ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP

Church Development Institute

ADAPTING TO MISSIONAL CULTURE

Readiness Factors Self readiness (maturity, conflict skills,

courage, trust) People readiness (creates missional

thinking, cultivates growth, enables change, coalitions)

Congregation readiness (integration, missional culture & practices, missional theology)

Community readiness (understanding, engagement, missional future, Biblical foundation)

MISSIONAL CULTURE

Inward

Outward

Prayerful Emergen

t

Adaptive

Culture

Formation Engage

d

Imaginative

Grounded

DEFINING ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP

Adaptive leadership is the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive, and has three characteristics: Preserves essential congregational culture

(DNA) Discards the parts of the congregational

culture (DNA) that no longer serves Creates congregational cultural (DNA)

arrangements for the ability to flourish

ADAPTIVE CHALLENGES

Leading the Church in rapidly changing times

Shifting Church culture to stay relevant Building an Adaptive Culture

Naming elephants in the room Shared responsibility for the congregation Independent judgment is expected Develop leadership capacity Continuous learning institutionalized

LEADERSHIP VS. AUTHORITY

Authority relationships: power entrusted for service

Leadership challenges some expectations and creates an environment where the system can adapt.

LEADERSHIP & AUTHORITY TASKS

Task Authority Leadership

Direction Provide problem definition and solution

Identify the adaptive challenges and frame the key questions

Protection Protect from external threats

Disclose external threats

Order Orient people to current roles

Restore order

Maintain norms

Disorient current roles; resist orienting people to new roles too quicklyExpose conflict or let it emergeChallenge norms or let them be challenged

ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP PROCESS

observe

interpret

intervene

OBSERVE THE DATA

Data to diagnose the adaptive challenge Core frameworks, organizational diagnosis

lens, survey feedback, cultural analysis, trust

Some common adaptive challenges Gap between espoused values & behavior Competing commitments Speaking the unspeakable Work avoidance

SHIFT IN INTERPRETATION

Technical Adaptive

Benign Conflictual

Individual Systemic

EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS

Balcony view (patterns, action/reflection) Readiness of the congregation (resistance,

disequilibrium) Leadership demands (situational leadership) Managing anxiety (differentiation,

triangulation, anxiety binders) Leveraging the political landscape (negotiating

vision) Keep adaptive work central to people’s

attention

RESISTANCE

Equilibrium Strength – people like things the way they are

Known is more acceptable than the unknown

External and internal forces, values, narratives at work in the system

LIVING IN DISEQUILIBRIUM

Manage yourself Help people tolerate the discomfort Keep everyone in the productive zone

of disequilibrium

Productive Zone

Tolerance limit

Threshold of change

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Group Assessment1. unable, unwilling, insecure2. unable but willing or confident3. able but unwilling or insecure4. able and willing or confident

Leadership Style1. Define and tell

2. Clarify

3. Involve – team participation4. Empower – facilitate as needed

DIFFERENTIATION

Balances Individuality and Togetherness

Emotional Fusion Emotional Cut Off

Enmeshment Disengagement

Undifferentiated ResponseReactive, Automatic, Instinctual

Calm, ReflectiveObjective

Responsive

TRIANGULATION

Dyad relationally too intenseTriangle – less intense and natural, negative triangles – high

anxiety

Rescuer

Persecutor Victim

De-triangulate – get all parties together, focus on process, work with healthiest parties, identify the primary triangle

EXPAND YOUR INFORMAL AUTHORITY Strengthen your relationships Score some early wins Address interests unconnected to the

adaptive challenge Sell small pieces of your idea, plan,

intervention Negotiate vision/read political

landscape

WORK COLLABORATIVELY

Gather a network of support and feedback Adaptive change takes time and ripples

through the system Discern vital behavioral changes and

cultural changes with others Create a climate for imagination and

experimentation Work toward gathering critical mass of

support