Adaptive Leadership: The Heifetz Collection (3 Items)

proud of their heritage and their craft. Typically, they had been with

the newspaper for years, through good times and bad. Many of

them had relatives at the paper, sons or daughters who worked on

the business side or even as reporters and editors. They were family.

In turning to her younger colleagues, Sara confused allies with

confidants. Don, her deputy, was one of them. Don was talented,

demanding, and high strung, and as committed as she was to the

new visual emphasis of the paper. He was an effective ally, but this

did not mean he was with her personally. On the contrary, Don

found Sara abrasive and difficult to deal with, and thought her per-

sonality added to the already tricky problem of changing people’s

attitudes and habits.

He also wanted her ...