Complex adaptive leadership (CAL) is a complementary approach to leadership based on a polyarchic assumption (i.e. leadership of the many by the many), rather than based on an oligarchic assumption (i.e. leadership of the many by the few). Leadership in this theory is seen as a complex dynamic involving all, rather than only a role or attribute within a hierarchy. The theory calls for skills, attributes and roles which are additional to the demands of traditional leadership. The theory draws from complexity science and from complex adaptive systems theory.
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Origins
The underlying philosophy of complex adaptive leadership is not new, and the roots of the theory's approach to leadership can be traced as far back as the writings of Lau Tzu's Tao Te Ching (c. 500BC) where Lau Tzu wrote of the best leader: "when the task is done, the people will say we did it ourselves". More modern roots include the situational leadership theory of Hersey and Blanchard, Greenleaf's servant leadership, the emergent strategy and shared leadership approach of Mintzberg, the adaptive leadership of Heifitz and others, as well as the more recent distributed leadership of Spillane.
Definition
The term first appeared in various articles and chapters of books between 2000 and 2010, mainly in articles concerning medical leadership (see articles by: Tatsuo I 2002, Hill et al. 2007, Hanah et al. 2008, Avolio et al. (2008), Ford 2009, and Chadwick 2010).
The first book on the subject was written in 2010 by Obolensky, who had made a link to chaos theory and leadership a few years earlier through research and publication under the auspices of the Centre for Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK. The key output of complex adaptive leadership is self-organisation, and the ability for organisations to operate with reduced hierarchy, less management effort and bureaucracy, and resultant higher staff engagement with lower costs. The term is becoming increasingly used by both practitioners and researchers to describe a more distributive approach to leadership. The approach has had some neuroscientific research showing that it demands a wider view and capability than is normally ascribed to leadership, and this research has generated some interest in the military.