Service Management World

Session 404: Constant Change Requires Adaptive Leadership

Wednesday, November 18 at 4:00 PM

In a world of volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous change, leaders need to be able to sense and respond. Increasing consumer and customer demand, globalisation, digital disruption, increased competition and an increasing speed of change, means that leadership has to fundamentally change. Leaders have to be able to continually adapt to changing conditions and chart a course when they cannot predict the outcomes of their choices.

Adaptive leadership is knowing what to do, when you don't know what to do. Adaptive leaders learn through experimentation and manage the context, not the instruction set. They cultivate a diversity of views to generate a wealth of options. They lead with trust and respect and provide employee autonomy. They do not provide the answers (and do not equate leadership with expertise) and they accept that a degree of disequilibrium is needed to sustain adaptive change (rather than minimising conflict and discomfort).

Adaptive leadership is a practice not a position. In this session, attendees will learn why adaptive leadership is needed, what it looks like, and how it is practiced.

Karen Ferris

Consultant

Karen Ferris

Karen Ferris is a self-professed organisational change management rebel with a cause. In 2011, Karen authored the acclaimed publication Balanced Diversity: A Portfolio Approach to Organisational Change, which introduced a new and innovative framework for ensuring that changes are embedded into the fabric of the organisation. Last year saw the publication of her second book, Game On! Tactics to Win When Leading Change Is Everyones Business, introducing the tactics needed to be resilient and enable your organization to triumph in the face the challenges of constant change. In 2014, itSMF Australia bestowed her with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to the industry, and for the last four years, she has been voted one of the Top 25 Thought Leaders in Service Management by HDI.