Business is in a state of permanent crisis. In its most frightening definition, a crisis is “a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined; a turning point.” How many of these turning points have you and your company experienced in the last two years? How many more do you foresee in the coming years?

The pace of change and level of uncertainty in the external environment is putting pressure on companies to build a new competency within their organization—adaptive leadership. In a 2009 HBR article, Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis, the authors argue that leaders need to solve for the underlying causes of major crises while simultaneously making the changes that will enable their organizations to thrive in unpredictable environments.

Adaptive leaders, according to article, do three things well.

1. Foster adaptation. Adaptive leaders confront legacy practices that are impeding employees from changing.
2. Embrace disequilibrium. Adaptive leaders create just enough discomfort to motivate employees to create productive change, but don’t let change become overwhelming or a source of disengagement.
3. Generate leadership. Adaptive leaders embrace the notion that shared leadership across the organization is key to implementing changes. They sacrifice some of their own control to elevate the entire organization’s ability to generate and share solutions.

These skills are quite different from the standard cognitive, emotional, and personality requirements of managers and leaders. To be effective at practicing these new skills, managers must feel comfortable ceding control as well as refrain from over-focusing on “this is the way we do things here” in order to leave room for continuous improvement and adaptation.

Perhaps one answer, then, to Vanessa’s question “how can Communications help create a ‘culture of adaptivity’?” is by focusing on managers’ ability to handle ambiguity, take risks, question the status quo, and enable employees to share their opinions.

We’ve seen one company, L’Oreal, build adaptive leadership within the company in two ways. First, L’Oreal explicitly embeds an adaptive mindset into its corporate culture. Three components in particular highlight its quest to adapt and evolve: 1.) creativity and innovation; 2.) Socratic questioning; and 3.) prevalence of informal networks over formalized processes.

Second, L’Oreal focuses on its managers’ ability to wear many hats in this culture of questioning and learning. It’s simply not enough for managers to plan and monitor projects for employees. At L’Oreal managers are expected to be:

• Cultural Translators and Navigators: Managers and leaders must help employees understand and embrace the very fact that L’Oreal’s culture is about continuously improving. For new employees who are used to role definition clarity, L’Oreal’s culture can be difficult to grasp without the help of managers.
• Transmitters of Company Know-How and Expertise: For companies like L’Oreal with long histories and volumes of niche expertise, how do they pass on this knowledge? Information management systems and processes help, but ultimately, managers need to be good at telling stories and placing company decisions in the appropriate context for employees.
• Performance Coaches: L’Oréal’s preference for informal networking over formalized processes and oral tradition requires managers and leaders provide “line of sight” on the drivers of performance and success in the organization.

L’Oreal spends a lot of time thinking about ways to best support managers because they are so critical to developing its adaptive corporate culture. One successful tactic has been the creation of “12 Key Pieces of Advice for Managers,” which breaks down the advice into the what, why, and how of it to ensure that managers can take specific steps to implement the advice. Here’s the breakdown of one of the 12 pieces of advice:

• What: Practice the art of questioning.
• Why: By asking insightful questions, you will show employees how to see things from a new perspective: this is called creative controversy.
• How: Focus your coaching efforts on “asking” over “telling.”

Leaders and managers who practice adaptive leadership will help their organizations modify their businesses to stay relevant and compete in constantly changing environments. Perhaps it goes without saying, but HBR’s practices for adaptive leaders need to be built on a foundation of solid communication skills. Otherwise, adaptive leaders risk keeping their good habits to themselves and not part of the organization’s collective conscience.

What does your company do to build adaptive leadership? What would you do differently as a communicator if you were to help leaders be adaptive?

CEC Members, you can access all 12 pieces of L’Oreals advice for managers.

Related CEC Resources:

• The Role of Managers in Corporate Culture (L’Oreal)
• Employee-Refined Strategic Debate (Infosys)
  

Related CEC Insider Posts:

• How Adaptive is YOUR Organization?
• To Communicate, First Question
• Harness the Power of EmPOWERment
• The Surprising Truth About Communications’ Role in Motivation
• Your Creativity Needs to Be “Chopped”