Navigating Change: How Mindset Influences Our Ability to Adapt

Last week, I had a powerful conversation with a senior leader that reminded me how often mindset (not capability) is what holds people back from navigating change.

We were discussing impending growth, new ownership, and what the next chapter might look like. She paused and said, “I don’t cope well with change.” Yet at the very start of our meeting, she’d casually mentioned three things:

• She’d recently moved house.

• She’d joined the company 6 months earlier after switching careers.

• And she’d had a baby 14 months ago.

All of these are major life changes...the kind many people rank as the most emotionally demanding… and she navigated all of them. So I gently reflected that back to her.

In many instances. . . it’s not that we can’t cope with change. . . it’s that we tell ourselves a story that we can’t. And that story becomes the barrier… not the change itself.

When change feels aligned, chosen, or exciting, we call it “growth.” When it feels uncertain, unexpected, or uncomfortable, we call it “hard.” Yet the capability to adapt is the same.

This is why, at Bowman+Co, mindset and transformation are key elements of our leadership and business blueprint.

Because real impact happens when:

1. Mindset shifts from “I can’t handle change” to “I’ve overcome change many times before.” 2. Transformation follows. Confidence grows, and the actions start to match the intention.

Most people underestimate how adaptable they already are.

They’ve navigated career changes, relationships, relocations, parenthood, setbacks, wins, losses etc … and come out the other side stronger.

So the next time your instinct is to say, “I don’t cope well with change,” pause and ask yourself — Is that true or is it just the story you’ve been telling yourself?