Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis

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Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis Ronald
Heifetz
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Crisis Leadership

• Two Phases
• Emergency Phase
• Adaptive Phase

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Emergency Phase
Goals a) Stabilize the Organizational
Community b) Buy Time
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Emergency Phase

• Tasks
• Presence
• Speak to Peoples Experience
• Maintain Poise
• Drive the Prepared Organizational Responses
• Improvise as Needed to the Extent that is
  Possible

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Adaptive Phase

• Goals Short and Long-Term
• a) Tackle the Immediate Adaptive Challenge
• b) Build an Adaptive Culture
• Purpose
• To Thrive in a Changing and Challenging World

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Adaptive Phase

• Tasks
• Catalyze Adaptation
• Embrace and Regulate Disequilibrium
• Generate Distributed Leadership

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The Adaptive Context
PRODUCTIVE RANGE OF DISTRESS
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• Three Elements of Adaptive Work
• What DNA do we keep?
• What DNA do we discard?
• What innovative DNA will enable us to thrive in
  the new and challenging environment?

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The Classic Error Is Diagnostic Treating
Adaptive Challenges as if they were Technical
Problems
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Catalyze Adaptation

1. Unbundle the Technical from the Adaptive
   Challenges
2. Engage the relevant publics
3. Distinguish the essential from the expendable
4. Develop stories that build from the past, name
   and sustain people through the transitional pain,
   help them comprehend the developments in their
   lives, and provide a hopeful future
5. Encourage experimentation

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Embrace Disequilibrium

1. Keep your Hand on the Thermostat
2. Depersonalize Conflict
3. Create a Culture of Courageous Conversations

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Generate Leadership

1. Acknowledge Interdependence
2. Distribute Leadership Responsibility
3. Protect voices of Leadership Without Authority
4. Leverage Diversity

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The Politics of Leadership
ADAPTIVE CHALLENGE