“The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.” In this talk we will explore why agile is way more than a set of practices but defines a whole new culture for organizations. A culture that requires organizations to raise their level of consciousness in order to create better and more humane workplaces where individuals can bring their whole self at work everyday. Levering on the Management 3.0 toolkit, activities borrowed from Improv and tools used in Life Coaching we’ll deep dive into topics like Values, Delegation, Listening at a deeper level and Trust. - Why let it go from the command and control mindset? - Which tools can you use as an Agile leader? - Why trust is the foundation? - Why self-awareness is key as an Agile leader? - As a leader, am I a roadblock in the Agile adoption initiative?

1. Conscious leaders
Conscious organizations
Sylvain Mahe

2. Who am I?
• Entreprise Agile Coach
• Publishing, Telcos, Industrial Property, Banking...
• Startup companies and MNCs
• Work at Palo IT, a boutique Innovation consultancy
• Life Transformation Coach (International Coaching Federation)
• Explorer, seeker, salsa dancer and cheese lover
Twitter: @mahe_sylvain
LinkedIn: https://sg.linkedin.com/pub/sylvain-mahe/2/275/8b0
“No problem can be solved from the same
level of consciousness that created it”
- Einstein

3. • Can you help us standardize the workflow
in Jira for all the teams
• Who should be the PO: the BAs?
• Who should be the SM: the PMs?
• Can you document all the agile
ceremonies, roles and artefacts so that
we can update our official process on the
Intranet
• Please assess the level of agility of our
teams so that we can compare them
• Oh, and if you could normalize velocity
across teams that would be great…
Things organizations often ask

4. Agile iceberg
Agile defines
a culture

5. Laloux’smodel

6. • In which color do you think agile works best?
• Which color is your organization?
• Which color are you?
Let’s discuss

7. • In which color do you think agile works best?
• Which color is your organization?
• Which color are you?
Time to vote!

8. Culture

9. Leading causes of failure

10. ”“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
- Peter Drucker

11. Leaders

12. What makes a good agile leader?

13. 5 tips to grow your agile leadership
1. Take a honest look at yourself
2. Sharpen your questioning and listening skills
3. Connect with others
4. Create trust
5. Cultivate appreciation

14. TAKE A HONEST LOOK AT YOURSELF

15. • What kind of questions do you usually ask?
– Open / closed
– Leading
– Do you make good use of the silence?
• Are you able to shut up and listen?
– Seems easier than it is in reality ;-)
– Stay in the interlocutor’s space
– Be fully present
• Do you know your intention?
– Listening? Judging?
(telling a diving trip story)
- I was maybe 10m deep and could
barely see.
- Oh, that was scary, wasn’t it?
- I was maybe 10m deep and could
barely see.
- Oh yes, that reminds me of my
diving trip last year…
Observe

16. • My realizations
• I talk too much – silence is key
• I want to convince
• My presence is on and off
• It’s hard not to make suggestions because I’m the
smartest and the world needs to know what I have to
say
• From now on
• I will know myself better
• I will try to be a role model
PRESENCE > NON JUDGMENT > SILENCE
My journey

17. Theory X and Theory Y

18. SHARPEN YOUR LISTENING AND QUESTIONING SKILLS

19. • What are you able to pick up beyond the words?
• What happens when your interlocutor is in an emotional state?
• Or when you interact with a doer or a thinker
• What are your triggers?
• How often do your questions start with “Why?”
• Welcome to the land of powerful questions!
Physical
EmotionalIntellectual
Observe

20. Facts
Emotions /
Feelings
Values, beliefs,
frameworks
•Chit chatCosmetic
•Self centered
•I (…feel the same, …want to
ask, …want to know…)
Conversational
•Mirroring, paraphrasing
•Perspective sharing
•Body language, tone of voice
Active
•Keywords
•Unsaid
•Feelings
Deep
Communication iceberg

21. Coaching dojo

22. • My realizations
• I’m Intellectual, Emotional
• I’m at ease with emotions
• I’m not (always) truly curious
• I want to understand my client’s issue and then
follow my train of thoughts
• I (sometimes) take things personally
• From now on
• I’ll go out of my comfort zone and experiment
• Say 100x in front of the mirror: “ There is no
problem to solve”
FEEL > LISTEN > MIRROR > EMPATHIZE
My journey

23. CONNECT WITH OTHERS

24. • How curious are you about others?
• How much do you really care about them?
• How much do you know the person, not just the colleague?
Observe

25. Moving motivators

26. Moving motivators

27. Personal maps

29. • My realizations
• I’m very open to talk about myself at work
• But it’s hard to ask people questions about
themselves
• From now on
• Next time I meet this person, I’ll find something
new about her
CURIOSITY > CARING
My journey

30. CREATE TRUST

31. Trust

32. • How much do you trust others?
• What would you need to trust them more? Did you tell them?
• How much do you think they trust you?
Observe

33. Delegation poker

34. Delegation poker

35. Delegation poker

36. Alignment and autonomy

37. • My realizations
• Trust creates psychological safety, a key
component of high performance
• Good starting points are equal voice +
empathy
• From now on
• I’ll observe how often people say “I don’t
know”, “I need help”… to gauge how safe
is the environment
• I’ll do my best to embody vulnerability-
based trust
EQUAL VOICE > EMPATHY
My journey

38. CULTIVATE APPRECIATION

39. • How does it feel when you appreciate someone?
• And when you receive an appreciation? How do you react?
• How often do you say “Thank you”?
• Are you speaking from the heart when you say it?
Observe

40. Kudo cards

41. Kudo cards

42. • My realizations
• One of my biggest motivator
• It’s not that easy to just say “Thank you”
• Is a game changer in some organizations
• From now on
• I’ll show the power of appreciation to my clients
JUST SAY THANK YOU > JUST ENJOY
My journey

43. 1. Take a honest look at yourself
2. Sharpen your listening and
questioning skills
3. Connect with others
4. Create trust
5. Cultivate appreciation
…and practice, practice, practice!
Take-aways
• Play Delegation Poker
• Draw a colleague’s Personal Map
• Play Moving Motivators
• Facilitate a round of appreciation in
your next Retrospective
• Listen more and learn about powerful
questions
• Run Coaching Dojos

44. The operating system is broken…
… it’s time to install a new one

45. Rehumanizing
workplaces

46. https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement

47. “
”
First they ignore you, then they
ridicule you, then they fight you,
and then you win.
Thank you

48. – Agile coaching course: ICAgile, Agile
Coaching Institute…
– Life coaching
– Communication patterns: Non Violent
Communication, Transactional Analysis,
Toltec Agreements
– Models: Transactional Analysis, Process
Communication, MBTI, 16PF,
Enneagram, Strength Finder, Insights…
Further reading

49. “
”
Be the change that you
wish to see in the world.
Thank you