Ambidextrous leadership is a recently introduced term by scholars to characterize a special approach to leadership that is mostly used in organizations. It refers to the simultaneous use of explorative and exploitative activities by leaders (Helmold et al., 2023). Ambidextrous leadership is a leadership skill that allows you to flexibly switch between opposing leadership styles depending on what the current situation requires. This type of leadership leverages the strengths of both results-oriented and people-focused approaches to successfully manage and adapt teams (Duwe, 2022). It is a valuable tool for effectively navigating and achieving peak performance in today’s dynamic business world. Ambidexterity or Multiple Hands Leadership is becoming increasingly important in everyday management work. This refers to the ability to reconcile different ways of acting and apparent contradictions such as hierarchy versus self-organization and to use them for transformation processes. The classic manager ensures that his area functions reliably. Classic or exploitative leadership is therefore concerned with maintaining and optimizing existing structures (March, 1991). Managers set goals, conduct performance checks, give systematic feedback and reward or punish depending on the degree to which goals are achieved. The role of the agile manager, on the other hand, is a new one. The agile manager ensures that his team has the best possible conditions to complete its tasks in the most self-organized way possible. This form of explorative leadership relies on role models, inspiring motivation, intellectual stimulation, and the individual development of individual team members. In their pure form, these two leadership approaches are rare. In the current transformation processes, managers move between the two poles of “totally exploitative” or “totally explorative.” In concrete terms, this means that managers are currently required to use both leadership approaches in parallel, depending on the situation. In this context, ambidexterity or ambidexterity describes the ability of managers to switch back and forth between these two different, sometimes even contradictory, approaches (Kassotaki et al., 2019). Depending on the situation, either approach is implemented (O’Reill & Tushmann, 2004). This can mean, for example, that, on the one hand, the manager simply sets goals and leaves implementation entirely to the team (exploratory) and, on the other hand, has to ensure that routines are adhered to and rules are followed (exploitative). The existing contradictions are obvious. Ambidextrous managers must be able to deal with contradictions and maintain a good balance, as well as have a high degree of empathy for their employees (Ferrary, 2011). Figure 5.1 shows the ambidextrous leadership process. The concept suggests the simultaneous use of explorative and exploitative activities by leaders. Exploration refers to search, risk taking, experimentation, and innovation in organizations, whereas exploitation has to do with refinement, efficiency, implementation, and execution Raisch and Birkinshaw (2008). Successful ambidextrous leaders must be able to achieve the appropriate mix of explorative and exploitative activities, unique for each organization, that will lead them to innovations and significant performance outcomes.
