Introduction
Adaptive leadership is an approach to leadership that involves encouraging people to face and deal with problems, challenges, and changes. This particular approach to leadership focuses on how people should learn to adapt to changing environments (Northouse, 2018). Essentially, adaptive leaders play a significant role in preparing and encouraging people to deal with change. It is important to note that change has become a common phenomenon in the current world. Adaptive leadership has been used to explain how leaders can manage to encourage effective change across multiple levels. One interesting feature of adaptive leadership is that is not leader centered. Instead, this particular leadership approach is follower centered, focusing on how leaders help other to do the work they need to do in an attempt to adapt to the challenges they face. Thus, adaptive leadership involves helping others to not only explore, but also change their values. Case Study 11.3, Redskins No More, presents an important scenario showcasing adaptive leadership in action. The following questions will provide important insights relating to how adaptive leadership works in the real world.
What change were the people in Gooding trying to avoid? Why do you think they wanted to avoid this change? What tactics did they use to resist change?
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The in Gooding were trying to avoid the change of the name of Gooding High School’s athletic teams. The people were determined to have the school’s athletic team continue to be called Redskins. According to the people of Gooding, the name had been there for fifty years. As such, many felt that the name was an integral part of the community, as people had developed a sentimental attachment to it. The members of the Gooding community personally identified with the athletic team’s name, as it was ingrained into the small town’s culture. There were a lot of Redskins branded merchandize in the town, implying that the name meant a lot to the community. People may find it difficult to accept change, particular if they feel that the change is threatening (Jensen et al., 2015). The people who identified themselves with the name felt that they will lose an important part of their community if they allowed the name to be changed.
The people of Gooding used several tactics to resist the proposed change. For instance, the community members attended school board meetings so that they could express their opposition to the change. Some declared that they were born Redskins and they would die Redskins, implying that they were not ready to accept the change. They also defended the name, asserting that it was not racial in any way. They justified the name by arguing that it honored the area’s relatively strong Native American presence. When speakers from other regions came to explain the reasons for the name change, the locals argued that such speakers should not be allowed to comment, as they are not from Gooding. Furthermore, some angry community members circulated petitions to recall board members, particularly those that supported the motion to change the athletic team’s name.
Would you describe the efforts of Scott Rogers or the school board as adaptive leadership? Why or why not?
The efforts of Scott Rogers can be described as adaptive leadership. Scott managed to help the community to confront the challenge they were facing and the inevitable change that was before them. He was able to see the big picture and tried as much not to impose his ideas on the people. He tried to explain to the people of Gooding that the name Redskins was a racial slur and that there was need for a name change. By providing an explanation to the problem associated to the school athletic team’s name, Scott was able to frame the adaptive challenge the community was facing so that it could be addressed accordingly. He also did a great job in trying to manage the conflict arising from the debate by providing a safe environment where people could freely express their concerns, establishing an effective holding environment (Northouse, 2018). He also provided an appropriate direction by putting forward a motion to change the name of the school’s athletic team. Finally, Scott realized that the issue of name change was not about him, but the students. He gave the students an opportunity to propose a new athletic team’s name. By allowing students to propose a new name for the school team, Scott was able to provide students with an opportunity to address and resolve changes that are central to their lives.
Describe the holding environment in this case. Was the holding environment sufficient to meet the adaptive challenges in this situation? How would you improve it?
Creating a holding environment is one of the major responsibilities of an adaptive leader. A holding environment refers to a comfortable environment in which people can feel safe tackling difficult problems. People should be given an opportunity to express themselves without fear of being discriminated against (Chambliss & Russell, 2015). However, the environment should not be so safe that the people can avoid the problem. Essentially, a holding environment can be a virtual, structural, or procedural space formed by cohesive relationships between people. In this particular case, the holding environment was a structural space where people were given the freedom to raise their concerns relating to the issue of name change. In my own opinion, the holding environment established by the school board was enough to meet the adaptive challenges in the situation. The holding environment created by the school board allowed for the regulation of the pressures people faced while confronting the adaptive challenge. The school board was able to realize that there was need for consensus. For instance, Scott was able to put forward a motion to change the name. The motion provided an opportunity to resolve the issue. The motion included a process for the students at the school to choose a new name for their athletic teams. Interestingly, the students embraced the opportunity to choose a name for their athletic teams, finally settling on the name Redhawks. The holding environment allowed the board to make great strides in addressing the adaptive challenge. However, I would have improved the adaptive environment by giving the community members to propose a new name for the school athletic teams. Although some of the community members might have not cooperated, they would be happy for being allowed to give proposals. Finally, I would then ask both the students and community members to vote for the name proposed by the students and that proposed by the community members. The name with the most votes would be adopted. The process would play a significant role in shaping the values and beliefs of both the students and community members towards adaptive challenges.
What group would you describe as the “low status group”? How did the school board seek to give voice to this group?
One of the important behaviors of adaptive leaders is the willingness and ability to protect leadership voices from below. Adaptive leaders should always be cautious to listen and be open to the ideas of the marginalized in a given group. It is important to practice inclusive leadership, whereby by each member feels part of the group (Foley & Sue, 2018). Many leaders find it convenient to ignore the opinions and concerns of low status groups, who often express themselves ineffectively. In this particular case, the students were the low status group. The school board sought to give voice to the students by providing them with an opportunity to choose a new name for their athletic teams. The students were finally able to settle on the name Redhawks, which became the school athletic team’s name ten years later.
References
Northouse, Peter G. 2018 . Leadership: Theory and Practice , 8th Ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Chambliss, Daniel F., and Russell K. Schutt. 2015 . Making Sense of the Social World: Methods of Investigation , 5th Ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. (Chapter 1)
Foley, Meraiah, and Sue Williamson. 2018. Managerial Perspectives on Implicit Bias, Affirmative Action, and Merit. Public Administration Review (OnlineFirst): 1-11.
Jensen, Ulrich T., Donald P. Moynihan, and Heidi H. Salomonson. 2018. Communicating the Vision: How Face-to-Face Dialogue Facilitates Transformational Leadership. Public Administration Review 78(3): 350-361.
