Leadership Check-in

Welcome!

Each month we are exploring different topics as a part of leadership development.

Month 7: Adaptive Leadership and Fairness

This month, we are honing in on two key areas: Adaptive Leadership and Fairness, as part of our leadership development and buddy engagement initiative.

Adaptive Leadership:

Adaptive Leadership is a leadership approach that emphasizes the ability to adapt to changing environments and circumstances. It involves being flexible, responsive to new challenges, and capable of leading change effectively. Adaptive leaders are skilled at navigating uncertainty, fostering innovation, and encouraging team members to develop creative solutions. They not only adjust their strategies to meet evolving needs but also empower their teams to embrace change.

Example:

A leader who typically prefers a structured, top-down approach notices their team is disengaged and slow to act during a period of rapid change. Instead of issuing another directive, they pause and take a more facilitative approach to empower the team and co-create solutions.

  • "I usually come to these meetings with a clear plan, but I'm realizing that approach might not be what's needed right now. You're closest to the day-to-day realities, so I'd like to shift gears and do some collaborative problem-solving. What are you seeing that I might be missing?"

Fairness:

Fairness in the workforce is the practice of making unbiased, equitable, and just decisions that affect employees. It involves treating all team members equally, providing equal opportunities, and maintaining impartiality in conflict resolution, recognition, and workload distribution. Fair leaders create a trustworthy and inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and treated justly, enhancing morale and employee satisfaction.

Example:

A team member shares with their manager that they are consistently assigned more work than others, especially high-pressure or urgent tasks. The leader resists justifying the assignments and instead focuses on understanding the employee's experience and uncovering patterns.

  • "I appreciate you being honest about how you're feeling. Can you walk me through what's been landing on your plate recently that's felt out of balance?"
  • "It sounds like you're carrying a lot of the urgent or complex projects. I want to make sure things feel sustainable and fair. Let me take a closer look at the current distribution, and we can talk through how to make it more balanced going forward."

Let's focus on these areas to enhance our leadership skills and contribute positively to our team and organizational culture.

Beginning of Month Survey

Click below to access this month's guiding questions.

Beginning of month survey