Leadership includes different styles, depending on the leader’s personality and even on the situation. Adaptive leadership is one of the relatively recent theories in the sphere. The essence of this style is to attract groups of people and apply efforts to solve problems through adaptive work to improve the situation. Distinctive characteristics of adaptive leadership are in ways of authority consideration, problem-solving, and interactions with the environment. While adaptive leadership aims to ensure prosperity, the measures taken within such an approach can cause resistance.
Adaptive leadership is needed when specific issues are not adequately addressed, although values and goals should not allow for such a situation. Therefore, often this approach requires challenging other people, which causes their resistance. The separation of leadership and authority is associated with this issue – not all people with authority can be leaders. At the same time, leaders may not have formal power but only informal. Adaptive leadership often focuses on a leader without legal authority able to challenge the status quo.
The theory also distinguishes between the technical and adaptive approaches to problem-solving. Technical problems arise typically within the framework of a particular activity, and the application of authority should be enough to solve them. Adaptive ones require the study and search for new solutions, the involvement of authorities, and other stakeholders, which is reflected in Table 9.4. included in Dugan (2017). At the same time, many problems may not correspond to one of the two types but be mixed.
Since adaptive leaders, when solving problems, often challenge people and the status quo, they need to interact effectively with the environment, which is the last feature of the style. Leaders should simultaneously involve people in work and overcome the resistance to regulate stress and pressure that may arise from changes. Applying an adaptive approach, leaders must see a common perspective, identify adaptive problems, focus on the most important, and speak out in the interests of those who do not have power.
Thus, adaptive leadership is one of the recent theories of leadership. It involves mobilizing people to deal with pressing problems and ensure prosperity. The theory focuses significantly on leaders without formal authority challenging the status quo. Solving adaptive issues requires more effort than applying ordinary power, namely learning and interacting with the environment to coordinate efforts and overcome resistance. An essential skill of an adaptive leader is identifying problems and prioritizing them.
Reference
Dugan, J. P. (2017). Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.