Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
54. There is just one person in our group, Silvia, who seems to have radically different ideas
about how to complete our project. She seems to purposely disagree with the majority opinions
of the rest of us though yesterday she said something that made a lot of sense to help us solve our
production problem. I suggested to the entire group today that we hear Silvia’s suggestions and
asked Silvia to share in-depth more of what she said yesterday. I am using which adaptive leader
behavior?
a. Protect leadership voices from below
b. Regulate distress
c. Give the work back to the people
d. Maintain disciplined attention
55. Collectively, what is the impact of leaders using adaptive behaviors appropriately for
adaptive challenges?
a. Technical work suffers
b. Adaptive work suffers
c. Adaptive work can be done
d. Creative work is stymied
56. The process toward which adaptive leaders direct their work defines
a. Technical work
b. Creative work
c. The holding environment
d. Adaptive work
57. Who does the primary work of adaptive work when in the holding environment?
a. Followers
b. Leaders
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
c. Leaders and followers equally
d. The organizational structure
58. Leaders should direct considerable energy toward and maintaining _____ because of its
critical role in the adaptive process.
a. The situation
b. The challenge
c. The balcony
d. The holding environment
59. Why is the term “follower” used infrequently in writings about adaptive leadership?
a. It is a derogatory term
b. Follower implies a submissive role
c. It lessens the role of the leader
d. It presumes
60. In adaptive work
a. The leader identifies the problem
b. The followers identify the problem
c. The people involved together identify and solve the problem
d. The followers do all of the work
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
61. What is the first step the leader takes when faced with a challenging situation?
a. Create a holding environment
b. Give the work back to the people
c. Maintain disciplined attention
d. Step back to obtain a fuller picture
62. Which of the following is not a strength of adaptive leadership?
a. It takes a process approach to the study of leadership
b. It is follower centered
c. It clearly describes a step-by-step approach to adaptive challenges
d. It directs how leaders help followers deal with conflicting values
63. Which of the following is not a criticism of adaptive leadership?
a. It takes a process approach to the study of leadership
b. Empirical research is lacking
c. The conceptualization of the process of adaptive leadership is unclear
d. It is too wide-ranging and abstract
64. In adaptive leadership, leaders and followers mutually affect each other, making leadership a
complex interactive process. This is
a. A criticism of adaptive leadership
b. A strength of adaptive leadership
c. The formal definition of adaptive leadership
d. The definition of a technical leadership problem
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
65. Which leadership approach has a central purpose to help followers confront their personal
values and adjust these when needed in order for change to occur?
a. Transformational
b. Servant
c. Authentic
d. Adaptive
66. Adaptive leadership provides a prescriptive approach to leadership that is useful and
practical. What are these prescriptions?
a. The adaptive work that takes place
b. The leader behaviors used
c. Correctly identifying the situational challenge
d. The change in followers once adaptation occurs
67. Adaptive leadership conceptualizes the leader as one who
a. Solves problems for people
b. Adapts to various situations
c. Makes the hard decisions for others
d. Encourages others to do the problem solving
68. In what context has most of the adaptive leadership research been conducted?
a. Health care
b. K–12 education
c. Higher education
d. Public companies
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
Multiple Selection
69. Research and writing about adaptive leadership has been primarily
a. Anecdotal and observational
b. Descriptive
c. Prescriptive
d. Scientifically based
70. Which of the following are the major components of the adaptive leadership model?
a. Leader behaviors
b. Complexity leadership
c. Situational challenges
d. Biological adaptations
71. The three main types of situational challenges in adaptive leadership are
a. Technical
b. Adaptive
c. Technical and adaptive
d. Psychodynamic
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
72. The six leader behaviors in adaptive leadership
a. Are used exclusively in order from one to six
b. Generally are used in order from one to six
c. May overlap and be used simultaneously
d. Should be used simultaneously
73. How do leaders identify adaptive challenges?
a. When beliefs, attitudes, and values are part of the challenge
b. When challenges stir up emotions
c. When there is a clear solution to the problem
d. When the problem is easily identified
74. What does the holding environment represent in the adaptive leadership model?
a. The space where adaptive leadership work gets done
b. The balcony space
c. The virtual space for solving technical problems
d. The space where groups can function safely as they work on adaptive problems
75. Which of the following leader behaviors are used to mitigate frustrations and stress people
feel during adaptive change?
a. Maintain disciplined attention
b. Conflict management
c. Orientation
d. Providing direction
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
76. What is the impact of a leader giving voice to an out-group member?
a. It discourages in-group members to solve adaptive problems
b. It helps out-group members know their interests are being recognized
c. It creates disengagement of the in-group members
d. It creates a more involved and engaged group inclusive of all members
77. Adaptive leadership is a complex process comprising which major dimensions?
a. Adaptive work
b. Situational challenges
c. Leader behaviors
d. Legitimate power
78. Adaptive leadership is quite different from which of the following other leadership
approaches?
a. Traits
b. Transformational
c. Behavioral
d. Psychodynamic
79. With technical challenges, the leader should
a. Use authority and expertise to address it
b. Use authority to make people solve it
c. Use the rules of the organization to solve it
d. Use followers to do the menial work
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
80. How can adaptive leadership be applied in real life?
a. At the individual level
b. In multiple settings such as family, work, community
c. At the organizational level
d. Between individual followers if they choose to participate in the process
True/False
81. Heifetz is the leadership scholar credited with the development of adaptive leadership.
a. True
b. False
82. Adaptive leadership stresses the activities of the leader as they relate to the followers and the
context in which the work is done.
a. True
b. False
83. Followers of leaders using adaptive leadership should adapt to the leader’s goals.
a. True
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
b. False
84. The biological conceptual perspective in adaptive leadership recognizes that people evolve as
a result of their adaptations to internal cues and external environments.
a. True
b. False
85. The systems perspective in adaptive leadership is used when a leader diagnoses follower
problems and prescribes possible solutions for them.
a. True
b. False
86. Complexity Leadership Theory is conceptualized as a dynamic process, not a person or
specific act.
a. True
b. False
87. Adaptive leadership is a well-developed empirically tested model.
a. True
b. False
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
88. Problems that lack clarity and cannot be solved by leader expertise or normal ways of doing
things in the organization are technical challenges.
a. True
b. False
89. A technical challenge is one in which the leader can identify and implement a solution.
a. True
b. False
90. An adaptive challenge occurs when the problem is quite clear, but the solution is not easy to
ascertain.
a. True
b. False
91. Adaptive challenges are both unclear and difficult to solve.
a. True
b. False
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
92. A prerequisite for all of the other adaptive leader behaviors is to regulate distress.
a. True
b. False
93. There are six archetypes that are used to identify adaptive challenges.
a. True
b. False
94. When people’s beliefs and values are affected by a problem, leaders need to take an adaptive
approach.
a. True
b. False
95. Failures in leadership often occur because leaders fail to diagnose challenges correctly.
a. True
b. False
96. Leaders are least effective when they use adaptive behaviors to solve adaptive problems.
a. True
b. False
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
97. When the challenge requires that people learn new ways of coping, leaders need to take an
adaptive approach.
a. True
b. False
98. When we create a holding environment for employees we are using the regulate distress
adaptive leader behavior.
a. True
b. False
99. The concept of a holding environment has its roots in the field of psychotherapy in which
therapists create a safe place for clients to communicate with them.
a. True
b. False
100. A leader who says “This is your project. How do you think it should be developed?” is
using the “maintain disciplined focus” adaptive leader behavior.
a. True
b. False
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
101. Adaptive work is primarily the work of the followers.
a. True
b. False
102. The term “follower” in adaptive leadership is mostly used only when discussing the
“holding environment.”
a. True
b. False
103. Adaptive leaders can use adaptive leader behaviors simultaneously and interdependently.
a. True
b. False
Essay
104. Adaptive leadership incorporates ideas from four different viewpoints: systems perspective,
biological perspective, service orientation, and psychotherapy perspective. Choose one of these
perspectives and relate it to the main concepts in one theory found in this text.
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
105. Describe the difference between “Get on the Balcony” and “Identify Adaptive Challenges.”
106. What happens in the holding environment of adaptive leadership?
107. The orthopedics department at your hospital is thinking about merging with the sports
medicine department, which has in the past shared physicians, physician assistants, and nursing
and support staff, but they have always had their own departmental structures and leadership.
The merger is being considered because the staffs currently share exam rooms, operating
theatres, and many administrative and diagnostic equipment and procedures. The hospital
administration thinks the merger will help save administrative costs without detriment to patient
care. Staff members are nervous about this merger and wonder if it will cause changes in shifts,
long-standing surgical work groups, and even loss of jobs. You are the leader of the sports
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
medicine department. You have used adaptive leadership in past challenges and are going to try
it now. Apply the adaptive leadership model to this situation and describe some of the major
steps you will take to deal with this potential merger.