What Would You Have Done
Leadership cases that put you in the decision-maker’s seat and invite you to examine the choices you would make.
View on AmazonThe newest book from Paul B. Thornton
Read the situation. Choose how to lead.
The 3D Adaptive Leadership Model
A simple, practical framework for diagnosing what is happening, choosing the right response, and adjusting as conditions change.
- 10chapters
- 6case studies
- 3leadership styles
DiagnoseAdd valueAdjust
Inside the model
A practical response to the moment you are in.
Whatever situation a leader faces—conflict, change, resistance, uncertainty, criticism, or opportunity—the leader’s job is to diagnose the situation, choose the appropriate response, and adjust as conditions evolve.
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1
Diagnose
Understand the environment, the task, and the people before taking action.
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2
Add value
Identify the need for clarity, capability, or commitment, then choose how to respond.
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3
Adjust
Pay attention to changing conditions and adjust your leadership approach when required.
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Make better decisions
Diagnose before acting to avoid jumping to conclusions and reduce costly mistakes.
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Achieve your goals
Give people the direction, support, or autonomy they need to make progress.
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Develop your people
Help people build the skills, confidence, and independence needed for future success.
Inside the book
Ten chapters. Six cases. One practical model.
The book moves from the model itself to realistic leadership situations, then closes with the forces and mistakes that shape a leader’s response.
Part I
The model
Chapter 1The 3D Adaptive Leadership ModelPart II
Case studies: applying the model
- Improper use of work time
- The feuding VPs
- Addressing accountability
- Business simplification
- The system is the problem
- Accelerating AI implementation
Part III
Making adaptive leadership work
- The underlying forces that influence your behavior
- Avoid these mistakes
- Final thoughts
Selected work
Books built for the work of leading.
Each book focuses on a practical question: how to diagnose, decide, communicate, align an organization, or help people perform.
Leadership Skills: Boost Your Effectiveness
A focused guide to strengthening the everyday skills leaders use to set direction, communicate, and follow through.
View on Amazon
Add Value: Improve the Status Quo
A concise examination of how people at every level can improve results instead of merely maintaining current conditions.
View on AmazonExperience in the room
Leadership studied, taught, practiced, and tested over four decades.
Paul’s work joins the perspective of a professor with the experience of a corporate leader, coach, trainer, and lifelong student of organizational behavior.
Read Paul’s biography
40+years studying and teaching leadership
100+published articles
20years at United Technologies
Ideas for leaders
Read the articles.
Practical writing on leadership styles, communication, change, developing people, and building effective organizations.
Explore Paul’s writingWork with Paul
Bring the ideas into the room.
Seminars, workshops, and training grounded in experience with leaders and organizations in the United States and abroad.
Explore speaking and trainingTeaching and learning
Leadership is a conversation.
Paul’s work has always happened among people: in classrooms, businesses, conferences, and conversations about what effective leadership requires now.
