ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP

 

Yoav Zuckerman is one of Israel's top experts in Adaptive Leadership. His lectures and workshops are focused on the practical implementation of Adaptive Leadership theory. 

Professor Ronald A. Heifetz, the founder of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Authorized Yoav Zuckerman, his prominent student, to translate his books into Hebrew. 

Adaptive Leadership is a practical leadership framework that helps individuals and organizations adapt and thrive in challenging environments. It is being able, both individually and collectively, to take on the gradual but meaningful process of change. It is about diagnosing the essential from the expendable and bringing about a real challenge to the status quo.
Adaptive Leadership emerged from thirty plus years of research at Harvard University by Professor Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky, defining the frontier of leadership training and development.

Yoav Zuckerman translated into Hebrew and edited Heifetz’s book “Leadership on the Line”. 
This is the only text leadership book in Hebrew, which sold more than 15,000 copies. 
These days Zuckerman is working on the Hebrew version of Heifetz’s first book “Leadership Without Easy Answers”, the academic infrastructure of Adaptive Leadership. 

Yoav Zuckerman is a leading lecturer in Adaptive Leadership and is a member of the Adaptive Leadership Network, a global network of public servants, military officers, executives, politicians, social activists, community leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, and consultants, all dedicated to making the world a better place.

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What is Adaptive Leadership?

 

Adaptive leadership is a leadership model that was introduced by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. Heifetz defines it as the act of mobilizing a group of individuals to handle tough challenges and emerge triumphant in the end. 
However, shifting individuals’ values, beliefs, and perceptions is usually very difficult and dangerous. Making changes requires you to be somewhat disloyal to your past. Most people are reluctant to let go of life-long loyalties. Embarrassing change is not as easy as it may seems.
Adaptive leadership sets the stage for expecting different forms of resistance. The most common methods that people use to hinder adaptive change is by marginalizing, diverting, or attacking. If you notice any of said activities, chances are that your group is hesitant to adopt that new policy you’re trying to implement.

Adaptive leadership recognizes two kinds of problems: technical and adaptive. With technical problems, a satisfactory pre-determined response is already available and one or more experts who possess solid reputations are sought to address the issue. Overall, technical problems can be solved by professionals.
With adaptive problems, there are no trained experts to deal with the problems at hand. Also, no set of established rules or procedures exists to address the issue. In most cases, the definition of the problem is vague and technical fixes are not the solution. It is in such situations that the expertise of an adaptive leader becomes useful. Such an individual first helps to define the problem and then mobilizes his group to face the real challenge.

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