Hardly does a day go by without applying 'adaptive leadership' concepts I was introduced to by Professor Ron Heifetz while studying at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 2006–2007. In my work for the state of Lower Austria — managing mountain resorts and promoting regional development — quite a few challenges are of adaptive nature, as there are no tested 'technical solutions' to climate change, rural depopulation or tourism businesses going digital.

“Stay diagnostic even as you take action.” ― Ronald Heifetz, Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World 

Markus Redl is a graduate of the University of Vienna and studied at Harvard University as an Austrian Fulbright Student in 2006–07. Photo courtesy of Markus Redl.