Editor's notes

The need to adapt behaviors appropriately to situational constraints and particular members is one aspect of leadership that has received minimal attention from previous research. This study examined the distributional structures of leaders' comments in discussions with differing purposes in an attempt to determine whether leaders adapt their oral behaviors to meet varying goals and to compensate for failures in previous meetings. It was concluded that leaders do adapt oral behaviors to achieve objectives and in response to past failures. This finding suggests that a broad repertoire of possible behaviors is important for successful leaders who find themselves in a variety of discussional situations with divergent goals, members, and constraints.