The Advantages of Adapting Leadership Styles

Adaptive Leadership and its Importance

In my experience, knowing your leadership style helps build a better manager. Upon reflection, you can alter parts of your style to improve performance and tailor it to the tasks required in your position. Adaptive leadership is an empirical framework that helps both individuals and organizations adapt to changing environments. It's built on self-correction and leading with empathy, making it a flexible leadership style that can be practiced by anyone.

Adaptive leadership focuses on continuous improvement, blending self-correction and empathy to foster a deeper understanding of leadership. It enhances overall organizational performance while increasing the productivity of employees. Adaptive leaders never treat rules as rigid structures but use them as tools to formulate plans that meet the needs of each person.

There is a famous quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower that encapsulates the essence of being an adaptive leader:

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."

Eisenhower certainly understood the importance of adaptability. Over the course of forty years as a leader in the military and business world, I've often been asked what it takes to be an adaptive leader.

Essential Traits of an Adaptive Leader

Being an adaptive leader is a lifelong learning process. You are never done learning, as the rate of change is constantly increasing. Every great leader looks for ways to improve their adaptability. Here are key aspects of being an 'adaptive' leader that have helped me both personally and professionally:

1. Get into Action

It is crucial to learn the importance of taking action immediately on whatever you have been postponing. Just do it, as Nike likes to say. If you wait for the perfect time, it will never happen and you will have achieved nothing. Great leaders don't work within existing systems; they change them to suit their needs. They don't delay the start but seize the initiative.

Leaders do not hesitate to think outside the box and come up with new options for jobs, projects, and professional development that their bosses haven't even thought of. They see opportunities before most of us have even looked up from our laptops.

2. Learn from Others

Observing and learning from those around you makes you stronger. Your peers and competitors can often teach you more than your friends. Embrace these opportunities to learn. As a great leader, you need to have a strong will and an even stronger stomach. Your job is not to make everyone happy but to improve the organization as a whole.

Good leaders constantly try to improve and surround themselves with the most capable people. They candidly acknowledge their mistakes and look at what skills they and the company will need in the future. Because of this, they can move forward with confidence grounded in facts, not built on fantasies about their talents.

3. Find and Employ Styles in Your 'Comfort' Zone

One of the most important things you can do as a leader is cultivating self-awareness. Knowing your leadership styles will help you to be more intentional about using them well and managing their shortcomings. If you lead with expertise, charisma, or caring, this self-awareness allows you to leverage your unique styles to become more influential and inspire others.

4. Show Persistence

Persistence is key. Keep up the effort, and you never know how close to success you may be. Focus on your energy and find out what feeds you and what depletes you. Replace what drains you with something that inspires you. This will help your persistence.

Investing in yourself by continuously learning is another critical trait. Grow your expertise; the more you know, the more you can help. The greater your competence, the more others will respect you. Always work to be a little better than you were the day before.

Leaders who continuously improve and adapt are essential to the growth and success of any organization. By following these principles, you can become a more effective and influential leader.

Conclusion

Adaptive leadership is a powerful tool for personal and organizational growth. By embracing self-correction, empathy, and continuous learning, leaders can adapt to changing environments, inspire teams, and achieve meaningful goals. The journey to becoming a better leader never truly ends. But through persistence and a willingness to learn, you can continually improve and lead with purpose.