Heifetz, Grashow and Linksy differentiate "leaders" from "persons in positions of authority." Leadership, they argue, is about challenging the system to help the organization adapt to changing environmental conditions. Leadership by definition is about change.
The authors suggest that leadership is different from influence, power, or authority. Leadership "is a practice, an activity that some people do some of the time" (p. 24).
- Persons in position of authority may handle daily technical problems. Leaders, however, help followers work through Adaptive Challenges.
- As Adaptive Leaders help followers acknowledge changing environmental conditions, they often face considerable resistance. Acknowledging the need to change, however, is essential if the organization is to survive and thrive. Adaptive leaders help followers step into a "productive zone of disequilibrium" or PZT (p. 30). This is a place where there is "enough heat" to "gain attention" (...) but "not so much that the organization (...) explodes" (p. 29).
 Try This...
2.2.1 2.2a Application Exercise |