Adaptive leadership and its impact on change management

Abstract

Change is always impacting organizations whether it is due to internal or external forces. Hence, managing change is a crucial task for organizational leaders. Guided by the adaptive leadership framework, this study aimed to develop a test to measure adaptability in contexts of change. The test consisted of eight dimensions, each representing a characteristic of adaptive leadership identified for managing change in the context of Puerto Rico. After undergoing the process of content validation, the test was administered to N= 103 individuals pertaining to two groups: leaders (n= 51) and non leaders (n= 52). The inclusion criteria stated that, regardless of the group, each individual had to have experienced at least one period of change in their job. Through a quantitative approach, t-tests and correlation analyses were performed. Statistically significant differences were found between the adaptive leadership scores of both groups and said scores positively correlated with the change management scores. Also, a reliability analysis was performed where the scale presented a high internal consistency, supporting the eight characteristics proposed to measure adaptive leadership presence. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed emphasizing on the opportunity this test poses for recruitment and selection processes for leadership positions in changing environments, and how this study could help identify adaptive leadership profiles in other contexts.