Leadership in Complex Adaptive Systems

The concept of leadership involves making judgments that lead to action at different scales of responsibility and operations. It means the capacity to engage not only individuals in solving immediate problems, but also groups and organizations as they address broader issues of collective interest, as well as public decision making and collective action at the societal level The exercise of leadership varies by scale, complexity of operations, and impact – from the individual paramedic who has to make instant decisions regarding how to deal with an injured patient to an international coordinating committee that decides how to distribute humanitarian aid following a disaster. The contributing authors examine how leadership works in practice at different scales of public service operations. These scales range from the micro level (within organizations) to the meso level (collaboration among actors, organizations, and organizational networks) to the macro level (collaboration among international, national, regional, and local actors).