AGILE LEADERS
According to some estimates, up to 80% of all strategies never achieve
their intended results. Rather than describing these disappointments as
“failures of execution," leaders can instead see it as an opportunity for
change.
As Trish Gorman, strategy expert and faculty member at Columbia
Business School Executive Education, explains, “It is important that
leaders have agility to be able to maneuver, to see around the next
corner…” (Columbia University 2020)
1. Watch the video and describe briefly what the 6 traits of
an agile leader are:
https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/ideas-work/six-traits-agile-leader
15 Key Qualities That DefineAn 'Agile'
Leader
Forbes Coaches Council
COUNCIL POST| Paid Program
To be agile is to be quick and alert. It’s an ideal quality in a
leader, when paired with intelligence and foresight.
Being an agile leader can be a great advantage, so we asked the members
of Forbes Coaches Council what being an "agile leader" means to them
and why agility is important in the business landscape. Here's how they
define agile leadership, and how this management style can impact your
current and future success.
Forbes Coaches Council members share how they definite agile leaders.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS.
1. Being Open
We need to be agile now more than ever. As our work and environment
change on a regular basis, being agile is being open to shifting, getting
feedback and beginning again. Create a vision for what you want your
team, work or organization to look like in six months. Use it as a guide
to inspire, but be willing to adapt. - Wendy Hanson, BetterManager
2. Being Accepting and Present
An agile leader has a "yes, and" mindset, is present in the moment and
is open to new ideas and possibilities. They accept the given
circumstances without resistance and leverage skills, talents and
resources to meet the current need. With change being the only
constant, agility allows leaders to release the need for absolute certainty
to respond and lead with confidence in the face of ambiguity. - Rachel
Bellack, The Improv Advantage
3. Collaborating
Leaders are only a few years into a continuous shift away from corporate
hierarchy into building a collaborative network. We see the future of
work being more collaborative, co-created and complex. Being able to
adapt quickly as a leader to changes and putting the team at the center
to solve problems is what keeps companies nimble and competitive.
- Petra Zink, impaCCCt
4. Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Rigid leaders do what feels comfortable and familiar to them no matter
the circumstance. Agile leaders adapt to current conditions, even if
doing so makes them feel uncomfortable. Since we can predict that the
business landscape will continue to change and evolve, agile leaders will
get comfortable with being uncomfortable. - Gary Bradt, Bradt
Leadership, Inc.
5. Always Listening
An agile leader is always listening to their team, their markets, partners,
clients and even competitors. They are ready to hear what needs to be
heard and then do something meaningful with that information. They
are not limited by the way it's always been done. In fact, they are
suspicious of anything that's been done the same way for too long. They
are the ultimate collaborator in all situations. - Kathi Laughman, The
Mackenzie Circle LLC
6. Learning Continuously
An agile leader takes the time to continuously listen and learn before
responding rather than being reactive and making knee-jerk decisions.
You can’t stop listening to employees and to customers ever, but
certainly not during a crisis. As you listen and learn, you will adapt your
approach to how you deliver the experience based on current or
immediate needs and pain points. - Annette Franz, CX Journey Inc.
7. Being Resilient
Think of agility as being resilient. A resilient leader understands that
becoming resilient is about replenishing daily. It is also understanding
we are like batteries and must recharge daily. When hard times hit, if
you have done the recharging, then you can weather any storm. Agile
leaders understand this and can pivot quickly without worry because
they have prepared. Agility is about resilience. - Adriana
Rosales, Adriana & Company™ LLC
8. Being Able To Deal With Frequent Disruption
The key agile leadership concepts I'm working on with clients are
empowering their people, communicating way more than they think
they need to, shifting from timelines to triggering events and being open
to trying new things (even changing direction fast if it's not working out).
We're living in a time of frequent disruption. To not just survive but
thrive, we all get to be agile. - Janine Hamner Holman, J&J Consulting
Group
9. Being Curious
Agility requires adaptability, and adaptability requires the practice of
constantly monitoring changing conditions and formulating possible
responses. Curiosity is your superpower. If you are always curious, you
are always learning new things, new ways of work and potential new
approaches to solving old (or new) problems. - Aric Wood, XPLANE
10. Operating From A Higher Level Of Developmental
Capacity
Only 10% of leaders are truly agile. They create contexts imbued with
safety and trust where multiple differing perspectives are welcomed and
integrated. They show appropriate vulnerability by knowing they don't
have all the answers. They cultivate self-awareness and a reflective
disposition. They are continually working on their craft, learning more
about themselves and others. - Dr. Joel M. Rothaizer, MCC, Clear
Impact Consulting Group
11. Creating Inclusive And Empowered Teams
People often think an agile leader is just someone who can facilitate
change quickly and efficiently. Being an agile leader is less about process
and more about a mindset committed to encouraging teams to self-
organize, think, act and make decisions without the boundaries of
traditional hierarchical structures. Agile leaders go beyond the pivot to
create inclusive and empowered teams. - Tonya Echols, Vigere
12. Leading By Example
Are you really okay with experimentation and learning? Are you taking
the risks to bring in the agile approach that you want your teams to
embrace? Lead by doing the things you want your teams to do, not just
telling them. Collaborate from the start on how you can implement new
common values to create a greater goal for the company and then let
your teams see you fighting to bring those values to them. - John M.
O'Connor, Career Pro Inc.
13. Cooperatining Courageously
Being agile has become a buzzword since we need innovation and we
operate in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world.
However, actions speak louder than descriptive words. Be a nimble
manager by distributing power, decision making and leadership in your
team. Practice courageous collaboration by reflecting and upgrading
agreed metrics. Encourage disruptive questions. Be the change. - Inga
Bielińska, Inga Arianna Bielinska Coaching Consulting Mentoring
14. Adapting
The concept of an "agile leader" is an unfortunate subcategorization that
is both vague and conceptually already covered in servant leadership.
Agility, in terms of adaptability in decision making as well as process
management, has and will be one of the cornerstones of time tested
business practices that have been successfully utilized for decades.
- Kamyar Shah, World Consulting Group
15. Being Flexible
In past generations, good leaders were judged by staying the course and
not changing their minds or sticking to their original decisions like glue.
Now, good leaders are those with good reality testing. They are those
who can take current changes and trends into account, factor them into
their decision making and set a more appropriate course based on new
information without shame of changing direction. - Roberta Moore, The
EQ-i Coach
2- Choose 6 traits from the article above that you find to be
crucial for an agile leader:
3.Define yourself as a leader using 5 adjectives:

Leadership - agility.pdf

  • 1.
    AGILE LEADERS According tosome estimates, up to 80% of all strategies never achieve their intended results. Rather than describing these disappointments as “failures of execution," leaders can instead see it as an opportunity for change. As Trish Gorman, strategy expert and faculty member at Columbia Business School Executive Education, explains, “It is important that leaders have agility to be able to maneuver, to see around the next corner…” (Columbia University 2020) 1. Watch the video and describe briefly what the 6 traits of an agile leader are: https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/ideas-work/six-traits-agile-leader
  • 2.
    15 Key QualitiesThat DefineAn 'Agile' Leader Forbes Coaches Council COUNCIL POST| Paid Program To be agile is to be quick and alert. It’s an ideal quality in a leader, when paired with intelligence and foresight. Being an agile leader can be a great advantage, so we asked the members of Forbes Coaches Council what being an "agile leader" means to them and why agility is important in the business landscape. Here's how they define agile leadership, and how this management style can impact your current and future success. Forbes Coaches Council members share how they definite agile leaders. PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS.
  • 3.
    1. Being Open Weneed to be agile now more than ever. As our work and environment change on a regular basis, being agile is being open to shifting, getting feedback and beginning again. Create a vision for what you want your team, work or organization to look like in six months. Use it as a guide to inspire, but be willing to adapt. - Wendy Hanson, BetterManager 2. Being Accepting and Present An agile leader has a "yes, and" mindset, is present in the moment and is open to new ideas and possibilities. They accept the given circumstances without resistance and leverage skills, talents and resources to meet the current need. With change being the only constant, agility allows leaders to release the need for absolute certainty to respond and lead with confidence in the face of ambiguity. - Rachel Bellack, The Improv Advantage 3. Collaborating Leaders are only a few years into a continuous shift away from corporate hierarchy into building a collaborative network. We see the future of work being more collaborative, co-created and complex. Being able to adapt quickly as a leader to changes and putting the team at the center to solve problems is what keeps companies nimble and competitive. - Petra Zink, impaCCCt 4. Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable Rigid leaders do what feels comfortable and familiar to them no matter the circumstance. Agile leaders adapt to current conditions, even if
  • 4.
    doing so makesthem feel uncomfortable. Since we can predict that the business landscape will continue to change and evolve, agile leaders will get comfortable with being uncomfortable. - Gary Bradt, Bradt Leadership, Inc. 5. Always Listening An agile leader is always listening to their team, their markets, partners, clients and even competitors. They are ready to hear what needs to be heard and then do something meaningful with that information. They are not limited by the way it's always been done. In fact, they are suspicious of anything that's been done the same way for too long. They are the ultimate collaborator in all situations. - Kathi Laughman, The Mackenzie Circle LLC 6. Learning Continuously An agile leader takes the time to continuously listen and learn before responding rather than being reactive and making knee-jerk decisions. You can’t stop listening to employees and to customers ever, but certainly not during a crisis. As you listen and learn, you will adapt your approach to how you deliver the experience based on current or immediate needs and pain points. - Annette Franz, CX Journey Inc. 7. Being Resilient Think of agility as being resilient. A resilient leader understands that becoming resilient is about replenishing daily. It is also understanding we are like batteries and must recharge daily. When hard times hit, if you have done the recharging, then you can weather any storm. Agile leaders understand this and can pivot quickly without worry because
  • 5.
    they have prepared.Agility is about resilience. - Adriana Rosales, Adriana & Company™ LLC 8. Being Able To Deal With Frequent Disruption The key agile leadership concepts I'm working on with clients are empowering their people, communicating way more than they think they need to, shifting from timelines to triggering events and being open to trying new things (even changing direction fast if it's not working out). We're living in a time of frequent disruption. To not just survive but thrive, we all get to be agile. - Janine Hamner Holman, J&J Consulting Group 9. Being Curious Agility requires adaptability, and adaptability requires the practice of constantly monitoring changing conditions and formulating possible responses. Curiosity is your superpower. If you are always curious, you are always learning new things, new ways of work and potential new approaches to solving old (or new) problems. - Aric Wood, XPLANE 10. Operating From A Higher Level Of Developmental Capacity Only 10% of leaders are truly agile. They create contexts imbued with safety and trust where multiple differing perspectives are welcomed and integrated. They show appropriate vulnerability by knowing they don't have all the answers. They cultivate self-awareness and a reflective disposition. They are continually working on their craft, learning more about themselves and others. - Dr. Joel M. Rothaizer, MCC, Clear Impact Consulting Group
  • 6.
    11. Creating InclusiveAnd Empowered Teams People often think an agile leader is just someone who can facilitate change quickly and efficiently. Being an agile leader is less about process and more about a mindset committed to encouraging teams to self- organize, think, act and make decisions without the boundaries of traditional hierarchical structures. Agile leaders go beyond the pivot to create inclusive and empowered teams. - Tonya Echols, Vigere 12. Leading By Example Are you really okay with experimentation and learning? Are you taking the risks to bring in the agile approach that you want your teams to embrace? Lead by doing the things you want your teams to do, not just telling them. Collaborate from the start on how you can implement new common values to create a greater goal for the company and then let your teams see you fighting to bring those values to them. - John M. O'Connor, Career Pro Inc. 13. Cooperatining Courageously Being agile has become a buzzword since we need innovation and we operate in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world. However, actions speak louder than descriptive words. Be a nimble manager by distributing power, decision making and leadership in your team. Practice courageous collaboration by reflecting and upgrading agreed metrics. Encourage disruptive questions. Be the change. - Inga Bielińska, Inga Arianna Bielinska Coaching Consulting Mentoring
  • 7.
    14. Adapting The conceptof an "agile leader" is an unfortunate subcategorization that is both vague and conceptually already covered in servant leadership. Agility, in terms of adaptability in decision making as well as process management, has and will be one of the cornerstones of time tested business practices that have been successfully utilized for decades. - Kamyar Shah, World Consulting Group 15. Being Flexible In past generations, good leaders were judged by staying the course and not changing their minds or sticking to their original decisions like glue. Now, good leaders are those with good reality testing. They are those who can take current changes and trends into account, factor them into their decision making and set a more appropriate course based on new information without shame of changing direction. - Roberta Moore, The EQ-i Coach 2- Choose 6 traits from the article above that you find to be crucial for an agile leader: 3.Define yourself as a leader using 5 adjectives: