Adaptive and Psychodynamic Approaches to Leadership

            The first leadership theory this week is the adaptive leadership theory.  This theory is unique in that its focus is on the followers and not the leader.  The definition of adaptive leadership is “the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive” (Heifetz, et. al., 2009, p. 14).  To me this means that a leader is to train their followers and then give them an environment to be free to make decisions and solve problems.  The adaptive approach is there not to have the leader solve the problems, but to encourage their followers to do the problem solving (Heifetz, 1994).  I am sure we have all had leaders who were horrible at micro-managing.  When I was in the Navy I experienced multiple leaders who would not give those below them the freedom to solve problems and make decisions they were more than capable of doing.  I never understood why they would train us so well and not give us the freedom to do our jobs.  This approach frees up the leader to oversee multiple tasks or people freely without having to worry about the day-to-day challenges their followers are more than capable of handling on their own. 

            Adaptive leadership has three major components in its model that include situational challenges, leader behaviors, and adaptive work.  We will look at situational challenges first and discuss the different ones and what they are.  Technical challenges are problems that are capable of being solved within an organization with rules and procedures that are already in place (Northouse, 2016).  These challenges are ones where there are people in place that are capable of solving them and a leader needs to identify those people and allow them to do their jobs.  The next challenge is both technical and adaptive.  Technical and adaptive challenges are ones where they are known challenges, but there are not any procedures or solutions in place within the organization (Northouse, 2016).  The organization knows there is a problem and even knows what that is, but there are no current guidelines within the organization to solve them.  Last there are challenges that are only adaptive.  Adaptive challenges are not clearly defined, cannot be solved by the leader, and require the leader to encourage others to define them and implement solutions (Northouse, 2016). 

            The next part of the adaptive leadership model is the leader behaviors.  These behaviors will help the leader to assist their followers in adapting to challenges and changes they will encounter (Heifetz, 1994).  The leadership behaviors are (Northouse, 2016):

1. Get on the Balcony: stepping back and viewing the situation from the outside instead of being involved.
2. Identify Adaptive Challenges: analyze the challenges and differentiate between those that are technical and the ones that are adaptive.
3. Regulate Distress: monitor and keep the stress of followers within a productive range.
4. Maintain Disciplined Attention: keep your followers focused on the tough work they need to do.
5. Give the Work Back to the People: leader should be attentive to when it is appropriate to step back and let their followers do the work.
6. Protect Leadership Voices from Below: listen to the ideas of everyone in the group even if they are not well thought of. 

It is important for a leader to see the big picture, provide an atmosphere that allows the workers to do their jobs, and listen to the ideas of their followers regardless of how irrational or unrealistic they seem.  The final part of the adaptive leadership model is adaptive work.  Adaptive work is “creating a holding environment, a space created and maintained by adaptive leaders where people can feel secure as they confront and resolve difficult life challenges” (Northouse, 2016, p. 292).

            The next leadership theory is also one very different from the previous ones we have discussed in this forum.  The psychodynamic approach to leadership is relatively new and also somewhat confusing.  Psychodynamic is defined as “the psychology of mental or emotional forces or processes developing especially in early childhood and their effects on behavior and mental states” (Merriam-Webster, 2016).  A child’s mind is very liquid and much of our preconceived notions are developed when we are very young.  The psychodynamic leadership approach concentrates on the “irrational processes and dynamics governing human behavior” (Northouse, 2016, p. 324).  This is an interesting approach to leadership because it does not focus on traits, over behaviors, or things we learn.  The focus is on the way leaders look at situations based on inner beliefs they may not even realize are coming out in their behavior. 

            The adaptive and psychodynamic approaches to leadership are by far the most unique covered so far.  They both take different angles to leadership than any of the previous theories.  The more I learn about different leadership theories them more interested I become.  I hope to post again and dive deeper into the psychodynamic approach, but as of right now I do not feel I comprehend it enough to speak on it too much.  Sometime in the near future I will try to elaborate more on the psychodynamic approach in order to gain a greater understanding.

References:

Heifetz, R. A. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press

Heifetz, R. A., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand oaks: Sage Publications.

psychodynamics. 2016. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved September 25, 2016, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psychodynamics