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During our SAFe Leadership module this past weekend in Minneapolis, we talked about the Leadership Challenge within the agile transformation. We talked about 5 important practices that leaders can exhibit that can contribute to highly successful lean-agile leadership.
These 5 practices were taken from the book The Leadership Challenge, by Kouzes and Posner. The book describes 5 practices based off of a survey receiving over 2 million responses from industry practitioners on what practices contribute to highly successful leaders. Wait a minute!! A 2 million sample size of industry practitioners reporting on what they feel contributes to successful leadership?!?! That’s right, 2 million. Those are pretty powerful numbers, so the results make complete sense. Here are the 5 practices:
1. Model they way
- Lead by example. Be the example of what lean-agile leadership looks like
- Do what you say you will do. Exemplify the engagement that you want to see in your organization
2. Vision
- Articulate a clear vision that is in sync with the aspirations of those in the organization
- Communicate this vision over and over again
3. Challenge the process
- Experiment and take risks with the existing process
- Search for new opportunities by taking initiative and innovating
4. Empower action
- Strengthen others by increasing self-determination, leadership abilities and developing competence
5. Encourage the Heart
- Recognize the contributions of others showing appreciation
- Celebrate the values and victories and create a spirit of community
As Lean-agile leaders, which one of these five do you think is most neglected and why?
Let me know your thoughts……
