Field Notes

Anyone who has multiple children, has a sibling on the planet, maintains a life partner, or leads a team knows that people are very different. 

Really different. 

Given these profound differences, what is effective for one person isn’t always fruitful for others.

The fact that situations also differ widely makes capable leadership highly challenging.How a leader effectively treats and engages one team member or situation may be highly ineffective when applied elsewhere.

What motivates one team member may actually demotivate another team member, and so on. From this Contingency View, effective leadership is a function of how well a leader adapts and flexes to the individual and situational differences they encounter. 

The better a leader gets at discerning differences in people and situations and adapting their strategies and tactics to fit them, the more effective they become. 

Or so many people believe. 

Despite the research in support of this popular and dominant paradigm, a mountain of evidence also supports the view that consistency in leadership produces the most trust, credibility, and accountability. 

People strongly prefer leaders who are highly consistent and predictable. People view consistent leaders as more trustworthy, reliable, and relatable. 

This is confusing.

How can a leader both adapt to the differences in people and maintain consistency at the same time? The answer lies in a common misconception about how leaders should adapt and flex. 

Good leaders adapt their style and tone but not the substance or values they believe in.

In other words, leaders can be both adaptive and consistent at the same time if they choose to stay true to their core beliefs and strategies while adapting how to apply them to fit the people and situations involved. 

For instance, an inclusive leader doesn’t adopt a different strategy to fit a situation or a person. If they truly believe in inclusion, they stand firm in their use of it. 

But how they apply their inclusive approach may differ widely based on the circumstances and people involved.

Similarly, a leader who is committed to continual and ongoing feedback doesn’t change that approach for a given person or situation. But they will likely choose how to adapt this principle to fit the needs of the team to secure the most improvement. 

Good leaders stay committed and consistent to many Whats and adapt and flex around the Hows.

They are steady in what they stand for and believe in, while flexible in how they execute and act. 

They remain consistent in their standards, values, principles, and behaviors across people and situations, but apply them in the best way to achieve the outcomes they seek. 

Less effectual leaders continually adapt and flex to the differences they encounter in people and situations without any grounding in what they stand for. 

The best leaders do something different. 

They bring what they believe and value to every episode and interaction.

This is how they maintain consistency while acknowledging that the world is replete with differences. 

Adaptation without consistency in approach is erratic and self-defeating.