The Adaptability Shift - October 2026
On my first day as a student teacher back in 2004, I remember feeling genuinely excited to be handed my timetable. This is what I dreamt being a teacher would be like: curriculum, class lists, resources and routines all clearly laid out; I was confident that, over time, I would get comfortably into the swing of things, the people, the places. Two minutes later, the Head of Department spun around passing me in the corridor saying, “oh by the way, your lesson 2 today is being covered by a different teacher and is going to be taken in the library instead”.
Everyone working in education requires the skill to adapt. We’re working in large, fluid, human organisations with young people and their complex needs at the heart. We expect the unexpected. Indeed, many of us thrive when responding under pressure and excel at making quick decisions.
In leadership, specifically, there are many circumstances when that is exactly what is required: making the decisions, giving the direction, telling people what needs to happen, especially when our resources, including time and energy, are depleted, and our drive for action is strong.
At the same time, though, most leaders want to create the conditions for colleagues to think for themselves, make independent contributions and take proactive ownership.
Given the pace at which we work, it takes a highly adaptive leader to slip between this range of different approaches, and clarity on their intentions when they choose one approach over another.
This concept of Situational Leadership has taken several guises over the years, but the principle remains useful: there is no single leadership style that will be effective in every situation. Sometimes people need direction. Sometimes they need support. Sometimes they need motivation. And sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is step back and create the space for someone else to think. Here’s an adaptation to Blanchard's original model which resonates with us at Leadership Edge:
Taking a moment to consider where your approach at any given time is sitting within a framework like this can be a useful check-in when moving between so many different situations every day:
How much Time do I have to resolve this situation?
What level of Skill and Will does my colleague have to resolve this situation themselves?
Getting clear on why you’re taking a particular approach also helps to build your reflective practice - moving from asking ‘What do I usually do?’ to ‘What does this situation require of me?’ Making the adaptability shift!
Alongside the situation, thinking even more carefully about the particular colleague in front of you can also help us choose the most effective leadership approach.
As I’m sure we’ve all experienced, the same communication, delivered in exactly the same way, can land very differently with two different people. One colleague may need greater clarity, not because they lack skill or will, but because that’s the way their mind works: they thrive on agreed processes and specific expected outcomes. Another may have the same level of experience, but want less detail, being naturally happier with more creative licence, relishing the opportunity to take a few risks.
Understanding something about a colleague’s personality can also help us adapt how we lead them. For example, knowing whether someone tends to be more introverted or extraverted, or whether they naturally make decisions led by their heart or head, can give us useful clues about how they might prefer to process information, contribute to conversations and feel valued. Having this awareness doesn’t mean putting people into boxes or making assumptions about what they can or can’t do. Rather, it gives us another lens through which to understand their preferences, so we can flex our approach and create the conditions in which they are most likely to think, contribute and thrive.
Again, using a personality profiling model can be a helpful reference to anchor your choice of leadership approach. Here’s the Clarity4D version we use at Leadership Edge:
Naturally, our understanding of ourselves is also really helpful in being able to adapt with confidence. Being aware of both our behaviour and our own personality preferences helps us recognise when we might need to dial certain behaviours up or down, while still remaining authentic to who we are. Being an adaptive leader doesn’t mean losing our sense of self or becoming someone we’re not. It means having the confidence and clarity to adjust our approach when the situation, or the person in front of us, requires something different.
Perhaps this is one of the most important shifts in leadership: moving from responding automatically to responding intentionally.
And we cannot choose our response if we don’t recognise what is driving it. When we are under pressure, what is our instinct? Do we step in? Take over? Solve? Accelerate? Or are we able to pause long enough to consider what this person, this situation and this moment actually require?
In July, I explored many of these themes when I spoke at Applicaa’s MAT Leadership Conference on the theme ‘Rethinking MAT Leadership: moving from control to capacity building’. This is all part of the adaptability shift: becoming more conscious of the leadership choice we are making and the impact that choice might have on the capacity of others… and, indeed indeed on our own capacity if we take too much on our own shoulders (I write about the importance of boundary-setting here: Watch that door!)
You can watch my full talk here:
Today, I invite you take a few moments to reflect on some of these ideas:
How consciously am I choosing the approach I take; or how quickly do I simply move to doing what feels most familiar?
What could I do differently today to provide somebody with an opportunity to thrive using their natural personality strengths?
Which aspects of my natural style do I want to hold on to, even when I adapt?
Perhaps this is the real adaptability shift: Recognising that being intentional about our leadership style does not mean changing who we are. Rather, it means we are an Adaptive Leader, conscious of how we show up and with the self-awareness and flexibility to choose what the moment requires. We can remain authentically ourselves while being more directive, more curious, more challenging or more supportive, depending on the person, the situation and the outcome we are trying to create. So, perhaps the question to take away is: What would change if I saw adaptability not as changing who I am, but defining my ability as a leader to choose how I show up in different moments, in service of those I lead?
As always, if speaking to someone confidentially about your responses to this month’s themes could be helpful, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Warmest wishes,
Catherine Hulme
Owner Director
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Leadership Edge is a growing team of experienced school leaders who have seen person-centred coaching create high-performing, happy and healthy cultures within our schools. Our mission is to empower other school leaders to create positive workplaces where staff are solution-focused and actively responsible for their own personal wellbeing and professional development.
Our 3-Tier Coaching Accreditation Programme is low-cost and self-sustaining, providing a systematic and structured model for staff across your school to become powerful coaches for each other, enhancing colleague relationships and their feeling of being valued as an individual within a supportive school community.
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