Adaptive Leadership - Emerging Nurse Leader

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

Leadership is easiest in stable times when we can make predictions about the future with some level of certainty. It is during times of “calm seas” that we can set a course and deliberately build our plans. Increasingly today, this is not the leadership environment that we find ourselves navigating. Instead, it is more of a “white water world”. I was reminded of this last week with an excellent presentation from (RET) Major General Kimberly A. Siniscalchi – the former chief of the Air Force Nurse Corp. Her leadership experience included command during the war in Iraq and Afghanistan during which she was expected to deliver evidenced-based, agile, patient-centered care to support the global operations of the Air Force. Leadership during this tumultuous time required extreme agility and the ability to quickly adapt to an ever-changing combat situation. Times of extreme change require adaptive leadership, something the military has learned to excel at. But their lessons learned are important for all leaders today. As we recently learned with the Ebola outbreak., our work environments whether in Iraq or Texas can quickly become very unpredictable.

Michael Useem, a professor at the Harvard Business School, has studied the military’s adaptive leadership model and cites the following 4 key leadership principles:

1. Create a personal link to your staff during challenging times.

Visibility of leadership is critical during challenging times. This is a time when leaders sometimes want to withdraw but that is the wrong action. Useem suggests that it is the small actions that leaders make to stay connected that make an indelible impression. Staff must never feel that they are in this alone.

2. Make good and timely calls.

Useem points out that the ability to make fast and effective decisions that draw quickly upon the insights of all those on the front lines is among the defining qualities of combat-ready leadership. It is encoded in a Marine dictum: When you’re 70% ready and have 70% consensus, act. Don’t shoot from the hip, but also don’t wait for perfection. In complex times, you will often never have all the information so there must be a willingness to act using what evidence you have, your experience and intuition.

3. Establish a common purpose, buttress those who will help you achieve it, and eschew personal gain.

In the military – the mantra is mission first, then team, then self. This is wise guidance for any leader especially in challenging times when some clearly work toward self-preservation. What is good for the leader personally may not always be good for the mission.

4. Make the objectives clear, but avoid micromanaging those who will execute on them.

Leaders need to convey clear strategic intent but how to accomplish a mission but during uncertainty – there must be freedom to act because situations are ambiguous, complex and changing. It is those closest to the point of care who often have the best sense of how to accomplish a task.

So how do we become a more adaptive leader? Travis Bradberry cites 4 key qualities of adaptive leaders that we can learn to nurture in ourselves. These qualities include:

1) Emotional Intelligence – Adaptive leaders are self-aware.

2) Organizational Justice – Adaptive leaders don’t deny the truth in situations.

3) Character – Adaptive leaders are willing to “walk their talk”.

4) Development – Adaptive leaders are continuous learners.

Adaptive leadership is not necessarily in all situations but it is a skill that needs to be cultivated today because even stable environments can become unstable in the face of new challenges. Wise leaders know that leadership is a journey and work on their skill sets so they can be ready when the situation demands it.

Read to Lead

Burberry, T. (11/09/2012 Forbes Online). Leadership 2.0: Are you an adaptive leader?

Useem, M. (November 2010 Harvard Business Review Blog). Four Lessons in Adaptive Leadership.