Adaptive Leadership in Uncertain Times: Principles and Proof
I am writing this piece hot on the heels of Freshminds’ recent StratFest event, at which our panellists offered brilliant, engaging, thought-provoking, but ultimately rather gloomy forecasts for the immediate social and economic prospects of the UK and Europe. You can read a summary of their thoughts as they unpack the biggest strategic challenges of 2025.
If such challenging times are to remain, or indeed to worsen, what does this mean for business leaders in general? And what could we do differently (or better) as we attempt to lead our businesses safely through this period?
This article examines the principles of adaptive leadership to see if they can offer any helpful insights.
What is adaptive leadership?
Forbes (5 Key Essentials Of Adaptive Leadership) defines adaptive leadership as follows:
“Adaptive leadership, a philosophy originated by Ronald Heifetz (Harvard Kennedy School), offers a framework for tackling complex challenges by encouraging flexibility, experimentation, and learning. Unlike traditional leadership models that emphasise stability and control, adaptive leadership acknowledges that change is inevitable and that leaders must adapt their strategies accordingly.”
What are the key principles of adaptive leadership?
Embrace uncertainty –Leaders should seek out uncertainty and take it on directly, adapting to changes quickly and embracing an unpredictable environment rather than sticking to tried and tested approaches.
Foster a learning culture– Adaptive leaders will create and nurture cultures that encourage new ideas and experimentation. Mistakes will be treated as learning experiences, and innovation should thrive as a result.
Empower others – This theory builds on the idea that leadership is not about having all the answers. Instead, it is a process of delegating authority, providing autonomy and driving collaboration across diverse teams.
Build Resilience– Create a company-wide recognition that setbacks and challenges are inevitable and arm teams with the tools, resources and emotional support to overcome them.
Lead with Purpose – The most adaptive leaders can foster a genuine sense of purpose and embed a set of values across an organisation that drives decision-making through good times and bad.
Embracing uncertainty
There is a lot to absorb here, but the first and last of the above definitions stand out to me in particular.
Most leadership playbooks will emphasise the importance of creating learning cultures, delegating effectively and showing resilience.
However, actively embracing uncertainty and leaning into it via a clear set of values and a defining purpose – these feel like the most differentiated (and difficult!) aspects of the adaptive leadership framework to adopt.
To those of us of a certain generation schooled on Porter’s grand plan of creating and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage (Porter, M. E. The Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. NY: Free Press, 1985) over many years, this acceptance of rapid change and uncertainty feels more than a little daunting!
Adaptive leadership examples and success stories
A couple of real-world adaptive leadership examples and success stories might bring this to life a little more clearly and show us a way forward within our own organisations.
AirBnB
Faced with the COVID pandemic in 2020 and a shutdown of global travel, Airbnb was in crisis mode. Bookings and revenue plummeted, and a planned IPO was shelved. The response from CEO Brian Chesky is lauded as one of the best examples of adaptive leadership in practice.
Chesky acted decisively, heading directly into the uncertainty in a values-driven manner. 25% of the workforce was cut, but this was done transparently via a heartfelt letter and was backed up with a range of support initiatives to lessen the blow for those impacted.
The company strategy was reset to focus on its core home-sharing proposition; simplicity creating strength. Arguably, Chesky had little choice but to act, but it was how he acted that set about building the resilience the organisation needed to rebound in a post-pandemic world. A mission-driven culture did not break in the crisis; it grew.
Zoom
On the other side of the pandemic, Zoom was in freefall by the middle of 2022. Usage was declining, and competitors were evolving fast. The company’s growth goals set during the pandemic were proving unattainable in a hybrid work world, and something had to give.
CEO Eric Yuan again ran headlong into the uncertainty and made some decisive calls, ending the hubristic growth plan and pausing all platform development for 90 days to rebuild trust in the platform and purpose in the organisation.
Open employee forums replaced distant updates, criticism was encouraged, and questions were addressed. Yuan took a very public pay cut (98%!) and laid off 1,300 employees, again in a very public and accountable manner. He owned his mistakes, reset the company culture and restored Zoom’s simple purpose: to provide clarity, connection and humanity.
Both of these examples stem from crisis situations, which, of course, aid firm decision-making (‘never waste a crisis’ as Churchill famously said). Nonetheless, there seem to be some pretty clear lessons in here for those of us aspiring to be more adaptive leaders in challenging times. In summary:
Act decisively and avoid drift.
Make decisions in line with an organisation’s purpose and values.
Be transparent and personally accountable.
Strive for simplicity always, and even more so in challenging times.
Strive for organisational resilience in the shape of tools, resources and emotional and practical support for employees.
As market dynamics shift and economies contract, it seems likely that this and similar adaptive leadership frameworks will become increasingly prominent in both boardrooms and business schools, so the more focus we can muster, the better our leadership may be.
If you have bravely got this far, it would be great to hear your comments: adam.clements@freshminds.co.uk
