Designing and Field-Testing a Model for Managing Leadership Fears

Abstract

This project designed, field-tested, and assessed a model called Adaptive Courage to guide the process of managing leadership fears. The research methodologies used in assessment were evaluative, phenomenological, and pedagogical while the method was interview. Ten leaders constituting a broad demographic participated in two, one-on-one sessions. The first session assessed each participant's top leadership fears and its related intensities, determined the extent to which each participant's valuing of spirituality played a role in managing fears, and explained the Adaptive Courage model. Each leader then implemented the steps of the Adaptive Courage approach for an average of four weeks followed by a second session designed to debrief the subject and the therapeutic model's effectiveness. Although the types of fears were different among the leaders, the fear experience itself was common and potentially disruptive to their effectiveness. Understanding and applying the Adaptive Courage model proved to positively impact most of the individuals and provided a structured, cognitive framework that could be applied in a broad context of situational challenges. The positive value of spirituality among participants, though diverse in practices, was confirmed.