An introduction to agile leadership

Introduction to Agile Leadership

We build teams that excelWorking at all levels of the organization: strategic, teams, individual skills

“Agile” leadership

Leadership at the center

Leadership in agile?

What we want?

● Autonomous teams● Self organized teams● Servant leaders:

○ Scrum Masters○ Product owners?

● Predictability in their behaviours

Leadership in agile?

What we want?

● Autonomous teams● Self organized teams● Servant leaders:

○ Scrum Masters○ Product owners?

● Predictability in their behaviours

What we sometimes get?

● Chaos● Frustration● Under performance● Burntout (personal and team)● No consistency

Example: What are the expectations?

What are the expectations for each:

● The Product Owner● Scrum Master● The Team● The Stakeholders● The Agile Coach

LeadershipA bird's eye view

Experiment time!

A taste of leadership...

● 8 volunteers!● 7 grab a sheet of paper and close your eyes! (Follow my instructions!)● 1 is going to be my right hand.

Experiment time!

Another taste of leadership.

● Split in teams of 4 - 5 people!

Some questions:

Comment with your groups:

● Who is a leader?● What makes a good leader?● Is it something you are born with?● Is a boss a “de facto” leader?● Can there be more than one leader in team or group?● Is someone who uses coercion or force a leader?● Are we all leaders?

What is leadership?

A definition

Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.

Core theories of leadership

Leadership as Traits

Assumptions:

● People are born with inherited traits.

● Some traits are particularly suited to leadership.

● People who make good leaders have the right (or sufficient) combination of traits.

Leadership as Behaviours

Assumptions:

● Leaders can be made, rather than are born.

● Successful leadership is based in definable, learnable behavior.

Leadership as Contingency

Assumptions:

● The leader's ability to lead is contingent upon various situational factors, including the leader's preferred style, the capabilities and behaviors of followers and also various other situational factors.

Leadership as Power

Assumptions:

● Power is the ability to get others to change their behavior even if they do not wish to do so.

Daniel Goleman

Daniel Goleman:

Author, psychologist, and science journalist. Wrote the bestseller Emotional Intelligence and has received numerous awards including:

● Career Achievement award for journalism from the American Psychological Association

● Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of his efforts to communicate the behavioral sciences to the public

● Klingenstein Educational Leadership Award● Harvard Business Review McKinsey Award winner for his

December 2013 article “The Focused Leader”

6 Leadership styles

The 6 leadership styles


1. Share some examples of this leadership styles that you have seen.

2. Discuss with your group:● Which one is the best?● Which one is your dominant style?● Which one is your weakest style?● Which style do you think a leader in agile needs?


There is no silver bullet

Great leaders know how to use each one of them depending on the context.

How leadership influences results?

Comment with your groups:

● What is the link between team results and leadership?

How leadership influences results?

Team climate:

● About 30% of the impact in the organizational performance comes from having a healthy team climate

● Team climate is a combination of motivation, behaviour and leadership styles (clarity, commitment, rewards, etc.)

● Leaders can shape that climate by using different leadership styles (about 70% impact)

How leadership influences results

Unilateral control mindset


Values:● Be right● Act rational● Don’t lose● Minimize expression of

negative feelings

Assumptions:● I understand the situation; those who

disagree, don’t● I am right; those who disagree are

wrong● I have pure motives; those who disagree

have questionable motives● My feelings and behaviours are justified● I am not contributing to the problem


Behaviours:1. I state my views without asking for others views and vice versa2. Withhold relevant information3. I speak in general terms and don’t agree in what important words mean4. I keep my reasoning private; don’t ask others about their reasoning5. Focus on positions, not interests6. Act on untested assumptions and inferences as if they were true7. Control de conversation8. Avoid, ease into, or save face in difficult issues


Results:1. Lower performance, longer implementation, increased costs, less

innovation2. Lower commitments, decreased trust, reduced learning, greater

defensiveness, etc.3. Reduced motivation, decreased satisfaction, increased stress, limited

development opportunities, etc.

Common learningmindset

Common learning mindset

Values:● Transparency● Curiosity● Informed choice● Accountability● Compassion

Assumptions:● I have information; so do other people● Each of us sees things others don’t● People may disagree with me and still

have pure motives● Differences are opportunities for

learning● I may be contributing to the problem


Behaviours:1. I state views and ask genuine questions2. Share all relevant information3. Use specific examples and agree on what important words mean4. Explain reasoning and intent5. Focus on interest, not positions6. Test assumptions and inferences7. Jointly design next steps8. Discuss undiscussable issues


Results:1. Higher quality, lower implementation time, decreased costs, more

innovation2. Greater commitments, increased trust, increased learning, less

defensiveness, productive conflict, appropriate dependencies on others, etc.

3. Increased motivation, increased satisfaction, decreased stress, enriched development opportunities, etc.

Which one fits best?

Experiment time!!

Which one are you?

1. Grab two post-it notes.2. Write what is your mindset on one.3. Write what the proportion between mindsets that you see around you is.

For examples, 50% - 50%.4. Swap your post-its with someone else.

Closing up(recap)

Leadership at the center

What are the characteristics of agile leadership?

Agile leadership is flexible. It adapts to the situation and focuses on creating high performance teams and a healthy organizational climate that helps drive results.

Quick recap

Leadership is essential if we want a successful agile organization.

It is not a one size fits all… The context is important therefore adapting styles and plan to the person, is key.

The relationship between leadership and team results.

We saw two models that can help us understand what is at the core of agile leadership.

● Unilateral Control mindset● Common learning mindset

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An introduction to agile leadership

Leadership & Management