Ethical Adaptive Complexity Leadership: A Phenomenological Study of Critical Incidents in Complex Decision Making

June 19, 2026

Ethical Adaptive Complexity Leadership: A Phenomenological Study of Critical Incidents in Complex Decision Making

Jeffrey Glenn McKinney | 2026

Abstract

Leaders frequently face ethical decisions in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environments. This phenomenological study explored how experienced organizational leaders described, interpreted, and responded to ethically complex decision making during critical incidents. Guided by the ethical adaptive complexity leadership (EACL) framework, which integrates ethical, adaptive, and complexity leadership theories, the study employed Flanagan’s (1954) critical incident technique (CIT) to elicit detailed narratives from senior leaders across diverse organizational settings. Eight semistructured interview questions, based on current leadership research, directed this investigation. Data analysis involved thematic coding within a phenomenological approach, identifying themes both inductively and deductively. Findings revealed recurring patterns of ethical tension, adaptive responses, and systems awareness that influenced leader behavior and reflective thinking. This research advances leadership scholarship by combining ethical, adaptive, and faith-informed perspectives across organizational, military, and community contexts. By reframing systemic pressures as opportunities for moral reflection and coalition building, leaders demonstrate how they turn crises into testimonies of service. The unique contribution of this work lies in its multidimensional framework, which integrates theory and practice to guide leadership in ethically complex situations. Implications include applications for leadership training, crisis management, ethical decision-making frameworks, and organizational resilience.

Keywords: adaptive leadership, coalition building, complexity leadership, critical incident technique, decision making, real-time crisis management

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