Heifetz Adaptive Leadership Essay

The book selected for the assignment is, ‘Be a people person: Effective leadership through effective relationships,’ by John C. Maxwell. Mr. Maxwell is an author, speaker, leadership expert who is internationally recognized and a pastor. He wrote books on leadership (The John Maxwell Company, n.d.). He has a doctorate in ministry and started his career as a pastor. After 14 years of preaching the word of God, he devoted himself to speaking and writing. He became a religious leader (Christian Books Previews, n.d.). Maxwell has recognized the role of interpersonal relationships in making and breaking a leader. He has also realized the importance of developing personal skills from the people (Victor Books, 2002). In his book, Maxwell explains how a person who follows can turn to a leader by connecting with people and relating to them from a biblical perspective. The author places 50 percent emphasis on others, 25 percent on self and the remaining 25 percent on God in his approach to the followers (Barnes and Noble, n.d.).

Situational and Authentic leadership are increasingly important skills to possess in today’s era of technological changes and availability and flow of information we have in this day and age. Leaders today must be able to adjust their leadership styles to the whatever situation arises as well as to the people who they are leading. Leaders are not limited to just use one style in one situation, being able to adapt appropriate styles to different situations will influence and help a leader succeed. A leader’s judgement, intelligence, cultural awareness, and self-control plays major roles in helping them choose the proper style and appropriate technique for the task at hand (Lau & Cronin, 1998).

Herschey and Blanchard, in their Situational Leadership theory, recommend that a leader adapts their leadership style on the basis of the maturity of the group or individual in dealing with specific situations. If an individual is new to the organisation and have a low level of expertise but a high level of motivation then a directing leadership style is likely to be most suitable, whereas an employee that has a higher level of skills but variable commitment may respond to a supportive style in order to build confidence.

Leadership is a skill some are born with the other can learn. There are many styles of leadership. This paper will focus on three main styles of leadership including autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire. Transformational leadership is a type a leadership that is very difficult to teach and we will explore the great effects of this type of leadership. Wells and Wells (2010) explain several aspects of leadership that leaders should portray, no matter what style they use. These including :articulating a vision, explaining what is expected of himself or herself as leader as well as what is expected of staff members, providing guidance and mentoring, developing staff members by coaching them one on one, understanding the importance of teamwork,

Over the course of this semester, I have learned about the theoretical foundation of leadership and management. From various leadership styles to numerous learning tools have all aided in shaping me to become an effective leader not only in the health care profession, but everyday life as well. Through utilizing these tools, I have managed to put them into actions through working individually and in teams which has helped me to learn more about myself and the type of leader I am. Throughout this action plan I will reflect on my definition of leadership, what I’ve learned about myself in the capacity to demonstrate leadership, my leadership strengths and weaknesses and three action steps that will help me to develop my leadership in the future.

Leadership can be complex for the reason that it is about developing others. When reading Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey, it is essential to understand what challenges are being thrown at the leader. How any monkeys or problems can a person maneuver until something chaotically falls down. The monkey analogy was an excellent way to comprehend what goes on in an organization when a company does not develop their employees to solve their own problems.

Ford (2009) says meeting the challenges in leading and managing health care systems as complex adaptive organizations calls for additional competency in what theorists determine as ‘complex leadership’. With the advent of the complex adaptive organization, the leadership role thus changes from ‘providing answers’ or providing too much direction to creating the conditions in which followers’ behavior can work through inherent tensions and produce structure and innovation.

I found it scary to think and yet very true when Gandolfi and Stone (2016) discussed in a rather recent article that leadership is so crucial that not only can organization or communities suffer from poor leadership but also even our society as a whole can experience a huge negative impact. The importance of leadership in an organizational setting is to motivate individuals to complete a common goal. There are several leadership styles and it is a good idea that we view various models in order for leaders to get a better understanding how to involve those working alongside other colleagues thus allowing everyone to move forward together and accomplish set goals for an institution (Volckmann, 2012). A few examples include, Behavioral Approach, Path-Goal, and, Situational and thinking

Adaptive leadership is becoming widespread in the United States Army amongst junior officers in leadership positions that require quick thinking and innovation. Leonard Wong discusses how the versatile and unpredictable enemy and situations in Iraq produces adaptable junior officers. These officers are learning to make decisions under chaotic conditions and are becoming more mentally agile. The Army is changing. The Army is transforming its capabilities in the war in Iraq to be effective and successful. General Schoomaker states that we will not accomplish our goals as a nation in the 21st century unless our Army becomes much more agile but with the capacity for long term, sustained level of conflict. The Army is in the process of

The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of part three of Heifetz book the Practice of Adaptive Leadership. Parts one and two primarily focused on the theory behind the concept of adaptive leadership and diagnosing the system. Whereas, part three focuses on mobilizing the system. Mobilizing the system is a critical and necessary factor in managing adaptive change. Adaptive change is all about mobilizing individuals within the organization to greater success. However, it is not always the easiest part of the change process. Chapters 8 through 12 covers a wide variety of strategies and techniques to assist in mobilizing the system such as making interpretations, designing effective interventions, acting politically, orchestrating conflict and building an adaptive culture.

Heifetz, (as sited by Northouse 2016), explain that there are six leader behaviors associated with adaptive leadership. “Although there is a general order as to which leader behavior comes first in the adaptive process, many of these behaviors overlap with each other and should be demonstrated by leaders at the same time” (Northouse, 2016, p. 263). The first leader behavior is to get on the balcony which simply means to get some perspective—‘a birds’ eye view’—of the situation. I would have clarity of mind, problems, and direction. This leader behavior is an overlap to the second leader behavior of identifying adaptive challenges. I would be able to easily assess from a balcony vantage point. Upon determining the challenges, the third step I would do is to regulating distress. In essence, if I know what the challenges are, I can more effectively assist my staff in how “we”

Out of all the leadership styles found in Northouses’ textbook I classify my interviewee as having an Adaptive leadership style. “ It (adaptive leadership) focuses primarily on how leaders help others do the work they need to do, in order to adapt to the challenges they face” (Northouse, 2015, p. 258). The O.R. Supervisor discussed many times about everyone helping each other out to accomplish their goals. Even in her free time she would go to other areas, such as pre-op, PACU or with techs, to help them with what ever they needed. She clearly deals with the mix technical and adaptive problems when new policies and procedures are put into action. As the book states, the leader may act as a resource for others and provide support, but the people need to do the work- they need

Chapter sixteen discusses various leadership theories which can implemented by leaders to achieve success. The choice of leadership theory differs from leader to leader as they possess different vision and way of managing. A theory isn 't always perfect in itself, it is the endless effort of the leaders which makes the theory a perfect one. Two approaches of leadership that I prefer are Situational Leadership Theory and Servant Leadership Theory. Among many theories I prefer these two because I tend to practice those principles most of the time and I assume these are theories that I truly tend to continue in a long run.

According to Daft (2008, p.20) leadership typically reflects the larger society, and theories have evolved as norms, attitudes, and understandings in the larger world of change. Throughout the centuries leaders have adapted in response to these changes. Northouse (2007, p3) defines leadership as a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. A person’s ability to

Debate continues as to whether leadership and management are separate processes, but emerging research emphasizes the process of leadership, whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal, rather than developing new ways of defining leadership. Among these emerging leadership approaches are authentic leadership, in which the authenticity of leaders and their leadership is emphasized; spiritual leadership, which focuses on leadership that utilizes values and sense of calling and membership to motivate followers; servant leadership, which puts the leader in the role of servant, who utilizes “caring principles” to focus on followers’ needs to help these followers become more autonomous, knowledgeable, and like servants themselves; and adaptive leadership, in which leaders encourage followers to adapt by confronting and solving problems, challenges, and changes.