Where Are All the Agile Leaders?
Our business environment has suddenly shifted, and we have no idea when things will feel normal again or what that may look like. In response, I’m seeing a resurgence of talk about “agile leadership”. It even made the cover of this month’s Harvard Business Review! So what are we really talking about when we talk about agile leadership?
I remember the first wave of buzz around agile leadership. It started trending around the same time many of us were confronted with the idea of digital transformation. We were promised a whole new generation of executives with the agility to navigate this change. But as digital transformation moved through the hype cycle, talk about agile leaders died off. And as I looked around, I didn’t really see a new breed of uniquely capable executives. Sure, we got better about digital. But most leaders I know are still challenged by rapid change. We still have moments of doubt. We can still be surprised by circumstances and feel ill equipped to meet them.
So where are all the agile leaders?
To answer that question you first have to answer: “What do agile leaders look like?” While a recent Forbes article names some important traits, I think an agile leader is simply an agile learner who is empowered to act on what they learn.
To be an agile learner requires a few key things: humility, curiosity, and collaboration. I’ve written before about why I consider humility such an important leadership trait, but the main reason is because humble leaders are unafraid to ask for help. They can step back from a challenge and identify their weaknesses. This is the same process that allows us to learn. To evaluate our current body of knowledge and its limits, and then seek new resources that can help overcome those deficits.
Humility is naturally paired with curiosity. If you can acknowledge where you have gaps, I would hope you’re also interested in filling them! The curiosity of an agile learner drives them beyond what they need to know in the moment. It keeps them learning, partially out of a desire to avoid feeling stuck again but also because the pursuit of learning makes them feel whole. Because there is joy in the discovery and application of new knowledge.
Finally, nothing is more essential to continuous learning and improvement than a willingness to collaborate. In fact, collaboration is enshrined in the original agile software development manifesto that continues to fuel the agile leadership movement. In the case of the agile software developers, that culture of collaboration was extended beyond the developer community to encompass customers, the users of the software they were producing. Similarly, agile learners and leaders must open wide avenues of two-way communication between themselves and external sources of wisdom.
W=KxE
And with that, I’ve really brought this discussion of agility back to my wisdom formula. Our main takeaway from the knowledge and experience, or wisdom, of others is confidence. The confidence to make decisions with speed and clarity in a context that was previously unfamiliar. In other words, we gain agility in our primary function as leaders. We get back to making choices, to prioritizing and delegating, in a nimble enough way to pursue our goals, even though our environment has changed. So where are the agile leaders? If you ask me, they are everywhere and anywhere people are sitting down to problem solve together.
Wisdom at a Glance
Wisdom gives us the confidence to take quick, decisive action, the hallmark of agile leadership. That means, to be an agile leader we must be willing to learn from others and keep learning. Collaboration will ensure we can act, even in new and uncertain times.
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