chapter 11 adaptive Leadership 285
Adaptive Leadership Questionnaire
Instructions: This questionnaire contains items that assess different dimensions
of adaptive leadership and will be completed by you and others who know
you (coworkers, friends, members of a group you belong to).
1. Make five copies of this questionnaire.
2. Fill out the assessment about yourself; where you see the phrase “this
leader,” replace it with “i” or “me.”
3. have each individual indicate the degree to which he or she agrees with
each of the 30 statements below regarding your leadership by circling the
number from the scale that he or she believes most accurately characterizes
their response to the statement. There are no right or wrong responses.
Key: 1 = strongly 2 = disagree 3 = neutral 4 = agree 5 = strongly
disagree agree
1. When difficulties emerge in our organization, this leader is good at
stepping back and assessing the dynamics of the people involved.
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2. When events trigger strong emotional responses among employees,
this leader uses his/her authority as a leader to resolve the problem.
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3. When people feel uncertain about organizational change, they trust
that this leader will help them work through the difficulties.
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4. in complex situations, this leader gets people to focus on the issues
they are trying to avoid.
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5. When employees are struggling with a decision, this leader tells them
what he/she thinks they should do.
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6. during times of difficult change, this leader welcomes the thoughts
of group members with low status.
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7. in difficult situations, this leader sometimes loses sight of the “big
picture.”
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8. When people are struggling with value questions, this leader reminds
them to follow the organization’s policies.
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9. When people begin to be disturbed by unresolved conflicts, this
leader encourages them to address the issues.
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10. during organizational change, this leader challenges people to
concentrate on the “hot” topics.
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11. When employees look to this leader for answers, he/she encourages
them to think for themselves.
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12. Listening to group members with radical ideas is valuable to this leader. 12345
13. When this leader disagrees with someone, he/she has difficulty
listening to what the person is really saying.
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14. When others are struggling with intense conflicts, this leader steps in
to resolve the differences.
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286 Leadership Theory and pracTice
15. This leader has the emotional capacity to comfort others as they
work through intense issues.
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16. When people try to avoid controversial organizational issues, this
leader brings these conflicts into the open.
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17. This leader encourages his/her employees to take initiative in
defining and solving problems.
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18. This leader is open to people who bring up unusual ideas that seem
to hinder the progress of the group.
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19. in challenging situations, this leader likes to observe the parties
involved and assess what’s really going on.
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20. This leader encourages people to discuss the “elephant in the room.” 12345
21. people recognize that this leader has confidence to tackle
challenging problems.
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22. This leader thinks it is reasonable to let people avoid confronting
difficult issues.
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23. When people look to this leader to solve problems, he/she enjoys
providing solutions.
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24. This leader has an open ear for people who don’t seem to fit in with
the rest of the group.
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