context of the adaptive challenge. Here
are six domains of adaptive challenge:
• Activist challenge. The leadership
task is to get the people to entertain
ideas and aspects of reality that threaten
their prevailing worldview.
• Development challenge. The leadership
task is to get the people to develop
their latent capabilities, new skills,
and underutilized resources.
• Transition challenge. The leadership
task is to transition the group or organization
to a new place or condition
with minimal opposition and loss.
• Creative challenge. The leadership
task is to get the group to do something
that has never been done before.
• Maintenance challenge.
The leadership task is, due
to a “storm” or downturn,
to protect and preserve group
resources until better times.
• Crisis challenge. The leadership
task is to defuse the explosiveness of
the situation so that the real problem
can be addressed and the group can
return to normal functioning.
For someone to exercise real leadership
and correctly diagnose the adaptive
challenge requires a framework
and methodology. Without it, it is easy
to abuse power and engage in counterfeit
leadership—the kind of actions, irrespective
of intentions, that result in
putting a false set of tasks before people.
False tasks include all activities
that have nothing to do with attending
to the real adaptive challenge and
facilitating progress—such as a false
strategy, political game-playing, interdivisional
rivalries, tolerance of counterproductive
meetings where people
skirt around real problem, the scapeTHERE
ARE ESSENTIALLY
two kinds of leadership:
real leadership
and counterfeit leadership. Real leadership
mobilizes people to face reality
and progress. Counterfeit leadership
puts a false set of tasks in front of people,
distracting them from facing reality.
Much of what the popular literature
presents as effective leadership is
a recipe for counterfeit leadership.
These notions are different variants on
the same theme: “showing the way”
and “getting people to follow.” Leadership
that targets authentic progress
must gauge success by the degree to
which people engage the real problem—versus
symptoms, decoy concerns,
or false tasks. People either face
reality or avoid reality. Answers to
tough problems are rarely obvious, and
real solutions elude precisely because
they require due regard for the ingrained
values and habits of the group.
To progress, people must face three
realities: 1) the dangers and threats to
the group, 2) the opportunities and
possibilities available to the group, and
3) the current condition of the group as
it pertains to dealing with the threat or
taking advantage of the opportunities.
If people deny or avoid reality, the
company will suffer. If opportunities
are not vigorously pursued, the organization
will stall. And, if no one fronts
up to the reality of the capabilities of
the group to deal successfully with
threats and take advantage of opportunities,
then progress will elude the
enterprise—and all the value it has
amassed will be jeopardized.
The process of getting people to
face reality is that of adaptive work.
You can’t just put reality in front of
people and think they will accept it.
People have hardwired defense mechanisms
that lead them to filter reality
and even deny it. Leaders must help
people adapt to the new reality.
Six Common Challenges
Through the exercise of real leadership,
conditions are created to give the
people their best shot at success in the
Real Leadership
goating of another person or group, or
the refusal to confront error and learn.
When people address a false set of
tasks, they waste time and valuable
resources and put the group in a precarious
state. Counterfeit leaders waste
time and resources by attending to
their own spurious beliefs and putting
a false set of tasks before people. For
example, consider Enron CEO
Kenneth Lay. In 2000, Enron had a
market cap of $65 billion and a share
price of $82. Lay was hailed as a great
leader. One year later, Enron’s share
price dropped to 65 cents, and thousands
of employees lost their jobs due
to corporate greed, malfeasance, and
financial chicanery.
Irresponsibility and the avoidance
of reality—byproducts of counterfeit
leadership—lead to the perpetuation
of corrosive values and practices,
deceitful dynamics, and the pursuit of
a false set of tasks that destroy the
wealth and resources of the company.
As we examine these cases, we see a
pattern of the primary indicators:
• Lack of clarity in regards to the real
adaptive challenge
• A preoccupation with dominance as a
way to generate compliance
• A failure to engage all people in facing
the real work of progress
• An unwillingness to explore beyond the
prevailing paradigm to find a solution
• The adamant and stubborn conviction
that you alone have “the truth”
• Excessive emphasis on getting people to
follow instead of getting them to deal with
threat, learn, and discover
In contrast, real leadership:
• Constantly engages the people in reality
testing to figure out what’s real as it pertains
to dangers, opportunities, and the
condition of the group
• Works to diagnose the adaptive challenge
that must be faced to progress
• Facilitates mid-course adjustments in
strategic direction as discoveries are made
• Orchestrates adaptive work to get people
to shift their values, habits, practices,
and priorities and deal with reality.
We need people who can provide real
leadership, to deal with threats and take
advantage of opportunities. If real leadership
can make the difference between
success and failure, progress and demise,
then the study of leadership that mobilizes
people to address reality and do
adaptive work is paramount. LE
Dean Williams is a faculty member of Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government. His latest book is Real
Leadership: Helping People and Organizations Face
Their Toughest Challenges. www.Harvard.edu
ACTION: Practice real leadership.
by Dean Williams
8 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
Leadership Authentic
I t ’ s t h e s o u r c e o f p r o g r e s s .