Adaptive Leadership

Question 1

Adaptive leadership is a very new concept that considers
• Leadership as a process in which people participate in recurring leading-following interactions, and co-create relationships and identities

• That while these relationships and identities are influenced by formal structures, they are not entirely bound by these structures; leading-following interactions can influence one’s superiors, subordinates and peers

Question 2

Seen as a core part of an organisation
Recognise that everything is constantly changing
Adapt continuously to changes
Recognise that pivoting is needed
Ability to cocreate that things are more fluid

Question 3

Adaptive leadership is a very new concept that considers

Answer 3

• That leading-following relationships and identities emerge over time through recurring interactions to develop structures of group-level leadership that range from centralized to shared pattern leading-following

• That group-level leadership structures and patterns of interactions are able to evolve and allow groups to adjust and adapt while remaining viable in dynamic contexts

Question 4

Practicing Adaptive Leadership

Answer 4

• Realises that new adaptions will lead many organizational members to feel a sense of loss

• Loss of hierarchy as part of organizational change

• Is about change that enhances the organization’s capacity to succeed by bringing together multiple stakeholder priorities

• Leads to adaptive changes that take advantage of previous wisdom and know-how

• Is about having an experimental mind-set in order to lead adaptive change

Question 5

Relies on an organizational culture that values a diversity of views while relying less on the senior leadership team and central planning processes

• Requires the ability to identify those losses, to identify individual and organizational defense patterns, and the knowledge on how to counter these patterns

Question 6

Recognizes that
• adaptation takes time and requires persistence

• major change is a result of incremental experimentation 

• organizational culture is slow to change

• practicing adaptive leadership means staying with it and being willing to ‘take the heat’

Question 7

Adaptive Leadership in the Military

Answer 7

• Useem (2010) offers four lessons in adaptive leadership based on what he and his colleagues have learned from senior military leaders
• Meet the troops – Take the time to connect with people from different backgrounds

• Make decisions – Learn to quickly make effective decisions that build on the insights of those on the front lines 

• Focus on mission – Put the mission first, the organization second and self-interest third 

• Convey strategic intent – Once the strategic intent is clear and people aligned, leaders need to allow organizational members to find their own way to achieve the mission by using their own creativity, resourcefulness and originality

Question 8

Crisis leadership

Answer 8

Crisis leadership has two phases:

• The emergency phase when the leader has to buy time and stabilize the situation 

• The adaptive phase when the leader has to begin to assess the latent causes of the crisis and develop the organizational ability to succeed and prosper in a new (permanent) reality

	 • In this phase, organizational members need the leader to calm their anxieties by showing confidence

Question 9

Hit the Reset Button

Answer 9

Understanding the road organizations will follow

Be empathic to changes as loss people will experience the organisation changes

Abandon what is no longer needed

Actions Emergency phase may not work in adaptive phase…followers may think the organization has recovered from the crisis and perceive no need to assess the causes of the problem

they have to follow in which the oga

Question 10

Leadership Practices Conducive to Adaptation

Answer 10

• In the adaptive phase of a crisis situation, leaders must be able to confront loyalty to legacy practices, distinguish what is crucial from what is expendable, and be willing to experiment

• Adaptive leadership uses practices that develop leadership throughout the organization

• Adaptive leadership also includes taking care of yourself physically and emotionally

• Adaptive leadership embraces disequilibrium in a way that keeps chaotic change productive not destructive

Question 11

• The productive zone of disequilibrium requires leaders to

• Avoid putting too much or too little pressure on employees; too much pressure, will cause them to hunker down; too little pressure, will give them little urgency to change 

• Avoid conflict that is personal and encourage conflict about issues 

• Encourage open conversations about difficult topics, listen to disenfranchised voices, and develop an atmosphere that welcomes candor

Question 12

Heifetz et al. (2009a) give five suggestions for adaptive leaders

Answer 12

• Give yourself permission to be simultaneously realistic and optimistic

• Find a refuge or haven where reflection is possible and perspective can be regained 

• Have a confidant – someone you do not work with but someone with whom you can share your day and with whom you can discuss how you did things along with why you did them 

• Let your followers see more of your emotional side with poise; let your followers know that although you are expressing some emotion the situation is not ‘out of hand’ 

• Do not let your role define who you are