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Discussion Questions
Chapter 11: Adaptive Leadership
1. What is the main function of leaders under the Adaptive Leadership approach? What are
the differences of this approach from those we have studied in previous chapters?
2. Other leadership approaches we have studied so far also take into account followers’
motivations (e.g., path–goal, LMX, transformational, authentic). How does the Adaptive
Leadership approach differ?
3. Think of examples of each of the following leader activities: mobilize, motivate, organize,
orient, and focus the attention of others. How are each of these expressed across the contexts
of self, organizations, community, and society?
4. How does understanding a biological perspective on humans’ evolutionary adaptation to
different environments help explain the assumptions of Adaptive Leadership?
5. When have you experienced technical challenges at work? Technical and adaptive
challenges? Adaptive challenges? Did the responses of leaders in those situations correlate
with the prescribed behaviors of the Adaptive Leadership model?
6. How can leaders motivate followers to change?
7. How would a leader discern whether or not a challenge “strikes at the core feelings and
thoughts of others?”
8. Can you think of other archetypes or basic patterns of adaptive change besides the four
suggested by Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky (2009)?
9. Explain the concept of a holding environment. What would it look like in a virtual team
environment?
10. What are some best practices you can share about how leaders can effectively regulate
personal distress?
11. Apply the concept of “disciplined attention” to the line of work you hope to go into some
day.
12. In your current job, or role as a student, what would it mean for a leader to “give the
work back to you?”
13. How can leaders help followers distinguish between fantasy and reality at work? Can you
think of a specific example of a work-related fantasy?
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
14. How would you like being a student at Summerhill, in England? How would you like
teaching there? Would you flourish as a student or teacher?
15. Where do you draw the line between “protecting voices from below” and giving a
platform to chronic complainers in an organization?
16. Does the Adaptive Leadership approach work well in every situation? In a stable and
profitable company, with no environmental stressors, would this still be a useful approach for
a leader to use?
17. Do you think men and women enact the prescribed leader behaviors differently? If so,
how?
18. Explain how adaptive leadership can be applied at a societal level.
19. How can leaders “learn ways to curtail their influence and shift problem-solving back to
the people involved?”
20. Complete Case Studies 11.1 and 11.2. Answer all questions related to these case studies.
21. Complete the Adaptive Leadership Questionnaire and ask five coworkers or friends to
assess your leadership as well. Average their assessments on all six measures. How does their
average compare to your self-assessment of each behavior? Discuss how knowing your
behavioral strengths and growth areas might assist you in a leadership situation. Which of the
behavioral skills is hardest to develop?
