New Tactics for the Rapidly Changing Business Environment: How Cognitive Flexibility Can Help Small Business Withstand the Next Storm

Emotional intelligence is often touted as one of the most important leadership skills, and with good reason. According to Goleman, emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify, understand, and manage emotions in oneself and others. Researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey initially coined the term “emotional intelligence” in 1990 (Salovey & Mayer, 1990) but became popularized later in 2005 by psychologist Daniel Goleman (Goleman, 2005). Researchers today define emotional intelligence as the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you. Research, however, increasingly points to the importance of cognitive flexibility during rapidly changing conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to adapt our behavior to achieve goals under new environmental conditions. In this paper, the authors introduce cognitive flexibility as a critical business skill and offer ways to implement cognitive flexibility in your business or organization.