It has been two-and-a-half decades since my HR journey started way back in 1993 as a young Management Trainee. Right from the beginning, the letter ‘H’ has been dear to me and very close to my heart, as it comes first in the word, HUMAN. The pandemic changed a lot of things. Among this was the advent of a new word with the same initial letter. This new word is HYBRID, and one of the most used terms in the current corporate environment. 

I remember reading somewhere that ‘Adaptive Leadership is the perfect recipe for embracing sudden rapid change’. This was yet another thing I needed to accustom myself to. Adaptive Leadership stems from the need to embrace a combination of WFO and WFH.

On another albeit related note, the kitchen and household chores were previously not domains that pertained to me or interested me. I mean, I am the leader of the house; I have a set pattern that I follow in my life. However, the pandemic compelled me to question that perception. This Leader felt the need to adapt to the change. Consequently, I started contributing to kitchen duties and other household chores to support my better half. The adaptation was painful for the initial few days. However, like most things, it became a part of life once I had completely adapted and accepted the change.

To survive, we need to adapt to the changes in our environment. The same holds true for sustaining oneself in a competitive business market. If we were to break down the term, Adaptive Change is essentially the small incremental changes that we accustom ourselves to on a  daily basis. 

Adaptive leadership is a critical component of the change management process because it helps organizations adapt quickly to changing circumstances by creating environments that foster creativity and innovation.

Leaders, irrespective of the nature of the project or venture they are helming, need to be adaptive. This helps engender an adaptive culture across teams and stakeholders too. Without adaptation, existence is threatened. That’s the basic rule of existence!

Adaptive Leadership is naturally followed by creating an environment of change. Therefore, adaptive leadership and change management go hand in hand. 

The term ‘Change’ is perennially relevant because businesses are constantly changing and evolving. This was made brutally clear through the COVID-19 pandemic, which took many companies by surprise.

However, adaptive change has a strong dependency on the human factor, apart from the technical aspects of the change process. This makes any adaptive change more challenging as most of us are driven by emotions and established cultural norms. Furthermore, emotional and behavioural changes add to the complexity.

In conclusion, if we need to extract meaningful outcomes from an adaptive approach, it is imperative to constantly review the progress and impact of the change initiatives.