Adaptive Leadership Strategies

Discussion and Reflection Questions

Resources to Explore the Topic of Adaptive Leadership During a Crisis

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Adapting for the Long Haul

Discussion and Reflection Guide

IDENTIFYING YOUR PURPOSE

  • Consider your organization’s purpose. 

  • What are your personal passions?

  • How might that purpose need to change during these difficult times?

COMMUNICATING YOUR IDEAS

  • Who hears your thought process and plans? 

  • What language do you use (verbal and non-verbal) to communicate your ideas? 

  • What about good news or bad news? How do you communicate those? 

  • Do your followers/partners understand why you make the decisions you make? 

  • How transparent are you with why you do what you do? 

  • How can you become a clear, thorough, and transparent communicator?

LISTENING TO OTHERS

  • How often have you stopped to listen since mid-March? 

  • To whom do you listen? 

  • What have they shared? 

  • How did you process their ideas/questions/criticism? 

  • How open are you to accepting help, suggestions, criticism, and feedback? 

  • Do your followers see you as approachable or a good listener?

DELEGATING AND COLLABORATING

  • How often do you engage in collaboration? 

  • When others in your organization bring an idea to the table, how likely are you to encourage him/her to run with it? 

  • In what ways have you (or can you in the future) given others opportunities to shine? 

  • How willing are you to delegate tasks to others? 

  • Can you stop to recharge your own self?

EMBRACING CONFLICT

  • When you think about conflict, how do you feel? 

  • How likely are you to embrace opposing opinions (dissenters) within your community or organization? 

  • When changes need to be made, how do you communicate with your team? 

  • How can you balance conflict in a way that others don’t feel threatened but instead have a chance for growth?

  • Consider the dissenters that challenge you and your organization. How can you give them a voice without giving them power?

THRIVING INSTEAD OF SURVIVING

  • What technical challenges have you tackled since mid-March? 

  • How can you shift the focus from those challenges into more adaptive change? 

  • How can you be more purposeful and Gospel-centered in your decision making? 

  • What is going to have to change for you to move from surviving to thriving?