Whether you own a small business or are part of the C-suite of a large, even multinational firm, running your company is very different from the time of our parents and grandparents. For any advancement, such as artificial intelligence and automation, company leaders must work through a host of challenges that are new and unprecedented.

Given this new reality, leaders must learn how to flip a coin, so to speak, adopting the skills and mindset to respond to everything appropriately. Still, many cling to the “tried and true” practice of strategic planning, but can't stand up to today's challenges.

Their broad timelines and meticulous detail are no match for the fluid nature of geopolitical unrest, supply chain disruptions, and cybersecurity threats, all of which can pop out of the sky without warning. This disconnect makes it difficult for employees—often those tasked with implementing the plan—to do their jobs.

There is ample evidence of the failure rate of Strategic planning. In 2022, Harvard Business School published a study that found this out 60% of strategic plans failed to deliver the desired results. Indeed, 95% of employees surveyed in the same study could not articulate the core strategies adopted by their organization.

Small and large companies need new, adaptiveresponsible ways to meet today's challenges.

What is adaptive leadership?

Adaptive leadership means being flexible and responsive amidst “our new normal.” It helps leaders move on a dime as they reassess their priorities. This enables them to deploy the best people and resources for the best results to respond to everyday issues and during crises.

One of the essential principles of adaptive leadership is the ability to make decisions in the moment, which is the foundation of book, From war zones to boardrooms: Optimize when strategic planning fails.

I spent most of my career working with people who were having the worst day of their lives. Hardly hyperbole, indeed, they had all survived global conflicts; however, it changed irrevocably. Many had lost family members, limbs, homes and communities. Often, they had to make life-or-death decisions with little time to consider the consequences.

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Through intelligence gathering, informed decision-making, data analysis, sensing and assembling the best teams, in every case, these newly formed teams made decisions on the fly. Ironically, unlike corporations that spend time recruiting “the right people” and creating long-range goals, these teams were made up of people who had only recently met.

There's no time to interview and assess both in a war zone and after one, so they had to go with the next best thing: common losses and common desires, along with leaders who step up to inspire others.

Empathy plays a crucial role

The days of the stoic leader are over. True leadership means putting yourself in the shoes of those who are expected to follow you and do the work necessary to move the company forward, especially through challenges.

Empathetic leaders are attuned to the needs and concerns of their employees, which allows them to create an environment where everyone feels valued and heard, leading to greater engagement and productivity.

I am a strategic consultant, working with Fortune 100 companies and other great organizations. I am often in a position to see how powerful a motivator empathy is. Here is an example that I share Optimize Momentum.

I was in Iraq during the second Gulf War and the active conflict. Our mission was to encourage communication among newly elected officials in a highly volatile environment.

Instead of leading or instructing, I listened to understand the perspectives and motivations of all parties. By building trust, listening, and applying empathy (three seemingly simple concepts rarely used in business or politics), we achieved meaningful dialogue that led to results that all parties could get behind.

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When we first arrived, the Iraqi Parliament was a seething cauldron of sectarian strife and historical grievances. My team and I used an adaptive approach focused on building relationships and understanding the unique dynamics at play.

By prioritizing the feelings, experiences and suggestions of each participant, we quickly gained the trust of political and community leaders. This allowed us to move towards negotiations with more SKILLSleading to the establishment of a national budget planning process and other critical governance structures.

This process, repeated over and over when I was in conflict and post-conflict zones, became the foundation of my approach to working with Fortune 100 companies. I call it Optimize the Moment™.

How leaders can implement these practical strategies

I am not a guidance or instructional person, so any suggestions I offer are based solely on my experience working in conflict and post-conflict areas, which I have used over and over again with my clients.

1. You can encourage your team to be flexible and open to change – but that starts with you being the same. This can be achieved by creating opportunities for employees to experiment with new ideas and listening to them. They have great suggestions, given their perspectives.
2. I've found that jargon-free communication is essential to getting the thumbs up from team members to make sure everyone understands their role in the mission. Listen to team members' concerns. It helps to provide constructive feedback immediately and keep the feedback loop going.
3. Giving team members the autonomy to make decisions is invaluable. This speeds up the decision-making process and results in a sense of ownership and accountability.
4. Part of empathy-based leadership is engagement. Sometimes, it can involve listening to personal struggles. When they are heard and can face those struggles, they will be more productive for the mission.
5. I never suggest to my clients that they cling to rigidity. I suggest that they be prepared to reevaluate and be prepared to pivot. Make changes as needed.

I hope these have been helpful. I welcome your comments.