Adaptive Leadership for Change: Implications for the Community College Presidency

Community colleges are experiencing sustained disruption due to enrollment volatility, resource constraints, accelerating technological change, and intensified social and political scrutiny. Many of the leadership problems confronting community colleges are adaptive, requiring shifts in institutional priorities, professional roles, and shared expectations rather than technical solutions. This article applies the adaptive leadership framework to the community college presidency, arguing that leadership effectiveness depends on engaging and mobilizing people through collective learning and joint responsibility across the institution. It distinguishes technical problems and adaptive challenges, presenting a framework in which presidents cultivate a holding environment that supports problem diagnosis, sustained attention to core issues, and evidence-informed experimentation. The article then examines six adaptive leadership behaviors relevant to community college leadership and translates them into a coherent set of actions that strengthen shared ownership, enhance transparency and trust, and promote iterative improvement through structured pilots and feedback cycles. These provide a basis for understanding how community college presidents guide institutions through sustained uncertainty while aligning with institutional priorities and advancing successful student outcomes.