged the current period that is calling on us to adapt relentlessly, and explored the first key element of human’s capacity to do so: Ability. Then, in AQ blog #2, The Human Side of Adaptability, I highlighted the second – very human – key element of Character.

Following our exploration of Ability in my previous blog about the Adaptability Quotient (AQ), it’s time to venture into another dimension: Character.

Is this truly the fastest period of change in human history? For all practical purposes, I believe it is! (Though my great-great-grandfather probably said the same thing when indoor plumbing arrived.)

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