#agileleadership #agileleaders #agileleader #agile
No matter what area of the organisation you are in, everyone can be a leader in some capacity. People choose to follow you because they admire or are inspired by who you are as a person. It's all about how you present yourself, act, live your life, and treat people. The Agile Leadership model demonstrates this.
Let’s define what Agile Leadership is.
According to Wikipedia, Agile Leadership claims to focus on culture, ownership, mindset, feedback, and long-term goals. The essence of Agile Leadership is creating the right environment for self-managing teams. Below are the focus areas of an Agile Leader:
Co-create the goals – instead of giving instructions, rather make sure that the goals are collaborative.
Facilitate ownership – create an environment in which agile teams can grow and thrive autonomously.
Learn faster – being fit and ready for the future is not about being the best, it's about learning fastest.
Design the culture – The Agile Leader must envision, design, and improve the culture of the organisation (leave this, however, always ask yourself – how is this different than normal – in this case, isn’t this true for any leader, not just Agile Leaders?).
Therefore, agility conjures up images of nimbleness, dynamism, and adaptability, and today's leaders’ thinking must include the ability to be flexible within the limits of the workplace. This kind of leadership ties in perfectly with progressive company cultures when we consider that we are seeking to link in with today's culture of autonomous thinking for employees. As businesses grow increasingly customer-centric, Agile Leadership allows employees to quickly adjust to the constantly changing needs of both customers and suppliers.
On the other hand, a panel from Forbes also shared their thoughts about what it means to be a truly Agile Leader.
Agile Leadership means remaining up to date on skills, developments, and trends, keeping a finger on the pulse of your employees, customers and industry and maintaining a solution-focused, “How can I...” mentality. - Ellie Shefi, Made to Change the World, Inc.
Becoming an Agile Leader means you can pivot as soon as the circumstances demand it. Agility also implies resilience; the ability to get back up again and again, physically, emotionally, and mentally is the true indicator of a leader worth following. - Jennifer Helene, Jennifer-Helene
Agility combined with resilience is foundational, allowing leaders the capacity to pivot as situations require. It creates the capacity to navigate the stress of change while keeping teams in a collaborative mindset. - Lyssa deHart, Lyssa deHart, LLC
Being agile means you are adapting to the changes, but not letting them make you feel limited or constrained. There is always a way. - Monica Kang, InnovatorsBox
The principles of Agile Leadership are rooted in a desire to do more than just optimise efficiency; its focus is on empowering teams and individuals to work together toward a shared vision. - Doug Holt, Doug Holt Online
An Agile Leader is someone who can quickly understand something, assess situations and strategies, make decisions, and act. He/she is also ready to continuously adapt, change and take risks and can quickly consider and understand a variety of viewpoints. - Denise Russo, School of Thoughts
To sum up, Agile Leaders place a greater emphasis on building strong teams than on rewarding individuals. They are aware of their team members' capabilities and know how to support work so that those strengths can be utilised. They understand how to nurture high-performance teams to keep them performing at their best. When an employee fails to meet their performance goals, Agile Leaders know how to set up a performance improvement plan to help them get back on track.
As Evan Leybourn explains, "Bring in someone to sit beside you and help you during the difficult times. Training will help you learn the concepts, but to make it stick—especially in difficult times—you need a great coach."
McKinsey recently stated (don’t always have to say the source, especially if just mentioning it) that Agile organisations require "a fundamentally different kind of leadership," believing that leaders must extend their traditional competencies and evolve their behaviours to fully embrace Agile culture.
So being an Agile Leader necessitates a desire to grow. This is what we term an "evolutionary mindset": showing up ready to learn about ourselves, our behaviours, beliefs, and perceptions. This attitude encourages a deeper level of self-awareness of our inner state of being, as well as an awareness of how our actions affect others. It also encourages us to take responsibility for our actions and to evolve the systems with which we interact.
Now, the question is what are you doing to become an Agile Leader?
Looking to start adopting Agile Leadership? Let’s work together!
Get in touch here, call 1300 684 669 or email davidw@davidwayne.com.au to discuss options for coaching, workshops or training programs or
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