An Adaptive Leadership Approach to Strategy Execution

In their 2022 Harvard Business Review article, Natalia Weisz and Roberto Vassolo argue that strategy fails less because of unpredictable shocks and more because leaders underestimate the losses those strategies inevitably produce. Their concept of a “hidden P&L” – the priorities advanced and the losses incurred – is a useful corrective to the illusion that […]

When Reconciliation Feels Like Pressure

There is a scene in the movie Invictus that I often use in our leadership workshops to illustrate a number of Adaptive Leadership practices and techniques. Nelson Mandela addresses South Africa’s rugby committee, asking them — unsuccessfully at first — to keep the Springbok emblem as the nation’s team symbol rather than discard it as […]

Leading Through Uncertainty: Lessons from MLK Jr.

You’re at a pivotal point. You can feel it. The leadership you were taught—the binaries of strong versus weak, decisive versus indecisive, having answers versus admitting doubt—no longer feels true. If you’re questioning what leadership actually means, you’re not lost. You’re ready. We live in an age that will not sit still. The ground constantly […]

Part 6 | In Community

A few years ago I woke up unable to speak. I held so much tension in my jaws that it physically hurt to open my mouth. As I learned to heal with my jaws I discovered the wisdom of my body in that moment. Unknowingly, I had muzzled myself – I had kept so much […]

Part 5 | Coming True

I recently walked through the Sigmund-Thun Klamm gorge in Austria and felt the pure force of the Kapruner Ache river. Powerful streams that, over thousands of years, cut through resistant mountain rock to gradually carve a new path. As I listened to the thunderous rushing river and felt its cool mist accompanying me, I was […]

The Confidence Trap – How Not to Lose $2B

The Seduction of Certainty This recent video by science communicator and Veritasium host, Derek Muller, got me thinking about the role of confidence in leadership. In Muller’s telling, a trader—smart but prone to over-confidence and hiding his errors—watched his $40,000 loss turn into $1.3B, all by trusting his instincts and belief he could feel patterns […]

Part 4 | Activating Agency

For me, activating agency has felt like jumping off a cliff at the edge of the sea with the knowledge of how to swim. But then, the jump itself teaches me how to fly – completely changing my perspective and showing me how to let go of what I thought I knew. Activating agency is […]

Part 3 | Awakening Intention

What I always found curious about Aaron’s U-Turn is that he didn’t start with the intention to depict a free, flying bird that would tell an inspiring story. He began with drawing a bird sitting on the ground, an action that slowly gave rise to a question about identity: If the bird has wings, what […]

Part 2 | Deepening Attention

In my last article I spoke of Aaron and the impact he had on my life. For Aaron, the bird had been motionless. For me, the bird was endlessly doing, but the result was the same. In both cases, the bird had forgotten its capacity to fly. Sitting on the ground meant being so disconnected […]

Part 1 | An Invitation

In 2008 I met Aaron. We shared an interaction that lasted about one hour and I have not seen him since. And yet, the ways we both chose to show up to that moment changed my life forever. I had just moved to New York City to start university and was struck by how many […]