A633.4.4.RB_MelissaBurns

Have you had to lead in similar situations?
How were you able to lead?
What tenets of Adaptive leadership might be employed in such situations?
In the article, How to Lead When You’re Not the Boss, it gives a five-step approach to leadership. The steps are to establish goals, think systematically, learn from experience while it’s happening, engage others and finally to provide feedback (How to Lead When You’re Not the Boss, 2009). This leadership technique can be applied in a multitude of situations including an office environment, a team, a group or even a school.  When I consider these questions, I think about taking part in a world record skydive. 
In 2015, I had the privilege of taking part in the head down vertical world record at Skydive Chicago.  I was one of over 170 skydivers who came from around the world to participate in this event. Over the course of two years each participating jumper had to attend try-out camps and skills camps where they would have to prove their skills and then build upon those skills with the goal of coming together to create a world record.  The skydivers involved did not all speak the same language and have not all jumped together before.  Every single person that took part in this record had to take an active and adaptive leadership role in order to accomplish our common goal, to jump out of a large formation of aircraft, fly our bodies safely into our pre-determined position, hold hands at the same time and then safely fly our bodies away to deploy our canopies and land safely back on the ground.  How did I approach my own leadership opportunities to make this record happen?    
While attempting the record jumps, we had to climb up to 18,000 feet and breathe supplemental oxygen from a tube that runs along the side of the aircraft benches where we sat.  When the red light changed to yellow it was time for us to stand up and to get into position to wait for our cue to exit the aircraft.  During this waiting period the skydivers cannot all remain on their supplemental oxygen and at times the wait for the green light to jump can take several minutes as the formation of aircraft get into position.  On one jump we had a skydiver go hypoxic and become disoriented and as a result he flew through the middle of the formation!  Fortunately, no one was hurt, and we were able to safely debrief the situation on the ground.  I took the opportunity to approach the organizer of the record and to discuss hypoxia and techniques to help to counter the effects of it during that waiting period in the aircraft while the yellow light is on.  One of my airshow collogues became hypoxic while flying his Stearman over the mountains and told me about pressure breathing and showed me how to use it to increase the pressure in your lungs.  This pilot was able to pressure breathe when he recognized that he was becoming disoriented due to hypoxia and it helped him to re-oxygenate his body and to fly safely back to a lower altitude where he was no longer hypoxic. The organizer had me give a short lesson to the skydivers on the record on pressure breathing and on recognizing the signs of hypoxia and we did not have another situation for the remainder of the record attempts.  
Looking back at the situation today, I can see where we were able to implement adaptive leadership techniques.  While not everyone had heard of or believed in the effectiveness of pressure breathing, they still allowed me to share my knowledge with the group.  The skydiver who became hypoxic could have gotten defensive or reclusive after the incident, but instead he used the opportunity to discuss what happened with the group so that everyone could learn from his experience, even though he was removed from the record for safety reasons.  The group organizer actively engaged the group as a whole and welcomed discussion and questions.  There was an already established goal to come together to create a world record but underlying this was and always is a goal to do so safely. 
Finally, we were able to follow up and receive feedback after the next jumps to see if anyone was still feeling or recognizing the signs of hypoxia and if the technique of pressure breathing was helping.  The feedback was positive and not only were jumpers now recognizing their own signs of hypoxia, but they were successfully implementing the technique of pressure breathing to combat the hypoxia.  In the end we were able to safely get the record and I believe that we successfully implemented adaptive leadership within our group throughout the entire process.    
You can watch the successful 164-way vertical world record here:  https://youtu.be/EMfUTRSPT1w(Jointheteam, 2015).  

References
How to Lead When You’re Not the Boss. (2009). Harvard Management Update, 14(3), 1–2. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=36826490&site=ehost-live
Jointheteam. (2015, August 19).  Teem Originals:  The Official 164-Way Vertical World Record.  Retrieved from https://youtu.be/EMfUTRSPT1w

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