Recently I was discussing the idea of adaptiveness for leaders with some colleagues. This was intriguing to me for a variety of reasons. What first came to mind was one of the current theories of leadership, adaptive leadership. That theory of leadership boils down to changing strategies as the situation demands (there’s more to it obviously).
In other words, adapting.
But something has always bothered me about that idea.
And it finally dawned on my yesterday; it’s reactive, not proactive.
Leaders, real leaders, don’t simply react to what is going on. They envision and create a better future. Sure, they deal with crises, but constantly putting out fires isn’t really leadership. That’s management. (I’m going to write another entry at some point on the relationship between leadership and management).
Leadership really is envisioning a different future and motivating people towards that better way. In other words, it is proactive.
It is more about shaping the future. Which would align better with another current trend in leadership; a focus on creativity. But that has mostly been studied as a skill rather than a full leadership theory. So, I’m going to coin the term “Creative Leadership” as the name for a new theory of leadership. Just kidding, someone has already done that.
In reality good leaders can both adapt and create. But I think that creating is the true heart of good leadership. If we think about some of the best leaders of all time (ex. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Founding Fathers) we think about people who are creating a new standard of living that is better for the people that they are leading. But even on a smaller scale, tech leaders like Bill Gates envisioned a better way of working that changed lives for the better as well as the environment.
References
Ramallingam, B., Nabarro, D., Oqubay, A., Carnal, D.R., & Wild, L. (2020). 5 Principles to Guide Adaptive Leadership (hbr.org)
Van Dijk, M., Davidson, G., & Mecozzi, V. (n.d.). What is Creative Leadership? Leadership Theories – THNK School