Five Common Adaptive Challenges in the Modern Workplace (And How to Tackle Them)
Leadership & Communication • 3 min read
Individual Course
Adaptive Leadership: Practical Strategies for Change
Course Length
5 weeks
6 hours per week
Featuring faculty from:
Harvard Kennedy School
Certificate Price:
$ 1,850
Enroll by Jan 22, 2026
Enroll NowCertificate Price:
$ 1,850
Enroll by Jan 22, 2026
Enroll NowIn today’s complex and fast-paced world, leadership isn’t limited to those with authority or expertise—it’s a practice available to anyone, at any stage of their career.
One of the most popular courses at Harvard Kennedy School is now available online!
The Adaptive Leadership approach was pioneered over the course of more than 40 years by Harvard Kennedy School Faculty Ronald Heifetz and offers a tested framework for overcoming challenges and creating productive change where traditional approaches fall short.
This course goes beyond theory, exploring the real-world experiences of Heifetz’s former students who have applied Adaptive Leadership principles in their professional careers across industries and around the globe. From policy innovation and crisis response to corporate product management and health care leadership, these stories serve as living examples of the framework in action. You’ll learn to identify the core issue at the heart of your challenge, view it through a broader systems lens, and make targeted changes that drive meaningful progress—while building trust and empowering others to contribute along the way.
Through real leadership stories, interactive exercises, and insights from Heifetz and other changemakers across industries, you’ll develop a systematic approach to leadership that helps you drive progress.
Self-Guided
Harvard Online
Industries:
- Consulting
- Health Care
- Government
- Technology
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Navigate Complexity and Change
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Foster Collaboration and Empower Others
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Drive Progress on Stubborn Challenges
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Course Syllabus
Adaptive Leadership: Practical Strategies for Change provides an in-depth overview of one of Harvard’s well tested approaches to making a difference in any group, community, or organization. Following and analyzing the success stories of five practitioners, all former students of the course, you will gain effective tools and strategies for diagnosing challenges and generating lasting progress in the systems you’re a part of, no matter what level of rank, authority, or power you may hold.
Faculty
Industry Experts
Your Instructor
Ronald Heifetz
Founder, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School
Ronald Heifetz is the Founder, Center for Public Leadership and the King Hussein bin Talal Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is among the world’s foremost authorities on the practice and teaching of leadership. He speaks extensively and advises heads of governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations across the globe. In 2016, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia highlighted Heifetz’s advice in his Nobel Peace Prize Lecture.
Industry Expert
Uriel Kejsefman
Senior Product Manager at Duolingo
Uriel Kejsefman is a Senior Product Manager at Duolingo, where he has overseen the growth of Duolingo subscriptions, redesigned the learning experience with AI, and expanded access to English learning worldwide. Uriel’s has worked to expand access to education across industries—advising universities at the Education Advisory Board, designing large-scale education reforms at the World Bank, and building learning products at Duolingo. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Humanities from Yale University and a Master’s in Public Administration in International Development from Harvard University.
Industry Expert
Mitzi Johnson
Former Vermont Speaker of the House
Mitzi Johnson is a leadership consultant, trainer, and coach. In her former role as Speaker of the House, she reshaped Vermont’s legislature and policy focus to navigate the challenging and deeply uncertain first year of the COVID pandemic. Representing the Grand Isle-Chittenden district in the Vermont House from 2003-2021, she helped shape the legislative agenda for nearly 2 decades. For 10 of those years she wrote the state’s budget on the Appropriations Committee, including as Chair and during the Great Recession. She is widely recognized not only for her policy work in community development, water quality, and landmark tri-partisan gun safety legislation, but also for improving collaboration across party lines and strengthening transparency and inclusion. Mitzi holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Vermont.
Industry Expert
Dr. Hasan Sheikh
Emergency Physician and Clinical Lead for Substance Use Disorders, Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence, Ontario Health
Dr. Hasan Sheikh is an emergency and addiction medicine physician at the University Health Network in Toronto, where he serves as the Medical Lead for Substance Use Services. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine, and holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He also serves as the Provincial Clinical Lead for Substance Use Disorders at the Centre of Excellence for Mental Health and Addictions at Ontario Health.
Industry Expert
Rebecca Trupin
Consultant and Facilitator
Rebecca Trupin is a facilitator and consultant, who specializes in working with governments and communities to strengthen core public services. She has 14+ years of experience in strategic planning, organizational development, and movement building across small-holder agriculture, conservation, education and public health. She co-founded Better Purpose Collective in India to advance previous work with the state government of Meghalaya to reduce maternal and infant mortality, further early childhood development, and strengthen government-citizen partnerships. Rebecca is currently a Senior Policy Manager at the What Works Hub for Global Education, at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. She holds a Master's in Public Administration in International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Industry Expert
Kornvuthi (Korn) Lapprathana
Co-Founder and CEO, TechUp
Kornvuthi (Korn) Lapprathana is co-founder and CEO of TechUp, a tech academy based in Thailand that runs bootcamps and courses in software development, data analytics, and generative AI. Prior to starting TechUp, he worked in management consulting in Asia and Africa. Korn holds a B.A. in Economics from Yale University, an MPA in International Development from Harvard University, and an MBA from Stanford University.
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Past Participant Discounts
Learners who have enrolled in at least one qualifying Harvard Online program can receive a 30% discount, automatically applied to the Program Fee upon time of payment.
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- Five Common Adaptive Challenges in the Modern Workplace (And How to Tackle Them)