Leadership Adaptation in Persistent Turbulence: An Empirical Model of Sensemaking, Sensegiving, Preparedness, and Human Capacity

Abstract

Leaders increasingly operate within environments characterized by uncertainty, disruption, ambiguity, and accelerating technological change. This research study investigated how experienced leaders adapt to persistent turbulent environments and identified the practices that support effective leadership under such conditions. An interpretivist qualitative research design was employed, drawing upon semi-structured interviews with eighteen senior leaders from diverse organizational contexts. The findings revealed five interconnected leadership practices: iterative sensemaking, sensegiving as mobilization, adaptive authority modulation, preparedness as enacted routine, and human-capacity regulation. Participants described turbulence not as an episodic event but as a continuous operating condition requiring ongoing adaptation. The study proposes an empirical model of leadership adaptation that shifts attention from static leadership competencies toward recursive leadership practices. The findings contribute to understanding how leaders sustain organizational effectiveness while preserving human capacity during prolonged turbulence.