Over the past eighteen years, I have worked on many large complex strategic deals at various Fortune 100 companies as an HR leader. My experience has been that the pace of scientific and technological change is faster than people's ability to adapt. There is a reason that dinosaurs no longer roam the earth. They couldn’t adapt to their changing environment. Like those dinosaurs, a majority of leaders today risk becoming fossils in the ecosystem if they are unable to adapt to the changes happening in their environment.

Undoubtedly, leaders today are under tremendous pressure when it comes to adapting and thriving in an age of chaotic and disruptive change. However, at the root of it, the leadership traits of successful leaders today are the same as successful leaders in the past; commitment to the customer, focus on continuous improvement, and the capability to inspire teams in the face of massive change. 

To navigate a successful merger in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment warrants adaptive leadership that embraces awareness of both, the internal and the external business environment. For any acquisition to be successful, the leaders across the business need to set an example; being adaptive to change and demonstrating a willingness to embrace new business models.

My choice of leadership approach is Adaptive Leadership, based on my strong belief that the changing nature of the business environment requires flexibility, innovation, and open-mindedness. Adaptive leadership is key to the Change Management process. It allows businesses to adapt quickly to changes in the market and stay ahead of competition.

During an acquisition, one should bear in mind that both companies should learn from each other, sharing best practices that enable maximizing the potential. Mergers are very time intensive. Adaptability and consistently working on the change management process are big factors in having a successful business integration during acquisitions. 

Leaders must prepare themselves to be actively involved in the planning and integration process, At the same time, they need to maintain business momentum and speed of integration, ensuring that day-to-day operations are not adversely impacted. Leaders should be cognizant of their leadership style and have a deeper understanding of how their dominant styles might need to be adapted. 

Leaders should be adaptive when undergoing major transitions. In order to be adaptive, one must understand their skill set and how it differs from that of others. Also, leaders need to embrace ambiguity. It is important to know how others see them and understand how their actions impact others. The way in which a leader prepares or manages employees can have a negative or positive impact on the integration. The approach affects their attitude toward risk, decision-making, and communication. The degree of flexibility can make a difference. Inconsistencies in how all of these are approached can lead to cultural ambiguity or uncertainties concerning whose style will dominate resulting in increased anxiety, distrust and declining productivity.

A unique feature of the adaptive leadership process is the creation of a holding environment; a safe place with the right amount of tension whereby followers can actively debate issues and share their fears and frustrations without being penalized. This facilitates ideas and solutions that help followers adapt to complex change. This collaborative process offers learning opportunities to all stakeholders leading to enhanced outcomes. 

From an organizational development perspective, leaders can help shape organizational culture through an understanding of adaptive leadership. The exchange of ideas and appreciation of various perspectives encourage diversity within organizations, thus creating an organizational culture where decision making stems from wider participation of stakeholders. Moreover, the adaptive leadership process enables leaders to understand how human behaviour can affect performance in organizations and, by extension, how leaders can mobilize and motivate followers to change. This is particularly relevant as many established norms are being challenged in a fast-changing world. As a result, more information on effective leadership behaviours in solving complex problems is needed. Finally, leadership and change related research can benefit from the renewed interest in leadership development during turbulent times.

This perspective and approach highlights significant differences between adaptive leadership and the traditional approach, where a fixed mindset and rigid approach in the latter case inevitably constrains agility, responsiveness and growth for businesses and organizations. Applying adaptive leadership to organizational change models can enhance the human side of change by highlighting behaviours and competencies that leaders need to exhibit for motivating and mobilizing followers to thrive in the change process. 

When leaders equip people at every level of the organization with the skills they need to thrive through change, the entire organization can move forward into the new age with a confidence born of preparation. And, learning to manage yourself as you seek to lead others is a great place to start.