Notes taken from the book authored by Ronald Heifetz and Martin Linskey. Heifetz, R., & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the line: Staying alive through the dangers of leading. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. Thank you to the authors for creating a work so enduring and so enlightening. Even after 12 years, the message in this piece still rings true.

1. LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE
Staying Alive Through the Dangers of
Leading

2. INTRODUCTION
 Every day you have the chance to make a
difference in the lives of others.
 This is the essence of leadership; but to lead
is to live dangerously.
 Yet leadership, while perilous, is worth the
cost.
 Three Part Program
 Part One: Leadership is dangerous (The
Challenge)
 Part Two: Protect and Defend (The Response)
 Part Three: Strength and Honor (Body and
Soul)

3. PART ONE
Leadership is Dangerous (The Challenge)

4. THE HEART OF DANGER
Chapter 1

5. THE HEART OF DANGER
 Leadership is dangerous.
 People do not resist change, people resist
loss.
 Adapting to a new reality incurs loss.
 Leadership becomes dangerous when it
must confront people with loss.

6. THE PERILS OF ADAPTIVE CHANGE
 Leadership would be safe if we only faced
problems for which we had the solutions.
 But there are problems for which the
solution is not known; these require change.
 Change won’t last without people that can
embrace it; but most won’t see that.
 What they do see is a potential for loss
and look to the leader for solutions.
 When people seek technical answers to
adaptive challenges, dysfunction ensues.

7. THE PERILS OF ADAPTIVE CHANGE
 Leadership failure occurs by treating
adaptive challenges like technical problems.
 Adaptive change requires adjusting
expectations and forgoing the status quo.
 This demands the leader possess time,
presence and great communication skills.
 However if adaptive change is necessary, it
must occur despite the cost or the
organization will die.

8. GOING BEYOND YOUR AUTHORITY
 Adaptive change creates instability by
exposing entrenched issues and disturbing
people and norms.
 These problems lack solutions because no
one wants them solved.
 The risk of exercising adaptive leadership
is exceeding your authority.
 You will face resistance or even discipline
for breaking the rules.

9. GOING BEYOND YOUR AUTHORITY
 Leadership is not the same as authority.
 Exceeding authority is not leadership.
 Exceeding authority to expose deep-
seated problems toward positive change is
an example of adaptive leadership.
 Rules, culture, norms, SOP’s, etc. often
discourage the hard questions and choices
necessary to do so.

10. AT THE HEART OF DANGER IS LOSS
 Changing the way people see and do things
challenges how they define themselves.
 Giving up conceptions of self can trigger
tremendous feelings of loss.
 To discard some part of their beliefs may
make people feel like they are diminishing
the past.
 The pain of disloyalty felt during change
results from loss and can be manifested
as denial or acting out.

11. SUMMARY: THE HEART OF DANGER
 The danger of the challenges of adaptive
change and is key to recognize.
 Resistance is created because change:
 Challenges the status quo
 Forces people to redefine their identity
 Causes loss, uncertainty and disloyalty.
 Questions followers’ sense of competence
 Resistance is a defense, used to get
leaders to back off and is tough to see.

12. THE FACES OF DANGER
Chapter 2

13. THE FACES OF DANGER
 The faces of adaptive leadership danger
take many forms:
 Marginalization
 Diversion
 Attack
 Seduction
 Obscurity makes them effective.
 Leaders often never see the danger until
it is too late.

14. MARGINALIZATION
 Usually a literal form (squelching,
tokenism, dismissal).
 We tend to collude with those who
marginalize us.
 Marginalization often comes in more
seductive forms (sui generis).
 Personalization leans toward
marginalization; tying survival and success
to an issue.

15. DIVERSION
 Methods of diversion:
 Broadening the leader’s agenda and often
overwhelming it.
 Leader promoted or given new responsibilities
as a way of side-tracking the agenda.
 Leaders can easily be diverted by getting lost
in other people’s demands (in box stuffing)
and programmatic details (Unconscious
Conspiracy).

16. ATTACK
Reasons for attack:
 Turning the focus from the agenda to the leader or
the attack itself may succeed in killing the agenda.
 To find your Achilles’ heel.
Criticism
 Blame is misplaced but draws from the
message.
Physical
 Changes focus to the fight; easy diversion.
Personal
 Go after you, your family or your views.

17. SEDUCTION
 Leader loses his/her sense of purpose
altogether.
 The success lies in the special appeal the
tactic has.
 People are more easily seduced when
their guard is down.

18. SUMMARY: THE FACES OF DANGER
 Marginalization, diversion, attack and
seduction all serve a purpose.
 They reduce the disequilibrium that is
generated by taking focus off the issues.
 Leadership requires reverence for the
pains of change, recognition of the danger
and the skills to respond.

19. PART TWO
Protect and Defend (The Response)

20. GET ON THE BALCONY
Chapter 3

21. GET ON THE BALCONY
 Observing from the balcony is the critical
first step in exercising (and
safeguarding) adaptive leadership.
 Participate both in the “dance” and
observe from above (balcony
perspective).
 Move between the dance floor and the
balcony (remain engaged): making
interventions, observing the impact, and
then reengaging.

22. GET ON THE BALCONY
 To avoid traps, ask questions:
 What’s going on here?
 Distinguish technical problems from adaptive
challenges.
 Find out where people are at.
 Listen to the song beneath the words.
 Read the behavior of authority figures for
clues.

23. TECHNICAL PROBLEMS VS. ADAPTIVE
CHALLENGES
 Most problems have both technical and
adaptive aspects;
 An adaptive challenge exists when hearts and
minds need to change (new ways and different
values).
 If you throw all the technical fixes at a problem
and it persists, its an adaptive challenge.
 The persistence of conflict usually indicates that
a problem is an adaptive challenge.
 Crisis is a good indicator of adaptive challenges.
 Identify them, decide which to address
first and how.

24. TECHNICAL PROBLEMS VS. ADAPTIVE
CHALLENGES
What’s the
work?
Who Does
It?
Technical
Problems
Apply Current
Know-How
The
“authorities”
Adaptive
Change
Learn New
Ways
The people with
the problem
Who does the work?

25. FIND OUT WHERE PEOPLE ARE AT
 Getting followers to address a tough issue
is difficult and risky.
 If people avoid a problem for a long time,
don’t be surprised if they try to silence
you when you push them to face it.
 Your survival and success depend on
understanding the varying perspectives
among the factions.
 Learn from people’s mistakes and fears.

26. LISTEN TO THE SONG BENEATH
THE WORDS
 People naturally defend their ways of
thinking and avoid difficult value choices.
 After hearing the stories, form an
interpretation that gets below the surface.
 Interpreting intentions is best done alone
or with a trusted confidant first.
 Whether and how you voice your
interpretation, depends on the culture and
adaptability of your audience.

27. READ THE AUTHORITY FIGURE FOR
CLUES
 During significant change, observe the
authority figure for their views on issues
and the organizational impact.
 His/her behavior is a clue to the group’s
level of distress and path to restoring
equilibrium.
 A cooling attitude from the authority
figure indicates organizational resistance
to change.

28. SUMMARY: GET ON THE BALCONY
 Leadership is an improvisational art,
there is no script.
 Keep a diagnostic mindset in a changing
reality.
 A plan is no more than today’s best guess.
 You must see what is happening, while its
happening.
 Hear what is said; but don’t take it at
face value.
 Watch the authority figures.

29. THINK POLITICALLY
Chapter 4

30. THINK POLITICALLY
 There are six aspects of thinking
politically in the exercise of leadership:
 One for dealing with people who are with you
on the issue;
 One for managing those who are in opposition;
 Four for working with those who are
uncommitted but wary – the people you are
trying to move.

31. FIND PARTNERS
 Partners provide protection and create
alliances with factions; strengthening you
and your initiatives.
 Having partners who are members of the
faction for whom the change is most
difficult can make a huge difference.
 Make the phone calls, test the waters,
refine your approach and line up support.
 It is a mistake to “go it alone”.

32. KEEP THE OPPOSITION CLOSE
 To succeed in exercising leadership, you
must work closely with your opponents.
 We may cringe at spending time with them
but these anxieties are clues to the
resistance ahead.
 People who oppose you’re objectives are
usually those with the most to lose; they
deserve more attention out of compassion,
strategy and survival.
 Don’t forget those in the middle.

33. ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR
PIECE OF THE MESS
 Belonging to the community or group that
you are trying to lead makes you part of
the problem.
 Accept responsibility for your piece of
the current situation, while trying to
move followers to a better place.
 Being too quick to lay blame on others,
will create risk for yourself.

34. ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR LOSS
 Adaptive work often requires a tough
choice between values and beliefs that
define who we are.
 Part of leading is about helping followers
to figure out what to let go of.
 It is critical to communicate the reason
for sacrifice.
 Show that you understand that letting go
is difficult.

35. MODEL THE BEHAVIOR
 Modeling the behavior you desire is the
most powerful way to acknowledge loss.
 Thus modeling the behavior you expect of
others is crucial in adaptive change.
 Demonstrate the behavior you expect of
others, even if it hurts.
 Even symbolic modeling can have a
substantial impact, motivating followers
to do the same.

36. ACCEPT CASUALTIES
 Adaptive change may hurt those who
benefit from the status quo.
 Those who cannot adapt will be left
behind, becoming casualties.
 Thus, casualties are by-product of
adaptive work.
 Accepting casualties shows your courage
and commitment to change.
 An aversion to casualties, presents an
invitation to push your perspective aside.

37. SUMMARY: THINK POLITICALLY
 The lone warrior myth of leadership is
heroic suicide.
 Find partners: nobody is smart or fast
enough to go it alone.
 Acknowledge the risks and losses.
 Be prepared to accept casualties.
 Have the heart to engage in conflict to
avoid losing the organization.

38. ORCHESTRATE THE CONFLICT
Chapter 5

39. ORCHESTRATE THE CONFLICT
 When you tackle a tough issue there will
be conflict.
 Most people have a natural aversion to
conflict; organizations hate it.
 Adaptive change requires working through
conflict; reducing destructive potential.
 Orchestrate the conflict by:
 Creating a holding environment
 Controlling the temperature
 Setting the pace
 Showing them the future

40. CREATE A HOLDING ENVIRONMENT
 A holding environment is a space in which
people can tackle tough, divisive questions
without flying apart.
 It absorbs the heat of adaptive change;
cooling conflicts and dampening passions.
 In a holding environment, people feel safe
to address problems that are difficult.
 No holding environment can withstand
endless strain; leaders must keep the
stress at a productive level.

41. CONTROL THE TEMPERATURE
 Change generates tension and produces
heat; thus managing change requires
controlling the temperature.
 Control the temperature by:
 Raising the heat so that people deal with the
threats and challenges facing them.
 Lowering the heat to reduce counterproductive
tension.
 The heat must stay in a tolerable range.

42. CONTROL THE TEMPERATURE

43. CONTROL THE TEMPERATURE
 We call this range the productive zone of
distress.

44. CONTROL THE TEMPERATURE
 To raise the temperature:
 Highlight the hard issues and focus on them;
 Let people feel the weight of responsibility.
 To reduce the temperature:
 Start with technical problems;
 Break the issue into smaller parts;
 Create shared successes;
 Use humor or take a break;
 Bear more of the responsibility yourself;
 Use transcendent values.

45. CONTROL THE TEMPERATURE
 Don’t expect the group to tolerate more
heat than you can.
 Increasing your own capacity for taking
heat will raise the tolerance of the group.
 Control your emotional responses.
 Monitor the temperature of the group;
keeping it high enough to motivate, but not
so high that it paralyzes.
 If you sense a melt-down, cool things off

46. PACE THE WORK
 People can only stand so much change at one
time.
 By pacing the work, you make change a
strategic and deliberate process.
 This requires letting ideas and programs
seep out slowly to be tested and accepted.
 The pace is determined by the:
 Difficulty of the issue;
 Tolerance of the group;
 Strength of the authority relationships;
 Holding environment.
 Be ready to improvise, adapt and overcome.

47. SHOW THEM THE FUTURE
 Keeping change going forward requires
constant reinforcement of the vision and
“dream” (what they’re fighting for).
 Keep the “dream” tangible.
 Helping followers see the “dream” will
keep them from focusing on the losses.

48. SUMMARY:
ORCHESTRATE THE CONFLICT
 Build structures of relationships to work
the tough issues.
 Keep your hands on the temperature
controls.
 Don’t provoke people too much, too
quickly.
 Orchestrate the conflict, don’t become
the conflict.
 Let them do the work.

49. GIVE THE WORK BACK
Chapter 6

50. GIVE THE WORK BACK
 Shouldering the adaptive work of others
is risky.
 When you take on a issue, you become the
issue.
 You will be held responsible for the
disequilibrium the process has generated.

51. TAKE THE WORK OFF YOUR
SHOULDERS
 Place the work where it belongs; in the
right place where it can be resolved by
the parties involved.
 Do not waste time trying to explain
yourself. This will personalize the issue.
 Resisting the temptation to fix the issue
yourself takes courage and discipline.

52. PLACE THE WORK WHERE IT
BELONGS
 Adaptive challenges require followers to
change their hearts and behaviors.
 The “people with the problem” must
become the “people with the solution”.
 Resist personalizing the issue: keep the
focus on the work with those who need
the solution.

53. MAKE YOUR INTERVENTIONS
SHORT AND SIMPLE.
 Leadership requires interventions.
 Keep them short and simple:
 Observations
 Questions
 Interpretations
 Action
 Which intervention depends on your skill,
purpose and assessment of success.

54. OBSERVATIONS
 Observations are statements that
attempt to describe current conditions.
 They shift the group onto the balcony to
get a little distance from the focus and
seek perspective on what they are doing.
 They are less threatening than other
interventions.

55. QUESTIONS
 A question may have the effect of giving
the work back to the group.
 You might use a question to avoid the “line
of fire”, while still getting the issue
addressed.
 Injecting your interpretation of events
into a question makes it “loaded”.
 Avoid asking a “loaded” question; they
irritate people unnecessarily.

56. INTERPRETATIONS
 It is much better to follow an observation
with an interpretation rather than a
loaded question.
 In offering an interpretation, you may not
be fully certain of its accuracy; wait and
listen.
 Interpretations are provocative and raise
the heat: be ready to prove you’re still on
the “team”.

57. ACTIONS
 Actions communicate.
 Actions as interventions can complicate
situations because they are susceptible to
multiple interpretations.
 Actions draw attention, but the message
and the content must be crystal clear.

58. SUMMARY: GIVE THE WORK BACK
 Survival in leadership requires avoiding
being the target of people’s frustrations.
 Think constantly about giving the work
back to the people who need to take
responsibility.
 You must hold steady in the aftermath of
your intervention to evaluate how to move
next.

59. HOLD STEADY
Chapter 7

60. HOLD STEADY
 Holding steady in the heat of action is an
essential skill for survival and keeping
people focused on the work ahead.
 Take the heat.
 Let the issue ripen.
 Focus attention on the issue.

61. TAKE THE HEAT
 Learning to “take the heat” is one of the
toughest tasks of leadership.
 “Taking the heat” is disappointing people
at a rate they can absorb.
 People will test your steadiness and judge
your worthiness by how you react.
 Receiving people’s anger without becoming
personally defensive generates trust.
 Taking heat with grace communicates
respect for the pains of change.

62. LET THE ISSUE RIPEN
 Wait until an issue is ripe, or ripen it
yourself.
 The organization must be psychologically
ready to weigh priorities and take losses.
 When is an issue “ripe”:
 What else is on people’s minds?
 How deeply are people affected by the
problem?
 How much do people need to learn?
 What are the senior authority figures saying?

63. LET THE ISSUE RIPEN
 You may have to take baby steps.
 It may take years to ripen the issue in an
organization to the point that people
understand what is at stake and can
decide their fate.
 Those who have authority put it at risk by
seeking to raise unripe issues.

64. FOCUS ATTENTION ON THE ISSUE
 Getting people to focus on tough
problems is a complicated and difficult
task.
 Out of sight out of mind
 Swept under the carpet
 “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
 Scapegoating
 Reorganizing (again)
 Passing the buck (setting up another
committee)
 Finding an external enemy
 Blaming authority
 Character assassination

65. FOCUS ATTENTION ON THE ISSUE
 In leading, you need to hold steady in the
face of these distractions, counteract
them, and redirect attention to the issue
at hand.
 Use creative ways to signal the situation
is different.
 You may need to escalate efforts to a
level that puts you at risk.
 Reduce the danger by speaking in a
neutral and factual manner.

66. SUMMARY: HOLD STEADY
 Maintain creative tension.
 Allow the issues to ripen.
 Allow yourself time to create a strategy
to ripen an issue.
 Give yourself time to find out where
people are on an issue in order to refocus.

67. PART THREE
Strength and Honor (Body and Soul)

68. MANAGE YOUR HUNGERS
Chapter 8

69. MANAGE YOUR HUNGERS
 We all have hungers: but they can cause
us to act unwisely or without purpose.
 Recognizing and managing our hungers is
personal.
 It is easy to get caught up in the action
and lose wisdom, discipline and control.
 Adaptive leadership requires discipline;
giving in to temptation destroys one’s
capacity to lead.

70. POWER AND CONTROL
 The hunger for power is human, but some
have an abnormal need for control also.
 Power is the great aphrodisiac; giving in
to it displays a lack of self-control.
 These people can lose sight of the work;
thus losing sight of the solution.
 Followers give power in return for
service; thus, they can easily revoke it.
 Don’t let power go to your head.

71. AFFIRMATION AND IMPORTANCE
 When leading, some will affirm your views
and others will oppose.
 Accepting accolades in an undisciplined
way can lead to grandiosity.
 The hunger for importance clouds the
warnings of danger.
 Grandiosity isolates you from reality,
setting you up for failure.
 Knowing the limits of your competence
will keep you open to learning.

72. INTIMACY AND DELIGHT
 Human beings need intimacy; but can be
vulnerable when fulfilling this need.
 Power is the great aphrodisiac; giving in
to it displays a lack of self-control.
 Sex is a common way of fulfilling intimacy
and delight.
 The struggle for inner discipline is a
responsibility of leadership and authority.

73. WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
 How can we manage hungers:
 Know yourself.
 Acknowledge your needs.
 Appropriately honor those needs.
 This requires knowing your vulnerabilities
and compensating for them.
 Ideas for managing intimacy and desire:
 Transitional rituals
 Rekindle the sparks

74. WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
 Transitional rituals:
 Helps us feel our own skins again.
 Transition between public and private lives.
 Routine activity coupled with intent to unplug
and slow down.
 Rekindle the Sparks:
 Intimate relationships are important.
 When trouble strikes, have the courage to get
help.
 Restoring intimate relationships is the
healthiest way to manage hungers.

75. SUMMARY: MANAGE YOUR HUNGERS
 We are designed to live in small groups
under stable conditions.
 Its okay to feel overwhelmed or hunkered
down.
 We need ongoing practices to compensate
for weaknesses.

76. ANCHOR YOURSELF
Chapter 9

77. ANCHOR YOURSELF
 To anchor ourselves, it is important to
distinguish between roles and self .
 Self, we can anchor;
 Roles, we cannot.
 Self relies on the ability to witness, learn
and refine core values.
 Roles are dependent on the expectations
of others.

78. DISTINGUISH ROLE FROM SELF
 It is easy to confuse role with self .
 In order to withstand and judge criticism
fairly, you must separate role from self.
 Anchoring enables you to sustain opposition;
providing the stamina to remain gentle,
focused and persistent.
 How you mange accusations, rather than
the accusations themselves, determines
your fate.
 Don’t lose touch with self and become the
issue.

79. KEEP CONFIDANTS, AND DON’T
CONFUSE THEM WITH ALLIES
 You need both allies and confidants.
 Allies share your values and strategy but
operate across a boundary.
 Confidants are outside of boundaries and
provide an outlet not found in the group.
 They must be separate from each other.
 Turning an ally into a confidant places that
relationship at risk and causes harm.
 Once an ally fails you as a confidant, they
slip away as reliable allies.

80. SEEK SANCTUARY
 Having a readily available sanctuary
provides an indispensable physical anchor
and source of sustenance.
 It is not a place to hide, but one of
reflection and renewal where you can
reaffirm your sense of self and purpose.
 Everyone seeking to exercise leadership
needs a sanctuary among their anchors.

81. SUMMARY: ANCHOR YOURSELF
 We all need anchors to keep us from
being swept away by the distractions.
 It is about recognizing the seriousness of
caring for ourselves in order to do justice
to our values and aspirations.
 Without antidotes to the modern world,
we lose perspective, jeopardize the
issues, and risk our future.
 We forget what’s on the line.

82. WHAT’S ON THE LINE?
Chapter 10

83. WHAT’S ON THE LINE?
 Why lead and put yourself on the line?
 Leadership is driven by the desire of one
person to contribute to others.
 Leadership allows us to connect with
others in a significant way.
 The word we use for this connection is
love.

84. LOVE
 The enduring basis for all civilizations lies
in their attachments to one another or
love.
 Love gives meaning to what you do.
 The heart of leadership comes from
feeling the bonds of those you love.

85. THE MYTH OF MEASUREMENT
 People can get stuck in the myth of
measurement.
 While, measurement is an extraordinarily
useful tool, one cannot measure the good
one does.
 Measurement cannot quantify the essence
of what makes individuals or lives
worthwhile.

86. THE FORM DOESN’T MATTER
 The form of one’s contribution is far less
important than the content.
 People experience disorientation and
despair when they mistake form for
content.
 Don’t get caught up in the form, it is the
content that has the true value.
 Keep your sense of purpose and meaning
flexible; work should support you, not
define you.

87. SUMMARY: WHAT’S ON THE LINE?
 Leadership is a way of giving meaning to
your life by contributing to others.
 Leadership is a labor of love.
 Opportunities for these labors cross your
path everyday.
 Seizing these opportunities takes heart.

88. SACRED HEART
Chapter 11

89. SACRED HEART
 Exercising leadership is an expression of
your aliveness but does not come without
pain.
 Getting beat up, put down, or silenced
while leading can result in the loss of
innocence, curiosity and compassion.
 They become cynicism, arrogance and
callousness as a defense.
 These feelings will destroy your capacity
to lead, disabling the life experience.

90. SACRED HEART
Quality of Heart
Becomes
Dressed Up As
Innocence Cynicism Realism
Curiosity Arrogance
Authoritative
Knowledge
Compassion
Callousness
The thick-skin of
experience

91. A REFLECTION ON SACRED HEART
 The most difficult work of leadership is
learning to feel distress without numbing
yourself.
 The virtue of a sacred heart lies in the
courage to maintain your innocence,
curiosity, compassion and love.
 The power of a sacred heart helps you
and others to find the courage to endure
the pain of change without running away.

92. INNOCENCE, CURIOSITY AND
COMPASSION: VIRTUES OF AN OPEN
HEART
 You choose to lead with passion because
an issue moves you.
 Keeping a sacred heart is about holding on
to these virtues as you pursue your
passion.
 The virtues are innocence, curiosity and
compassion.

93. VIRTUES OF AN OPEN HEART:
INNOCENCE
 Innocence is the capacity to be childlike
in your pursuits, playful in your life and
work and strange to your organization.
 It fosters the consideration of creative
solutions but can fade over time.
 Maintaining innocence requires having a
mechanism to rebuild or reconnect with
it.

94. VIRTUES OF AN OPEN HEART:
CURIOSITY
 To succeed in leading adaptive change,
you need curiosity; or the capacity to
listen with open ears, and to embrace new
and disturbing ideas.
 If you are honest, you know that your
vision is merely the best estimate of what
the path is currently.
 Thus, adaptive leadership requires you to
continuously question everything and be
curious.

95. VIRTUES OF AN OPEN HEART:
COMPASSION
 Compassion enables you to acknowledge
other’s pain and loss even when it seems
that you have no resources left.
 It is necessary for success, survival and
for leading a “whole” life.
 Compassion allows you to triage your
attention, care and skill to those who
have fought the hardest and need it
most.

96. FINAL SUMMARY
 Opportunities to lead are available every
day.
 Putting yourself on the line is difficult
work and the dangers are real.
 Leadership has nobility and benefits for
you and those around you that are beyond
the ability to measure.

97. REFERENCES
 Heifetz, R., & Linsky, M. (2002).
Leadership on the line: Staying alive
through the dangers of leading. Boston,
Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.
 Adaptive vs. Technical. Perf. Dr. Ron
Heifetz, Ph.D. 2011. YouTube. Center for
Integrative Leadership, University of
Minnesota, 4 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 Feb.
2015.
 Paul Combs Images