Adaptive Leadership

Although you don’t tend to hear much about it these days, ‘Adaptive Leadership’ is still a highly relevant form of leadership which was first documented in 1994 through Ronald Heifetz’s seminal book "Leadership Without Easy Answers." It differs fundamentally from traditional, top-down forms of leadership in a variety of ways which can be summarised as follows:

1.     Approach to Change

Adaptive Leadership recognises that environments are complex and constantly changing and hence require different approaches. What typically worked before may not necessarily work in a new paradigm and so Adaptive Leadership encourages a ‘growth mindset’ approach which encourages staff to tackle problems through experimentation and where learning from failure is embraced as a natural and integral part of their role.  Adaptive leaders embrace uncertainty.

2.     Problem-Solving

Traditional leadership tends to focus the responsibility for decision-making on the leaders themselves which can not only put a lot of pressure on the leader, it also removes the opportunity for individual growth and development for those within the team. Instead, Adaptive Leadership enables collective problem-solving and involvement of team members so that the leader’s role becomes one more of facilitation and support rather than being the primary person to solve the problem(s).

3.     Focus on People

As may already be apparent from the above, adaptive leaders are highly focused on people and relationships. They recognise the importance of emotional intelligence (the ability to understand, apply and manage your own emotions and the impact on those around you) and the role that this plays in understanding and being tolerant of differing perspectives. More antiquated leadership focuses more on the tasks than the people which can have detrimental impacts on relationships.

4.     Flexibility

Probably the most significant difference between Adaptive Leadership and more traditional forms of leadership is the strong focus on the need for flexibility. This requires not only consideration of new solutions as situations change but the willingness of a leader to shift their own perspective for the greater good. The Adaptive Leadership paradigm often discusses leadership in terms of needing to alternate between being on the ‘balcony’ and on the ‘dance floor’. The ‘balcony’ view provides an overall perspective and highlights that decisions are not made in isolation but with due respect to a more holistic viewpoint. Being on the ‘dance floor’ indicates the need for a leader to be in the midst of the action from time to time so as to see issues from the frontline.

5.     Learning Orientation

As already alluded to in the ‘Approach to Change’ above, Adaptive Leadership promotes a culture of learning where feedback is encouraged and continuous improvement championed. This is not learning for learning’s sake but a practical focus on finding new ways to solve problems collaboratively.

In summary, adaptive leadership thrives in dynamic environments and focuses on collaboration, flexibility and learning, while traditional leadership tends to prioritize stability, hierarchy, and adherence to established processes.

Ian Ash ACC, AInstIB

Managing Director OrgMent Talent Solutions - ianash@ombs.com.au