I attended an Adaptive Leadership 2 Day Workshop this past summer.  It’s a  very active form of leadership, not a passive effort taken merely to adjust to circumstances as found.  My goal was to learn how to effectively move towards value-added outcomes and not just activities that “looked” good.  I feel called to strategically equip others so they can use their talents, passions, abilities, and resources for a greater purpose than just providing for themselves.  It is a leadership role I take seriously enough to work towards discovering the best ways to do this.

So… my blog this time is totally around how to be a more effective leader!

In the technical leadership paradigm we have clear, autocratic, execution in order to achieve the outcome we believe we want.  In the adaptive model, it is much more complicated than we like to admit.  Most change requires learning, people who are willing to own the project, and thoughtful risk taking action.

Most memorable learning phrases:

-       Most people are not afraid of change, they are afraid of loss.

-       What are we willing to give up in order to achieve greater impact?

-       Most of the toughest problems are not solved, they are outgrown.

-       It’s perfectly okay to “bless incompetence”… if it gets people to do what they are uncomfortable doing and stepping into territory that is new!

-       Most people want to protect the resources they have… the key is to help them see the risk of loss now will almost always be better than holding on to something they most likely will lose anyway!

-       There is a productive zone of “disequilibrium” where the threshold of change and the limit of tolerance must be closely watched.

How do we equip people to be willing to make changes?

1. Recognize and reward  (validate their efforts)
2. Involve them (along with other key persons) in the solution…they must own it!
3. Create a “holding environment”  (a safe place to talk, fail, and succeed)
4. Use yourself as a model of change.  When you are vulnerable about how you had to adapt, others may follow.

I said last time, “I want to change”.  Well, this is one step in moving forward to help make changes in all that I am doing!