Leader ambidexterity in goal orientation and team adaptive performance

Team goal orientation-that is, team members' desire for learning or performance (or both) in achievement settings-has been treated as a stable team characteristic with benefits and costs that are contingent on the teams' circumstances. From this view, team effectiveness is thought to be a function of a team possessing the "right" goal orientation in the "right" situation. However, because no single goal orientation is conducive to effective team functioning across the range of complex and changing circumstances that teams may face, a more fluid view of goal orientation may be helpful in understanding how goal orientation in teams may foster team adaptive performance. Specifically, we propose that teams whose work involves complexity and change may adapt more effectively as a result of leader-initiated shifts in goal orientation as circumstances evolve. To examine this possibility, we develop and examine the concept of leader ambidexterity in goal orientation-defined as a leader's capability to switch across different goal orientations in response to various situational demands. Using a scale measure we developed and validated for this research, we explore the role of leader ambidexterity in goal orientation as a predictor of team adaptive performance using field data from 79 teams at a premier U.S. military academy. We found that team adaptive performance was higher in teams whose leaders scored higher on ambidexterity in goal orientation. This effect was robust even when accounting for stable leader and team-level goal orientation variables. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of this work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).