Change happens all of the time, but most people are comfortable with change only if they can anticipate that change and have a plan for managing it, according to Graeme Codrington, author of Leading in a Changing World. When faced with transformative change, however, the rule book goes out the window.

With so much change occurring, "you don’t just have the sense of: 'Change is happening around me.' You have a sense that the rules for success and failure are being rewritten," Codrington says in the MDM Interview: Beyond Change Management. "No amount of change management systems or processes are actually going to help you, because if the rules have changed, you have to change the way you play the game."

And that means leaders need to change how they lead.

Sure, top line and bottom line growth are still important, but millennials also care about social responsibility and what your company does for the community. This impacts their decision of where they work – and as purchasers, where they buy.

There's no "magic wand" solution, according to Codrington, because each situation will have its own unique elements that need to be adapted to. But leaders should start by looking "in the mirror with a great sense of honesty and say 'It has to change.'"

And today, that “it” is pretty much everything.

Read more about why adaptive leadership is so important in the MDM Interview: Beyond Change Management.