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What is an Adaptive Leader-ship?

Adaptive capacity allows leaders to • respond quickly and intelligently to constant change• identify and seize opportunities• act and then evaluate results instead of analyzing all the data

before acting

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Becoming an Adaptive Leader

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4Boundary Fludity Sense-and-Respond Capacity

Information ProcessingFreedom with in Framework

Adaptive teams can move both horizontally across roles and vertically to con-nect with the next level of leadership down from them. Team members can play out of position and pinch-hit for others at a moment’s notice, regardless of their role or how long they have been on the team.

use multiple real-time filters and amplifiers of information to monitor the external forces that drive change in their busi-ness environment.

Adaptive teams are able not just to sense when change is needed; they are also able to synthesize complex insights and make high-quality decisions quickly. They identify leading and lagging metrics that enable everyone to monitor progress in a way that is transparent and aligned with the company’s strat-egy and performance objec-tives

Within the organization, the leaders delegate some tasks along with the time-line. They provide the mu-tual respect and trust as well as the distributed leadership.

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Preparing an Adaptive Leader

01AmbiguityOfficers in the COE deal every day with the unpredictabil-ity of the asymmetrical environment. While planning is critical to your mission, you should not develop overly de-tailed plans. You need to look at your commander’s strategic point of view, consider the commander’s intent, and build a workable plan for your team.

01ComplexityAs an adaptive leader, you will not just go over and fight a war.One minute you may lead a raid and, as soon as that mission is complete, you might start rebuilding a water treatment plant that serves a network of villages. Adap-tive leaders switch gears quickly to deal with the complex-ity of the COE and asymmetrical warfare.

01ChangeThis is the only constant. As an adaptive leader, you must anticipate and master transitions. Assignments can be si-multaneous, distributed, and continuous—and each as-signment is constantly changing. You must manage and adapt to this aspect of operations while leading and moti-vating your team.

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Characteristics of Adaptive Leaders

Mentally Flexi-ble Cultivate Proficient PoiseCEO CFO Web De-

signerDirector

need to be mentally flexible and agile

must cultivate strong conceptual skills along with speed and preci-sion in your decision making.

You must become technically and tactically proficient and model this behavior for your subordinates.

Adaptive leaders exhibit poise under pressure and are able to operate autonomously under the general framework of the supe-rior officer’s intent.