Читать книгу Counseling Leaders and Advocates - Группа авторов - Страница 21

Adaptive leaders “prepare and encourage people to deal with change” (Nort-house, 2016, p. 257). Adaptive leaders encourage effective changes over multiple levels, from those as finite as the self to those as infinite as our global society. Using a systems approach, adaptive leaders try to understand the complexities of problems and provide supportive environments for their constituents. In the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the social unrest that revolves around inequalities in the United States, it is important for each of us to have an understanding of adaptive leadership. Change continues to shape our behaviors as we navigate through the upheaval of these times. How can we be reflexive and encourage others to change and learn new ways of living together so that all of us will be successful and can grow?

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This brief review of leadership theories provides a mere sliver of the depth that they encompass. Only a few of the profiled leaders specifically name a leadership theory that guided their work, but you will find traits, skills, procedures, and philosophies that are common to both leadership theories and counseling practice in these stories. They all, in one way or another, speak of leadership as a process of empowering others and as an opportunity to advocate. None of the leaders espouse a traditional view of leadership as a power-over position; rather, they speak of “leading from behind,” working “behind the scenes,” and “leading by doing,” not for their own aggrandizement but to move our profession forward and improve services to our clients. One can deduce that leadership in counseling is ineffective when leadership practices move away from our core values as professional counselors.