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Action-centred leadership
How can action-centred leadership improve people, teams, or organisational effectiveness?
Contents
John Adair developed the action-centred leadership model in the early 1970s while working at the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy and later at the Industrial Society in...
Action-centred leadership asks a leader to balance three connected needs: completing the task, building and maintaining the team and supporting each individual. The familiar model uses three overlapping circles because attention to one area affects the other two.
When to use it
Keep the three areas in mind continuously when leading or managing a team, especially when deciding where your attention is most needed.
Origins
John Adair developed action-centred leadership in the early 1970s while working at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and later at the Industrial Society in the UK. Its trademarked three-circle diagram depicts task, team and individual as interdependent leadership responsibilities. Adair's work also synthesized elements of Herzberg's and Maslow's motivational theories.
What it is
Leadership attention should move with circumstances. A delivery crisis may require greater focus on task, conflict may make team cohesion urgent, and a struggling or high-potential employee may need individual support.
Adair also identified six core leadership functions: planning, initiating, controlling, supporting, informing and evaluating. He distinguished leadership, which establishes direction, from management, which organizes movement toward it.
How to use it
Regularly diagnose which circle requires attention without neglecting the others. Use the following responsibilities and questions as prompts, adapting them to context.
Task
Responsibilities:
- Define clear tasks and connect them with team or organizational objectives.
- Delegate work and establish responsibility and accountability.
- Create a workable plan and monitor progress against objectives.
- Make people, money, equipment and other required resources available.
- Help individuals and the team organize themselves to achieve the task.
Questions:
- Does everyone understand what is expected and how their objectives contribute?
- Is the plan strong enough, and does the environment support execution?
- Do we have the right resources, team size and time?
- Are responsibilities and accountabilities clear?
- Who provides cover during absence?
- Am I modelling the standards the work requires?
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