Adaptive Leadership

WORKBOOK 2

MODULE MODULE MODULE MODULE

1 2 3 4

GETTING THINKING ADAPTIVE EXPERIMENT

ON THE POLITICALLY VS. WITH
BALCONY TECHNICAL CREATIVE
TENSIONS

In partnership with

~ 2 HOURS
ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2
WELCOME BACK!
Stay on the balcony for awhile and a funny
thing can happen. We begin to see that
indeed there is no such thing as a
dysfunctional system. The seemingly
suboptimal or irrational behavior of people
on the dance floor suddenly reveals an
inner logic.
Thinking politically refers to ability to use
this insight to mobilize key stakeholders,
rather than just trying to convince them.
Its a profound shift. As our focus becomes
less about the problem per se, and more
about other peoples relationship to the
problem, new - and often overlooked
strategies emerge for how to engage them
in narrowing the gap.
In this module, well learn an approach for
mapping the system of stakeholders
surrounding the challenge you identified in
the last module.
Too often we try to mobilize people by
developing a strong case and then
marketing our idea as if leadership is just
a big sales job. We then become frustrated
when this approach doesnt create the buy-
in or support we expected, or were
flummoxed why people just dont get it.
In fact, each stakeholder has a perfectly
rational (in their own mind) and distinct set
of values, loyalties and losses at risk that
guide how they behave.
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Mobilizing stakeholders thus requires
more than just a clear value
proposition and a shared purpose. It
involves surfacing and moving forward
amidst these competing and sometimes
irreconcilable motivations.
As such, leading adaptive change is deeply
relational work. Your relationship with key
stakeholders is one of the most important
factors in determining results. Its also why
you can never lead alone.
"When leading adaptive change, you can
only move as fast as the people around
you." - Alexander Grashow, author the
Practice of Adaptive Leadership
The politics of engaging adaptive change
can be trying, particularly when people resist
you. Avoid the politics, and its unlikely youll
shift the status quo in any lasting way.
Understand it, and you can create more
meaningful and impactful change.
If its not just your work, then whose work is
it? Lets turn to that question now and start
diagnosing who your key stakeholders are.
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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2

MINI REFLECTION EXERCISE Now lets look at what keeps each of your
stakeholders stuck in the status quo,
Lets brainstorm which stakeholders (both seemingly at times despite their best interest.
individuals and groups) you need to
mobilize to narrow your gap. For each stakeholder, consider their
respective Values, Loyalties and Losses
Use the prompts below as needed: (VLL). See the summary table below for
+ Someone who has a point of view on or a detail. Well first share an example on the
stake in the gap you want to narrow following page and invite you to apply that to
+ Someone who may or may not have a your challenge.
point of view but shares strong ties to the
people involved
Value + You know what people
+ Someone with formal or informal power
value based on their
in the system behavior, not based on
+ Someone affected directly or indirectly what they say
by the change, such as a customer or
community
+ Someone with something to lose if you
Loyalties + These are people, teams or
make progress on your challenge constituencies that exist
behind each stakeholder
Keep in mind different stakeholders may that they may feel
emerge depending on how you frame or beholden or responsible for
describe your gap. + These loyalties make it hard
for your stakeholder to
List of my stakeholders (individuals/groups): support you, even if they
want to
Losses + This is what the stakeholder
could lose if progress is
made
+ Potential losses could be
identity, competence,
comfort, reputation, time,
status, security, power,
independence and
resources

(To learn more about each component, refer to the

highlighted part of the reading from The Theory Behind the
Practice Chapter 6 in The Practice of Adaptive Leadership
available here)

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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2

Here is a quick practice exercise applying

Carlas
the VLL framework.
Values
The case study is highlighting Carla, who is
a Communications Manager at Acumen.
Heres how she explained the gap she
wanted to narrow:
Carlas
I am a Communications Manager at Loyalties
Acumen. The organization recently
re-branded. This meant new fonts,
logos and format for all PowerPoint
presentations. We have invested in
developing an easy to use PowerPoint
Carlas
template for all staff. I have also
Losses
invested in training the team on best
practices for creating presentations.
However, I keep seeing presentations
that break all the new branding rules
and often look unsightly. If I catch
them, I can help to clean them up
even if it creates more work for me. If dont buy in.
I dont catch them, I worry about how recording). Credibility with staff if they
the organization is being perceived everything (we could) in the
externally. How can I get staff more illustrated in her comment Weve tried
onboard with the new brand? about how to move forward (as
Carlas Losses: Sense of competence
Then, download and listen to the sound clip
(http://bit.ly/AdaptiveCarla) in which she the new brand.
articulates the situation more in depth. team and consultants who developed
Carlas Loyalties: The communications
Write down what you think Carlas values,
loyalties and losses are in the space to external stakeholders.
provided on the right. (Hint: Notice value- Consistent, clean branding message
laden words she uses multiple times. Also, excitement for the new brand.
notice when her tone of voice conveys Carlas Values: Staff buy-in and
emotion versus when shes matter-of-fact.)
OPTIONAL EXERCISE ANSWER KEY

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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2

+ First, using the space below think about your own values, loyalties and losses in relation
to the gap or challenge you identified in Module 1.

Your What is driving your behavior? List both your noble values and
Values any competing or contradicting values. Remember, how you
actually spend your time and resources says more about your
values than what you say.

Your On whose behalf are you working or feel responsible for?

Loyalties Conversely, is there anyone you care about who you might
actually disappoint or disrupt if the name of progress?

Your Again, in the name of progress, what might you lose or need to
Losses give up? Do you find yourself showing any form of loss
avoidance?

+ Then, choose a difficult stakeholder (individual or group) that youve identified on page 2
and write their VLL to the best of your knowledge. Remember, youre not judging them. If
you find yourself using words like they should" or they ought to, etc., youre probably
stuck in your own perspective and not giving voice to theirs. For more space, feel free to
use another sheet of paper to complete this.
Stakeholder ___________________________________________________

Values

Loyalties

Losses

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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2

Now that youve identified your key stakeholders and have a sense (or maybe just a
hypothesis) of their VLL, lets get more tactical on how to engage them. Stakeholders tend to
fall into six categories or factions.

1. PARTNERS/ALLIES 2. OPPOSITION 3. CASUALTIES

Stakeholders with the most
to gain if you succeed. The
difference between allies
and partners: allies support
your efforts but wont take a
risk with you, while
partners will put skin in
the game. Stay loyal to
partners and seek to
cultivate allies into partners
by incorporating their
higher order values.
Stakeholders who actively
impede progress. They feel
the loss theyll experience
isnt worth the purpose
being served. They usually
have the most to lose and
therefore are the toughest
faction to deal with. Spend
a lot of time with them so
that you sufficiently
understand and can help
pace their loss.
Stakeholders who will be
left behind, fired or
disregarded in the name of
progress. Many of us
assume we can drive
change with zero casualties,
but its rarely true. How you
handles casualties matters.
Everyone will be watching
how you handle this. Treat
casualties well on their way
out.

4. TROUBLEMAKERS 5. AUTHORITIES 6. YOURSELF

People who consistently
sound the alarm on the
need for change, but do so
in a way that results in their
own marginalization.
Protect their voice, but also
make clear to them the
boundaries of your
protection.
Your boss or others who
hold considerable formal or
informal power. Watch
them carefully to gain
insight into what the
system can tolerate. Their
power is not limitless, so
they can only protect you to
a point.
You and your own people
also have competing
commitments that will
affect your choices. Dont
let your passion for change
make you a target. Be wary
of criticism or flattery; its
not personal or even about
you.

Using the worksheet on page 8, group your stakeholders into the factions above.

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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2
The one faction everyone gets obsessed about is Authority. Let's take a closer look at what's
important to them and why they act as they do.
From The Theory Behind the Practice Chapter 2 - Distinguishing Leadership from
Authority (available here)
Exercising adaptive leadership is radically
different from doing your job really, really
well. It is different from authoritative
expertise, and different from holding a high
position in a political or organizational
hierarchy. It is also different from having
enormous informal power in the forms of
credibility, trust, respect, admiration, and
moral authority.
As you have undoubtedly seen, many
people occupy positions of senior authority
without ever leading their organizations
through difficult but needed adaptive
change. Others with or without significant
formal authority but with a large admiring
group of followers also frequently fail to
mobilize those followers to address their
toughest challenges. To protect and
increase their informal authority, they often
pander to their constituents, minimizing
the costly adjustments the followers will
need to make and pointing elsewhere at
the others who must change, or be
changed, as they deny and delay the days
of reckoning.
People have long confused the notion of
leadership with authority, power, and
influence. We find it extremely useful to see
leadership as a practice, an activity that
some people do some of the time. We view
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leadership as a verb, not a job. Authority,
power, and influence are critical tools, but
they do not define leadership. That is
because the resources of authority, power,
and influence can be used for all sorts of
purposes and tasks that have little or
nothing to do with leadership, like
performing surgery or running an
organization that has long been successful in
a stable market.
()
However, all authority relationships, both
formal and informal, appear to fit the same
basic definitional pattern: power entrusted
for serviceI look to you to serve a set of
goals I hold dear. Authority, then, is
granted by one or more people on the
assumption that you will then do what they
want you to do: centrally in organizational
life to promptly provide solutions to
problems. People will confer authority or
volunteer to follow you because they are
looking to you to provide a service, to be a
champion, a representative, an expert, a
doer who can provide solutions within the
terms that they understand the situation.
And if life presented exclusively technical
problems, people would get what they need
looking routinely to authorities for solutions
to problems. (continued)
6
ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2
(continued) Take a closer look at the
difference between authority and adaptive
leadership. In your organizational life, your
authorizers (those who grant you authority)
include bosses, peers, subordinates, and
even people outside your organization, such
as clients or customers and possibly the
media. An authorizer is anyone who gives
you attention and support to do your job of
providing solutions to problems. In any of
your roles, whether parent or CEO or
doctor or consultant, you have a specific
scope of authority that derives from your
authorizers expectations and that defines
the limits of what you are expected to do. As
long as you do what is expected of you, your
authorizers are happy. If you do what you
are supposed to do really well, you will be
rewarded in the coin of the realm, whatever
it is: a pay raise, a bonus, a bigger job, a
plaque, a more impressive title, a better
office.
And one of the most seductive ways your
organization rewards you for doing exactly
what it wantsto provide operational
excellence in executing directions set by
othersis to call you a leader. Because
you, like most people, aspire to have that
label, conferring it on you is a brilliant way
of keeping you right where the organization
wants you, in the middle of your scope of
authority and far away from taking on
adaptive leadership work.
()
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Conflating leadership and authority is an
old and understandable habit. We all want
to believe that we can exercise leadership
just by doing really, really well at the job we
are expected to carry out. But the
distinction between exercising leadership
and exercising authority is crucial. By
practicing adaptive leadership beyond
authoritative management, you risk telling
people what they need to hear rather than
what they want to hear, but you can also
help your organization, community, or
society make progress on its most difficult
challenges.
Whether you are the president of a country
or company, a hospital administrator or the
head of an advocacy organization, or simply
(simply?) a parent, your functions in your
authority role are largely the same. You
have three core responsibilities, to provide:
(1) direction, (2) protection, and (3) order.
That is, you are expected to clarify roles and
offer a vision (direction), make sure that the
group, organization, or society is not
vulnerable and can survive external threat
(protection), and maintain stability (order).
Because addressing adaptive challenges
requires stepping into unknown space and
disturbing the equilibrium, it is an activity
that is inherently uncertain, risky for the
organization as well as for the individual,
and, for these reasons, often disruptive and
disorienting.
7
ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2

+ First, allocate the stakeholders youve listed previously to the appropriate faction(s).
Stakeholders can fit into multiple factions, but chose their primary faction.

+ Then, consider the stakeholders you previously thought were behaving illogically or
irrationally. Based on their faction and VLLs, what might be the story they tell in their
own words to describe, defend or justify their behavior in relation to the gap? Remember
not to substitute your story for theirs. If you understand this story well, youll never be
surprised by their behavior.

Take notes of what you notice (your mini Aha) and make sure you bring them to your
team discussion and/or share them on the course discussion forum with others.

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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2
COMPLETE YOUR FACTION MAP WITH
YOUR STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR VLL
Using your input on the worksheets in this
workbook, sketch out and complete a
visual representation of your faction
map. When you use the assignment page on
NovoEd platform to make the submission,
make sure you include a brief description of
your gap so that others visiting your
assignment page will have sufficient context
to provide feedback or leave comments.
In terms of the format, you can use your own
hand-drawn illustrations (either the
illustration itself or a picture you take of your
creation), or your original digital version of
the map, etc.
There is no right or wrong format to this
assignment as long as others will be able to
see how you worked on it. If youre in a team,
make sure you bring that to your team
meeting.
Limnu, a virtual whiteboard, may be helpful
for sketching your idea. You can try it out
without signing up.
https://limnu.com/d/guest.html
Take a screenshot or a photo of your work if
you would like to submit that as your work.
Important note: As described in Workbook
1, your assignment submissions will be made
visible to other learners on the platform. If
you would like to omit some details due to the
nature of your situation, youre welcome to do
so.
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BONUS ACTIVITY FOR ASSIGNMENT #2
Recall that in the beginning of this
workbook, we explained how your
relationship with key stakeholders is one of
the most important factors in determining
results because leading adaptive change is
deeply relational work.
So this is a chance to enhance the quality of
the relationship between you and the key
stakeholders.
As an extra exercise:
+ Choose an individual or a group who are
part of your faction mapping that you
have had relatively little interaction with
to date
+ Reach out to engage them in a
conversation in aim to understand their
values, loyalties and losses
+ Some of the suggestions in "10 tips for
customer discovery in the social impact
sector (even though the context is not
exactly for this course) might be helpful.
Especially #7 seek out stories.
+ After the conversation, share on the
discussion forum 1) when/where the
conversation took place, 2) how you went
about setting up the occasion, 3) what
you learned from the experience
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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP READING 2

Congratulations on completing Module 2! Take a moment to reflect on how you can further
advance your journey as an adaptive leader at this point.

CONNECT WITH OTHERS TO GAIN VALUABLE INPUT

. So many people have shared their own perspectives
on what leadership means to them. Have you
reviewed any of them or left comments to get to know
them more?
. Also, if you use the Student function and click the
magnifying glass icon, you can search for other
learners who are based in your city or nearby. See
how many people are from your region or your
country. Maybe they have challenges to work on that
might also interest you.

ENGAGE IN A MEANINGFUL DISCUSSION WITH YOUR

. COURSE-LONG TEAM
. If youre taking this course in a team, use the
workshop guide on pp. 11-12 to conduct a team-based
dialogue around the inputs from this module.
If you dont have anyone to do this with, you can
either connect with other active learners on the forum,
OR STILL invite your friends or colleagues to this
course to do this together.

HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOUR PEERS USING

THIS COURSE
Your work on stakeholder diagnosis using the VLL
framework doesnt stop here nor the moment you
complete your assignment 2.
Continue engaging with the key stakeholders outside
of this course to deepen your understanding of what
matters to them, why change isnt easy and what are
some of the possible ways that could help you
mobilize them effectively.
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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP DISCUSSION GUIDE 2

The following two pages are for those of you who have decided to take this course in a team.
Please use this guide to conduct your team session. This should be approximately 2 hours
but feel free to make modifications based on your team size and availability.

SUGGESTED AGENDA
1. Check In (5min)
2. Peer Advising Faction Mapping (20min per person)
3. Ahas (15min)
4. Preparing for the next session (5min)

1: CHECK IN (5min)
STARTING YOUR SECOND DISCUSSION
Use this time to prepare for your team discussion. Use the suggested questions to get
the teams pulse:
How are you feeling?

2: PEER ADVISING FACTION MAPPING (20min per person)

HOW IT WORKS: In your team, take turns presenting your faction map and get feedback
following the agenda below. We suggest taking 20min for each peer advising session. If your
team is large, you may want to break up into smaller teams so that you dont run over time.

There should be someone keeping time and another person taking notes while the rest of
the team does the brainstorming so that the presenter can take the notes away later.

5min: Introduction
Presenter briefly shares background on his or her gap and a summary of the
stakeholder views referencing the worksheets from this workbook and Assignment 2 (if
already completed) if needed, take an extra 5min to allow the audience ask
clarifying questions to the presenter.

5min: Brainstorming
The team members brainstorm what they believe to be the values, loyalties and losses
of the opposition group. Presenter doesnt speak at all. This will help the team build
diagnostic muscles and allow the presenter to get on the balcony and just listen.

(continued)
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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP DISCUSSION GUIDE 2

2: PEER ADVISING FACTION MAPPING (Continued)

5min: Role Play
The team then takes on the role of the opposition. The presenter engages the team
with the goal of making progress in narrowing the gap. The opposition should
respond true to their values, loyalties and losses. The presenters goal is to mobilize the
opposition by demonstrating an understanding and appreciation of the oppositions
values, loyalties and losses. Doing so will help generate new insight into ways to
engage the opposition, and also practice the art of diagnostic listening.

2min: Presenter Reflection

Presenter reflects on how it felt to engage with the opposition and what new learning
or perspective she/he is taking away from this experience.

3min: Feedback (from the team)

Team members provide feedback on what worked well and what the presenter could
improve upon when engaging with the opposition in real life.

Change the presenter and repeat the same agenda.

3: AHAS (15min)
REFLECT ON YOUR AHAS
Take 1-2 minutes to think about your Aha from this team work.

SHARE YOUR AHAS AND CRYSTALLIZE LEARNING

Spend the rest of the time sharing your Ahas with each other.

SHOWCASE YOUR WORK TO OTHERS

This is a bonus activity for those who had a great team experience. As a team, record
a 30-60 second video to capture any Ahas, themes or important takeaways from the
team discussion and post it on the discussion forum. Photos will also do!

4: PREPARING FOR THE NEXT SESSION (5min)

Confirm the schedule for the next session. Make sure everyone has time to go through
Module 3 prior to meeting up for the third time.

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 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE FACILITATION
REVIEW BEFORE WALKING INTO YOUR FIRST MEETING WITH YOUR TEAM
IMPORTANT TIPS EVEN IF YOU DO NOT PLAN TO LEAD THE DISCUSSION
+ Provide a safe space for the team to
share At times the team discussions
may become difficult. People may share
experiences that are particularly painful
or scary. Acknowledge at the beginning
of each meeting that this is meant to be
as open a conversation as possible. It is
also wise to ask everyone to verbally
affirm what is said in the space stays in
the space.
+ Open with a Check In The Check In is
the initial phase of a meeting and is
really independent of the module
content. The purpose of this is to bring
everyones focus into the room and
establish the discussion boundaries, so
that right from the start you can be clear
on how everyone is feeling that day and
what to expect from each other. One
technique is to go around the group and
ask everyone to rate on a scale of 0-
100% how present they feel. Are they
only 75% present because they had a
bad day at work and are still mulling over
what their boss said? Or are they 100%
present because theyve been looking
forward to this discussion all day?
+ Encourage storytelling people love
stories and they are far more likely to
remember information they hear in a
story than as a recitation of facts.
Encourage your group mates to share
their stories, and share your own.
Opening up and a willingness to be
vulnerable will often create a greater
willingness in your group mates to
reciprocate and share their own stories. It
builds an atmosphere of mutual trust.
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+ Allow each participant to come up with
the answer themselves These
discussions are not intended to feature a
lecture. Instead, your goal as the
facilitator is to help participants and
yourself find your own voice within the
discussion. You dont need to provide
the solutions. Everyone in your group has
access to wisdom and can help teach
each other as well as teach you. A good
facilitator helps find those with the seeds
of wisdom in the room and allows them
to grow. The key is not to judge, not to
impose your own opinions and not to
dominate the conversation.
+ Improvise Facilitation is not about
following the script. While we provide a
series of topics, questions, and activities,
let the conversation guide the group.
Feel free to add your own questions or
explore ancillary topics and lines of
discussion. You all have your own
experiences, knowledge, and wisdom
that will enhance these discussions. Use
these topics as a starting point, and
make the conversation your own.
+ Dealing with difficult group dynamics
There will be times when you will be
faced with challenging situations, either
from individuals or from the group. If you
can learn to embrace these situations,
and work with them, they can be
powerful experiences for learning and
growth. The following, taken from The
Facilitators Guide to Participatory
Decision Making by Same Kaner, gives
some typical challenges, with
suggestions for how to deal with these.
13
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE FACILITATION (CONTINUED)
MORE TIPS GOOD TO KEEP IN MIND AS THEY WILL BE RELEVANT TO YOUR WORK AS
AN ADAPTIVE LEADER IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Problem Ineffective response
Everyone has Try to get the group to
different perspectives arrive at one common
understanding by the end
Inconsistent Call them out
arguments
Silence Filling the silence just to fill
the gap
Highly vocal member Trying to control this person
dominates discussion excuse me XXX do you
mind if I let someone else
take a turn?
Minimal participation Ignore it, and act as
by members who though silence means
dont feel consent.
involved/interested
in the particular topic
Someone becomes Talk behind the persons
strident and back. Confront the person
repetitive during the break, and then
be surprised when you see
their anxiety go through
the roof when you resume.
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Effective response
Differences in understanding are
good. Try to draw out the
distinctiveness of others
arguments and ideas with caring
and humility. If you find yourself
confused or skeptical, those
moments are precisely the points
to stop and discuss. Ask: Can you
say more about that? What do
you mean by XXX?
Let the group know its ok to
change and construct new
understandings as you go along.
That is a key sign of intellectual
growth.
Be comfortable with silence.
Sometimes people need time to
process before speaking up.
If one person is over-participating
everyone else is under-
participating, so focus your efforts
on the under-participators and
encourage them to
participate more. Ask: How do
the rest of you feel about this?
Look for an opportunity to have a
discussion on Whats important to
me about this topic? This gives
everyone a chance to consider
their
own stake in the outcome of the
discussion.
People repeat themselves
because they dont feel heard.
Summarize the persons point of
view until s/he feels understood.
People just want to feel heard, not
necessarily that everyone must
agree with them.
14