Adaptive Leadership: Risk, Relevance, and Relationship
I want to challenge Adaptive Leaders to start with OUTCOMES and NOT RISK. Risk doesn’t have much to do with breakthrough decision making. When a decision needs to be made, making an assessment of risk is often the most prudent approach. It also greatly limits learning and can eliminate the many possibilities of success that otherwise are never considered. You do nothing differently and you get the same result...and yes...that is the definition of leadership insanity. Risk stops leaders from making or keeping a commitment. We may stop short of something extraordinary for us that would seem...just to risky. Adaptive leadership is not just seeking relevance with risk or reward. It is about a relationship that treats each decision, individual, or team in a different way. Risk may never be a relevant part of your decision making as a leader after you read this post. Adaptive leaders know about commitment and understand ...
Adaptive Leadership: Leading and parenting allows failure
To be a successful parent you have to be an adaptive leader. Teaching and training up leaders requires a level of patience, wisdom, and humility that many successful leaders find challenging. Its one thing to lead, make decisions, and take responsibility. It is an entirely different thing to coach and develop leaders on the ideals and principles that you use to make your decisions. This isn't a "right" or "wrong" paradigm. It is just another way of being. Adaptive Leadership requires a whole different level of vulnerability and openness to mentor and guide a young child as a parent or develop an employee as manager. It involves a choice..a choice to be a coach and teacher and actively participate in the development of those around you. This level of vulnerability is not so much limited by ego, but really limited by a perspective. These perspectives usually show ...
Adaptive Leadership: Self Management – A Tribute to a Mentor
During the writing of this series in Adaptive Leadership I have reviewed some notes and messages from my mentors over the years. One of the persons who has impacted my life is Frederic Hudson, PhD, the founder of The Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara. During (and since) my Coaching training it was clear to me that Frederic has dedicated his life to teaching and coaching renewal in adults., He is a role model for adaptive leadership. The note below is an example of how Frederic encouraged us in Coaching Training to "pay attention" to the idea of self management. In this note he summarizes concepts from Peter Drucker's book "Management Challenges for the 21st Century. Written over 12 years ago it is still full of direction and wisdom for being an Adaptive Leader and Coach. I have "bold lettered" some nuggets. Thanks Frederic.
Adaptive Leadership: A leader all the time or A Leader for all times
I think there is a lot of value in establishing our signature presence as a leader. Presence is defined in this post as how people experience you over time and in the moments of challenge when it really counts. Just like your handwritten signature is recognized as belonging to you, so is your presence amongst others because it is consistently the same. Much like how you write out your signature without thinking. It becomes natural and a signature, a real good one, can't be faked easily. People want to follow leaders that seem to naturally know what they want. The person they follow creates the assessment and experience that is signature to them specifically. This dependability and consistent approach is needed especially in those times that contain uncertainty. We live in very uncertain times. Indeed we may be just on the cusp of a whole new chapter that offers ...
Adaptive Leadership: Acquiring perspective and knowledge
The number of transitions we go through in our personal and professional lives is accelerating exponentially. The skill/attribute of managing and leading individuals or systems through transition is adaptive work. It is intuitively about perspective and knowledge. The problem on the knowledge side is that information (what there is to know) is growing exponentially. We have great tools and search engines that allow us to acquire information, but it may be lacking validation or incomplete at best. This ability to "know" is growing increasingly more difficult. Which seems counter intuitive with all the technology we have available. Adaptive leaders are learners at their core. As a leader they focus on what they "need" to know. They fundamentally understand they can't know it all. Staying anchored in your core values as a leader is essential. Core values are something we can know and discern with the help of others. It is vital ...
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