And leadership then is about mobilizing and engaging the people with the problem rather than trying to anesthetize them so you can go off and solve it on your own.

Your behavior reflects your actual purposes.

The improvisational ability to lead adaptively relies on responding to the present situation rather than importing the past into the present and laying it on the current situation like an imperfect template.

Your inspiration taps hidden reserves of promise that sustain people through times that induce despair. You enable people to envision a future that sustains the best from their past while also holding out new possibilities.

Conflict is the primary engine of creativity and innovation. People don't learn by staring into a mirror; people learn by encountering difference.

If you find what you do each day seems to have no link to any higher purpose, you probably want to rethink what you're doing.

Exercising adaptive leadership is about giving meaning to your life beyond your own ambition.