The pandemic has brought about the need for a comprehensive reassessment of leadership methods across organizations. The old tactics are demonstrably becoming unsuitable for the demands of the new reality. Adaptive leadership that draws frameworks for adapting to change is becoming an essential skill for business leaders.
With new variants and continuous risk assessments, what’s clear by now is that the pandemic will be a part of our lives in some form for a while. The disruptions caused by Covid-19 are not going to disappear overnight. This means that adapting to change through adaptive leadership will be a crucial skill that leaders will have to develop.
What is adaptive leadership?
Introduced by Marty Linsky and Ronald Heifetz, adaptive leadership is a set of practical methods for solving business problems that identify and focus on the business’s crucial components while disregarding the insignificant. Through a functional approach, adaptive leadership helps leaders react quickly while understanding the holistic nature of the problem in front of them.
Adaptive leadership is based on the premise that there are no constants in the business world. The system, its internal and external actors, and the broader socioeconomic forces are constantly changing. A static leadership model would lead to reactive approaches that will cost time and money.
The importance of adaptive leadership
Decision-making is the fundamental duty of leadership. While it would be preferable to have all available information and adequate time before a decision is made, real life doesn’t always work in such a predictable and linear manner. There will always be an unexpected incident or situation like the pandemic reminded the world.
Since there are always a set of unknowns, leaders should be prepared to address the challenges in front of them and predict and prepare for future scenarios. This is what adaptive leadership enables leaders to do. Organizations that practice it will find it easier to adapt to change because their leaders will understand the root causes of the situation and act accordingly.
Such an understanding empowers the leadership to develop skillsets that are conducive to effectively managing unexpected changes. While adaptive leadership helps key stakeholders make impactful decisions, it also conditions them to receive feedback. This trait has a crucial role in making them nimble and agile to change directions when the need arises.
When is adaptive leadership important?
Successfully adapting to change while staying on track to fulfill long-term objectives is the hallmark of any resilient organization. Adaptive leadership is key to this since the challenges can seem overwhelming. But the changes need not be just external. Adaptive leadership is more widely used when there is an internal change.
This usually happens when an organization is in transition. It could be due to a change in its product or service portfolio, when it enters a new market, when it finds a new vendor, or when it changes its model of functioning, like, in remote or hybrid work. Adaptive leadership is also immensely relevant when there is an acquisition or expansion.
In all these cases, the business leaders will have to take a call on the values, protocols, and frameworks they need to retain and the ones they need to get rid of. When adapting to change, leaders will have to consciously decide on retaining or introducing new ideas that will be in sync with the company’s long-term trajectory.
The four pillars of adaptive leadership
Successfully adapting to change will be an important trait for leaders, as evinced by the events of the past 18 months. Business leaders who want to cultivate adaptive leadership effectively should focus on these four core areas to empower themselves to manage unexpected and systemic challenges.
Emotional intelligence
Sensitivity to others’ feelings is an essential characteristic of adaptive leaders. They understand that any transition can be challenging, even if employees don’t voice it publicly. Adaptive leaders also know that the effect of any challenge will be disproportionately felt across the system. Not everyone will be equipped at the same level to handle change.
Being emotionally intelligent helps leaders build trust within and outside the organization. Since trust and empathy are interlinked, there will be little dissonance as the constituents believe that the leadership understands team members’ unique challenges.
Organizational justice
Taking the workforce into confidence is an integral aspect of adaptive leadership. To effectively achieve this, leaders should be fair in their timely dissemination of information. They should be honest and open even in circumstances where the truth might be unpleasant.
Adaptive leaders need to share the facts of the situation with their stakeholders and employees. This will encourage them to trust and support the leadership.
Development
Adaptive leaders are not irrationally wedded to their systems and processes. They are always looking for innovative ways to solve problems even if it means failing in the process. This brings agility and openness to the system since the focus is on continuous development.
This also encourages employees to be innovative since they know that the leadership won’t discourage it.
Character
Adaptive leadership is based on transparency. By communicating what has to be shared, leaders can prepare the workforce to adapt to change and in the process, earn their trust and respect. The character of the leadership is crucial for that.
It would help if leaders openly share their mistakes and vulnerabilities when embracing new systems and processes. Adaptive leaders would also be inclusive and champion progressive values in the system.
In short
The past year and a half have been a period of uncertainty and unpredictability for the business world. This is true for all sectors, irrespective of the size of the companies. When the pandemic hit, there were several unknowns and whatever information companies could relay to their employees was imperfect at best. The leaders who managed to instill a sense of togetherness while driving productivity relied on adaptive leadership.