{"id":48109,"date":"2026-01-09T16:52:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=48109"},"modified":"2026-01-09T16:52:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:52:07","slug":"adaptive-leadership-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>An adaptive leadership style is a leadership approach oriented towards tackling adaptive problems\u2014challenges that are brought about by unexpected circumstances, that have no known solutions, and that require a fundamental change to solve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leaders who adopt an adaptive leadership style constantly assess the landscape within which they operate and the adaptive capacity of their organization to make sure they have what it takes to adapt effectively. In this article, we&#8217;ll take a look at the three main qualities of adaptive problems, the traits of adaptive leaders, and some tips for practicing an adaptive leadership style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><em>Originally Published: September 7, 2021<\/em><br><em>Last Updated: January 9, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-adaptive-leadership\"><strong>What Is Adaptive Leadership? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>An adaptive leadership style is marshaling people to tackle problems with unknown solutions and thrive while doing so.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>(Shortform example: When a sales company expanded into a new region, adaptive leaders marshaled people to figure out what sales processes\u2014or what completely new procedures\u2014would work best in the new region\u2019s market.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>These problems with unknown solutions are called \u201cadaptive challenges.\u201d<\/strong> The only way to solve them is for the people in organizations to learn and change. (Challenges with known solutions are called \u201ctechnical problems\u201d and can be solved using existing workflows and expertise.) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-3-steps-for-assessing-adaptive-challenges\/\">Adaptive challenges<\/a> have the following qualities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Loss. <\/strong>To move forward, old ways have to be left behind.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Resistance.<\/strong> People <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-do-people-resist-change\/\">resist change<\/a> because they fear the loss that comes with it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Discomfort. <\/strong>Since the solution is unknown, addressing adaptive challenges involves experimentation, iteration, failure, disorientation, and conflict, all of which must often be uncomfortably endured for a long time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Leadership experts have largely come to agree that effective leadership isn\u2019t about control, but instead is about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-empower-your-team\/\">empowering your team<\/a> to make decisions themselves. Some credit this to <a href=\"https:\/\/clearpurpose.media\/adaptive-leadership-752601c11fe1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the importance of <em>context<\/em> in any given situation<\/a>, particularly ones involving change. They argue that in complex, rapidly shifting environments, the person working closest to the problem is usually best placed to solve it, rather than a manager with a more distant reach and a less up-to-the-minute understanding of nuances. In these cases, a leader\u2019s role is not to provide direction, but to provide access to information and resources, leaving the responsibility for finding and executing solutions in the hands of those with the most potential to succeed.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-four-tips-for-practicing-adaptive-leadership\"><strong>Four Tips for Practicing Adaptive Leadership<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some tips to keep in mind throughout the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip #1: Get help from a partner or a team.<\/strong> This is for two reasons: It\u2019s less lonely, and it\u2019s easier for people to resist or stop a single person (you) than a group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three reasons people try to lead alone even though it\u2019s a bad idea:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Their opponents isolate them.<\/strong> For example, an opponent might tell you how brave you are to be striking out alone, manipulating your positive feelings around courage to keep you isolated.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Their friends let them be the guinea pig and only follow once it\u2019s safe.<\/strong> (Shortform example: Your allies might hold off publicly supporting one of your interventions until they know that their bosses don\u2019t oppose it.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Their passion gives them tunnel vision.<\/strong> For example, you might believe so strongly in your cause that you under-communicate, thinking the same things that are obvious to you are obvious to everyone.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip #2: Practice every time the opportunity arises.<\/strong> Anytime you get a chance to practice adaptive leadership, whether that\u2019s in your personal or professional life, take it so that you\u2019re regularly learning. Don\u2019t let the opportunity pass because you\u2019re \u201ctoo busy,\u201d or for any other excuse. Even if this only makes you spend 5% more time practicing, that\u2019s enough to make a significant difference to your skill level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip #3: Reflect before acting.<\/strong> It\u2019s very common to want to take action to solve an adaptive challenge right away. Leaders are often under pressure and have been trained to address problems quickly, so they\u2019re predisposed to cut diagnosis and observation short and move straight to intervention. However, this is a mistake: Adaptive challenges take time to even fully understand, never mind address effectively. Before acting, consider the risks, whether they\u2019re worth it, and whether you\u2019re the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hiring-the-right-people\/\">right person<\/a> to lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you hold a high position, you can hold back prematurely starting the intervention stage yourself. If you don\u2019t hold a high position, you\u2019ll have to use some of the following non-confrontational techniques (lest you be accused of negativity or blocking progress) to slow down the people above you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Veto action indirectly by withholding your support.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Schedule extra time into meetings so that you have extra time to address adaptive challenges.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add to the list of people whose permission must be sought before an action is taken.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See through cover-up arguments (such as scapegoating) and take time to determine the real cause of conflict (such as values).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ask questions instead of giving orders, and spend time discussing the answers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip #4: Embrace adapting yourself. <\/strong>When you\u2019re a leader, to get through a particular challenge, you\u2019ll need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/changing-yourself\/\">change yourself<\/a>. This is difficult because, as noted, all changes involve loss, and, in a leader\u2019s case, the loss can include abandoning deeply held values.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>(Shortform example: Angela requires her employees to wear formal attire but she\u2019s losing people to other companies that are more casual. If Andrea agrees to change the dress code to retain people, she has to give up the value of formal attire, which for her goes much deeper than appearance\u2014for her, formal attire stands for professionalism and dependability.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-change\/\">Adaptive Changes<\/a> as Part of an Infinite Game<\/strong><br><br>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-infinite-game\/preview\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>The Infinite Game<\/em><\/a>, motivational speaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/simon-sinek-biography\/\">Simon Sinek<\/a> also examines how an organization can adapt to an ever-changing world. He argues that for a business to survive over the long run, its leaders have to see themselves as part of a constantly evolving, never-ending game: an <em>infinite<\/em> game, as opposed to a <em>finite<\/em> game that\u2019s concerned with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/short-term-wins\/\">short-term wins<\/a> and win-or-lose ending points.<br><br>One of the tenets of Sinek\u2019s discussion is that <strong>to successfully navigate ever-changing conditions, you must be prepared to go through what he calls an <em>existential flex<\/em><\/strong>\u2014a pivot that brings extreme, disruptive changes to your business model or strategic vision.\u00a0 An existential flex changes your behavior on a deep, structural level. He cites, as an example, Walt Disney\u2019s pivot when he decided to leave his own company to start a new venture. Frustrated by the increasing focus of his animation company on cost-cutting and other short-term concerns, he left and built Disneyland, a radically new type of customer experience that has endured since its founding in 1955.\u00a0<br><br>Although Sinek doesn\u2019t use the phrase <em>adaptive challenge<\/em>, his <strong><em>existential flex<\/em> can be seen as a response to an adaptive challenge<\/strong>: a proactive response to a shifting landscape. Like adaptive challenges, these kinds of pivots are also frequently met with emotional resistance, as people tend to prefer the processes that have brought them their current success and that they\u2019ve grown accustomed to.\u00a0<br><br>However, Sinek\u2019s existential flex idea differs from Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky\u2019s adaptive challenge concept in one important way: Sinek maintains that <strong>an existential flex is always, and <em>only<\/em>, an <em>offensive<\/em> move<\/strong>\u2014it\u2019s not a <em>reactive<\/em> response to current pressures but instead anticipates future changes. Thus, if a newspaper company trades its paper-based business model for a digital platform in response to changing reader habits, Sinek doesn\u2019t consider this an existential flex, because it\u2019s a necessary response to existing conditions. On the other hand, Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky <em>would<\/em> consider this an adaptive challenge, since it involves implementing fundamentally different behaviors, products, and priorities.\u00a0<br><br>Sinek also doesn\u2019t draw a distinction between technical and adaptive challenges like Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky do. However, his definition of <em>finite<\/em> games aligns in many ways with the characteristics of technical problems. Finite games (where games are interactions between two or more people or groups) have defined <em>knowns<\/em>\u2014the players, rules, resources, and timelines are clear, obvious, and agreed upon by all participants. Sports games are examples, as are run-of-the-mill <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/common-business-problems\/\">business problems<\/a>. <strong>Like technical challenges, finite games have solutions that draw from known skills and practices.<\/strong>\u00a0<br><br>Like Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky, Sinek argues that leaders must adopt a mindset of change, accept the discomfort it brings, and then apply appropriate solutions when the status quo isn\u2019t sufficient.\u00a0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An adaptive leadership style is a leadership approach oriented towards tackling adaptive problems\u2014challenges that are brought about by unexpected circumstances, that have no known solutions, and that require a fundamental change to solve. Leaders who adopt an adaptive leadership style constantly assess the landscape within which they operate and the adaptive capacity of their organization to make sure they have what it takes to adapt effectively. In this article, we&#8217;ll take a look at the three main qualities of adaptive problems, the traits of adaptive leaders, and some tips for practicing an adaptive leadership style.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":11572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,14],"tags":[468],"class_list":["post-48109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-management","tag-the-practice-of-adaptive-leadership","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The adaptive leadership style is oriented towards tackling problems that have no known solutions. Read more about how it helps solve problems.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The adaptive leadership style is oriented towards tackling problems that have no known solutions. Read more about how it helps solve problems.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-09T20:52:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-09T20:52:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-09T20:52:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-09T20:52:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/\"},\"wordCount\":1409,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Practice of Adaptive Leadership\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Management\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/\",\"name\":\"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-09T20:52:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-09T20:52:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"The adaptive leadership style is oriented towards tackling problems that have no known solutions. Read more about how it helps solve problems.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1696,\"caption\":\"Business man success in job\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard - Shortform Books","description":"The adaptive leadership style is oriented towards tackling problems that have no known solutions. Read more about how it helps solve problems.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard","og_description":"The adaptive leadership style is oriented towards tackling problems that have no known solutions. Read more about how it helps solve problems.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2026-01-09T20:52:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-09T20:52:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1696,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard","datePublished":"2026-01-09T20:52:04+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-09T20:52:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/"},"wordCount":1409,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg","keywords":["The Practice of Adaptive Leadership"],"articleSection":["Business","Management"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/","name":"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-09T20:52:04+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-09T20:52:07+00:00","description":"The adaptive leadership style is oriented towards tackling problems that have no known solutions. Read more about how it helps solve problems.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1696,"caption":"Business man success in job"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adaptive-leadership-style\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Adaptive Leadership Style: Always on Guard"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/enron-ceo-smartest-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48109"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147050,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48109\/revisions\/147050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}