Advancing Adaptive Leadership Through Adaption‐Innovation Theory: Enhancements to The Holding Environment

While adaptive leadership is a useful framework for leadership practitioners, there is limited empirical research supporting its conceptual tools and tactics. Kirton's adaption‐innovation (A‐I) theory contends individuals have innate problem‐solving style preferences for more or less structure....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of leadership studies (Hoboken, N.J.) N.J.), 2023-05, Vol.17 (1), p.23-29
Main Authors: Seibel, Megan, Kaufman, Eric K., Cletzer, D. Adam, Elliott‐Engel, Jeremy
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:While adaptive leadership is a useful framework for leadership practitioners, there is limited empirical research supporting its conceptual tools and tactics. Kirton's adaption‐innovation (A‐I) theory contends individuals have innate problem‐solving style preferences for more or less structure. In the current conceptual paper, we examine the theoretical underpinnings of adaptive leadership and A‐I theory within the context of complex problem‐solving. We connect A‐I theory to concepts from adaptive leadership to link a more rigorous and empirically supported theory to a popular practice. We go further to explore how a leader's A‐I style informs the maintenance of an adaptive leadership holding environment (HE), particularly with regard to facilitating a productive zone of disequilibrium (PZD).
ISSN:1935-2611
1935-262X
DOI:10.1002/jls.21841