{"id":31512,"date":"2023-03-02T14:04:45","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T22:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=31512"},"modified":"2023-03-02T14:04:45","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T22:04:45","slug":"overcome-improvise-adapt-and-be-a-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/overcome-improvise-adapt-and-be-a-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcome, Improvise, Adapt…and be a Leader."},"content":{"rendered":"

The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World<\/em> was written by Ronal Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky in 2009. Published by Harvard Business Press, all three authors have impressive academic pedigrees and work experience. Their book falls into categories of Leadership-Management-Business Analytics. We have read numerous books on leadership for this program the past three years and we have gleaned many helpful principles. I feel overloaded on the subject and I have reached the point of diminishing returns. Despite this caveat, the book brings substance and intelligence to the never-ending and always-evolving subject of leadership.<\/p>\n

This book builds on the theory called Adaptive Leadership, an idea that focuses on three core principles. First is to teach leaders to focus intensively on the most important aspects of their business. Second is to try to lead new initiatives to capture these important aspects, and three to do so by bringing others in the corporation along with your vision. Heifetz and his colleagues want to take Adaptive Leadership theory out of the classroom and into the modern, competitive business workplace. They created their book to be a handbook that business leaders can refer to time and again during the course of their careers. It is a playbook to be read and re-read because the principles are timeless and much of what they say will not go out of style.<\/p>\n

The book is divided into five parts, each building on the previous section. The introduction lays the premise for the book, which states there are two different varieties of challenges all businesses face. The first is technological problems, which are more straightforward and are solved by research and design. Straightforward does not mean easy but the pathway is usually clearly marked out. The second problem is labeled Adaptive Challenges. These challenges involve people\u2019s attitudes, habits, and require leaders to possess emotional intelligence. This second variety is more difficult and is the focus of this book. Even though the authors do not write from a Christian point of view, their principles can easily be adapted to a Christian context.<\/p>\n

The second section logically speaks about diagnosing a problem or an opportunity. This is hard work and oftentimes done in solitude by a leader. Generalities or vagueness is the enemy; the more specific a leader can be here, the better the solution will be. It will also be easier to get buy-in from employees and that is critical. As a leader you always need to be aware of your customers and constituencies. The authors say, \u201cFor any stakeholder, having to disappoint his own constituencies is immensely difficult\u201d (p. 93).<\/p>\n

The third section is entitled Mobilize the System<\/em> and it is all about setting the initiatives into motion. There is subtle strategy and diplomacy along the way that the authors elaborate on extensively. This is seen especially in step six of chapter nine. The authors warn to watch the developing factions carefully in order to prevent your initiative from falling short: \u201c\u2026because refining and implementing your change initiative will usually require the involvement of people from different functions and departments in the larger system\u201d (p. 130).<\/p>\n

The fourth section forces the leader to see themselves as a system. Although a leader might think this step is not needed because leaders intuitively know this already, the act of writing this out and seeing it on paper brings clarification. It cuts through assumptions and reveals weaknesses in leadership. It traces out the concrete steps that are required to bring about your vision.<\/p>\n

The fifth and final step is entitled Deploy Yourself<\/em>. This section brings together all that has come before and to \u2018go for it.\u2019 The requirement of staying on task and encouraging employees is always needed, as is continual inspiration. There is also a nice section about not being afraid to fail and to try again. The book ends on an optimistic note about self-care and creating sanctuaries for yourself from this demanding and difficult world.<\/p>\n

Adaptive Leadership<\/em> is similar to Razzetti\u2019s Remote Not Distant<\/em>. But whereas Razetti offers strategies for the changing workplace in relation to the reality of remote work, Heifetz and his colleagues provide a wider-reaching strategy for navigating work and implementing new initiatives. Both clearly see the quickly evolving landscape for the workplace\u2014and adaptation is required to succeed.<\/p>\n

Bolsinger\u2019s Tempered Resilience<\/em> is similar to Adaptive Leadership <\/em>because both books discuss the difficulty of leadership. It is in the cauldron of pressure with a lot at stake when the most valuable lessons are learned. Key to both books are the ideas of resilience during difficult times. Says Heifetz, et. al., \u201cWe suggest falling in love with tough decisions\u201d (p. 257).<\/p>\n

Friedman\u2019s A Failure of Nerve<\/em> and Adaptive Leadership<\/em> also share in common the need for bold leadership. Leave fear behind and step out and make your case is a mantra both books would agree to. Lastly, the book that shares much in common with Adaptive Leadership<\/em> is Taleb\u2019s Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder<\/em>. Both books present a world that is often chaotic and unpredictable. Leadership is essential to successfully navigate through it. Taleb teaches how to thrive and not just survive. Adaptive Leadership<\/em> also admits this fast-changing world can be difficult to navigate: \u201cIn toady\u2019s world, even the most experienced experts are in over their heads\u201d (p. 106). Taleb is more philosophical about the subject, whereas Adaptive Leadership<\/em> provides step-by-step, practical advice in the work place on how to work through this challenging environment.<\/p>\n

The book has a corporate\/government sensibility and its research and anecdotes fit those environments well. Workers and leaders serving in those segments in our economy would benefit greatly from this work. At the same time, the book is so well written and insightful there is much here that would instruct leaders of all varieties of commercial enterprise and faith based organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World was written by Ronal Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky in 2009. Published by Harvard Business Press, all three authors have impressive academic pedigrees and work experience. Their book falls into categories of Leadership-Management-Business Analytics. We have read numerous books […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2654],"class_list":["post-31512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-heifetz","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31516,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31512\/revisions\/31516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}