Summary.

Bosses often sense that something is missing in an employee’s tool kit but can’t put a finger on what it is. They say something like “You need certain important intangibles” or “You don’t have enough gravitas,” but they fail to provide advice or guidance.

What they’re talking about is leadership style. In every interaction, we send signals

7. How would you describe the leadership style that permeates your organization: command and control; empowerment; micromanagement; people focused; money focused; lead by example; do as I say, not as I do; fair and reasonable; aggressive and demanding; and so on?

First, in contrast to many other leadership theories, adaptive leadership takes a process approach to the study of leadership. Consistent with the process definition of leadership discussed in Chapter 1, adaptive leadership underscores that leadership is not a trait or characteristic of the leader, but rather a complex transactional event that occu