Adaptive Leadership: A Framework to Support Innovation

Now is the time to promote cataclysmic changes in health care. Nursing professional development specialists are well positioned to be the fire starters of a new world order. They are charged not only with ensuring competence in the present but also with shaping readiness for what lies ahead. In this role, they must find ways to let go of the past and embrace the future. One approach is to consider the adaptive leadership model of Heifetz et al. as one of the most useful leadership frameworks to support innovation. This model offers a framework to help nurses and others evolve as opposed to continuously resisting change.