Adaptability

An agile leader in a business is inquisitive, collaborative, willing to change and pivot when it is required (Coleman, 2017)¹. A successful company constantly evolves to meet market trends. Gibson and Birkinshaw (2004)² found that it is statistically significant that the performance of a business unit is positively correlated to ambidexterity (r=0.76), which is a result of the combination of adaptability and alignment.

A scatter plot of ambidexterity and performance

**Figure 1 shows a positive correlation between ambidexterity and business unit performance (Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004)**.

With that said, leaders need to be adaptive in a changing market. Meanwhile, they must be consistent in pursuing the goal of a company. I was grateful that I could develop adaptive skills in a business consulting project at the University of Sydney. In the digital industry project, our team developed secondary markets for a coaching business.

When we were evaluating the feasibility of the company to enter the proposed markets, I identified changes in the market and used TOWS analysis to calibrate the targeting strategy. My marketing research suggested that the mix of migrant and non-migrant workers in different industries has changed, customers become more diverse and businesses rebounded after Covid-19.

In light of these changes, I refined the proposed target segments, which would also fit the company strategically. Coleman (2017) demonstrated that a strategic leader is both agile and consistent so as to achieve excellent performance with a company’s purpose and change course when the market demands it.

2×2 matrices of the qualities of leaders

**Figure 2 illustrates how a strategic leader needs to be high in agility and consistency at the same time (Coleman, 2017).**

This is useful when I am making recommendations for a business based on data. I can notice changes in customer preference through data analysis, which will help the company navigate different market situations.

Coleman, J. (2017). To Be Strategic, Balance Agility And Consistency. HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically (pp.27 -32). Harvard Business Review Press. ↩︎
Birkinshaw, J., & Gibson, C. (2004). Building Ambidexterity Into an Organization. MIT Sloan Management Review, 45(4), 47-55. http://ezproxy.library.usyd.edu.au/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.sydney.edu.au/scholarly-journals/building-ambidexterity-into-organization/docview/224963339/se-2 ↩︎