Two posts this month…this never happens. I hope you enjoy this one...it includes a leader workbook.

Nobody tells you that the hardest part of managing is not the big decisions.

It’s the Tuesday afternoon ones.

The data is incomplete. The team is waiting. And whatever you say next will set the tone for the week.

That moment is what Korn Ferry’s new talent trends report is really about.

The Skill Everyone Wants

Korn Ferry’s 2027 report ranks adaptability as the most wanted workforce skill. The report surveyed more than 1,300 talent and senior leaders across more than 75 countries. Of those leaders, 77% said capability gaps will be a bigger challenge than talent shortages, and 78% said too few people are prepared for how work will be done in the future.

The report also describes a workforce defined by what people can do rather than the jobs they hold. Titles stay the same. The work underneath them keeps changing.

I keep wondering how people will react to that.

Picture signing up for one job and, a year later, doing a different one. Same title. New expectations. Some people will find that energizing. Others will feel unsteady, or quietly worry they’re falling behind.

That has real implications for leaders. My guess is that managers will need to have more difficult conversations, and have them more often. Conversations about shifting expectations. About skills that need building. About what is changing and what is not.

Done well, those conversations don’t weigh people down. They move people forward.

So the real question is this. How do we build people who can keep up?

Skills Are the Ingredients. Competencies Are the Recipe.

Many organizations are moving toward skills-based learning. I’m glad. It gives us a clear, flexible way to see what people can actually do.

But a list of skills does not make an adaptable manager.

A manager can be trained in data analysis, project planning, and feedback delivery and still freeze when the numbers don’t add up and the deadline won’t move.

This is where a well-built competency model earns its keep.

Skills tell us what someone can do. Competencies tell us how they combine those skills under pressure. Skills are the ingredients. Competencies are the recipe.

One Korn Ferry leader says talent leaders want real-time judgment from their people. Judgment is not a skill you complete in a course. It’s a competency you practice, observe, and refine.

Build the Competency You Actually Need

Most models include something like “decision making.” That’s too vague to develop.

Try breaking it into observable behaviors:

• Names what is known, what is unknown, and what is only assumed
• Sets a decision deadline based on the cost of waiting
• Chooses a direction and says what would change it
• Tests small before committing big
• Explains the decision in plain language, including the uncertainty

That last behavior gets skipped most often. A good decision explained badly still erodes trust.

A Simple Way to Communicate a Decision Made in the Fog

Teach managers four sentences:

• “Here is what we know.”
• “Here is what we don’t know yet.”
• “Here is what I decided, and why.”
• “Here is when we will revisit it, and what would change my mind.”

It sounds almost too simple. That is the point.

Under stress, people reach for what they’ve practiced. Behavioral science backs this up. Dr. Wendy Wood’s research suggests a large share of our daily behavior runs on habit, not deliberate choice. If we want managers to communicate well in the fog, we have to make it a repeated practice long before the fog arrives.

What You Can Do This Quarter

• Audit your competency model. Find the competencies that are too abstract to observe and rewrite them as behaviors.
• Link each key competency to the specific skills that support it, so learning paths have a purpose.
• Give managers low-stakes reps. Use case discussions, decision journals, and short “decide in ten minutes” exercises.
• Add the four-sentence structure to your team meetings, and model it yourself first.
• Ask for feedback. “Was my reasoning clear? What did you still not understand?”

Something to Sit With

Think of the last decision you made with missing information.

Did your team understand not just what you chose, but how you got there?

What would change if they did?

Put It Into Practice

Reading about adaptability is the easy part. Practicing it on a Tuesday afternoon, with half the information and a team waiting on you, is the hard part.

So I made you something to practice with.

The Adaptable Leader’s Workbook is a free, printable guide with space to write, track, and reflect. Inside, you will find:

• A baseline to see where you are today
• A five-question check for deciding with missing information
• A decision journal to spot your own patterns
• A four-sentence template for explaining a decision to your team
• A planner for the harder conversations
• A 30-day tracker to keep you honest

​Download the free workbook ← link here

Start small. Print it, pick one real decision you are facing this week, and run the five-question check before you decide.

Then hit reply and tell me what you noticed. I read every response.

Keep growing,
Regina

P.S. Know a manager who is navigating changing roles on their team? Forward this to them. It may be the nudge they need.

P.P.S. We can work together and here are three ways…

· Let's talk talent management, skills, or competencies

· Reach out for a FREE 30-minute coaching session. I love supporting you on your journey.

· Join Collective Career Lab, my passion project, to prep you to land your next job offer.