Leader and Team Adaptation: The Influence and Development of Key Attributes and Processes

Abstract

This report summarizes the results of a series of investigations that examined (a) the role of feedback processes as a leadership tool in team adaptation, (b) the influence of developmental work experiences on team and leader adaptability, and (c) the effects of combinations of leader qualities on the display of adaptation processes and performance in dynamic military and business settings. The results of these investigations indicated that (a) processoriented, team level, and public feedback from leaders was most effective in facilitating team adaptation, particularly when team members possess high levels of cognitive skills; (b) developmental assignments are associated with growth in social competencies, but only when participating leaders have high levels of metacognitive skill, cognitive complexity, and tolerance for ambiguity; (c) social competencies influence leader adaptability, but only when the organizational climate supports innovation; and (d) several cognitive, social, and dispositional leader attributes were related singly and in combination to leader adaptability.

Role Variability in Self-Organizing Teams Working in Crisis Management

“…That relationship was mediated by teams’ effectiveness in adapting their roles in the face of these changes. Since then, theoretical and empirical efforts have aimed to better understand adaptability and its links to various aspects of team functioning and performance, such as team cognition (Uitdewilligen et al, 2010), leadership (Zaccaro, Banks, Kiechel-Koles, Kemp, & Bader, 2009), and training (Entin & Serfaty, 1999; Priest, Burke, Munim, & Salas, 2002), as well as role allocation and team structure (e.g., Bigley & Roberts, 2001; Dubé, Tremblay, Banbury, & Rousseau, 2010; Jobidon, Labrecque, Turcotte, Rousseau, & Tremblay, 2013).…”

Performance Adaptation

“…Specifically, three inputs are represented in the research: individual differences, individual training inductions, and team structure manipulations. Summarizing across studies (Niessen, Swarowsky, & Leiz, 2010; Stokes et al, 2010; Zaccaro, Banks, Kiechel-Koles, Kemp, & Bader, 2009), the individual differences of job experience, cognitive ability, and personality predispose a person to obtain more flexible expertise that is needed to succeed in adaptive situations (see Dane, 2010; Holyoak, 1991). Zaccaro and colleagues specifically investigated traits critical for leader adaptation in military contexts, but it is unknown whether the traits identified would be replicable in other settings.…”

The Adaptability Scale

“…Second, the inclusion of “actively change or fit” stresses that adaptation can have both proactive and reactive components, thus capturing the subtle differences between affecting the environment, reconfiguring oneself, and all combinations in between (Ashford & Taylor, 1990; Huang et al, 2014). Third, this conceptualization implies that adaptability should be considered a state-like capacity to respond to change (Ployhart & Bliese, 2006; Van Dam, 2013) that can change over time through, for instance, life and work experiences, training and coaching (Zaccaro, Banks, Kiechel-Koles, Kemp, & Bader, 2009). While traits and states represent the two extremes of the trait-state continuum, state-like capacities are more stable than purely momentary states, such as moods and emotions; yet, they are more malleable than the very stable “hard-wired” characteristics, such as cognitive competencies and personality traits (Luthans & Youssef-Morgan, 2017).…”