What is Agile Leadership?
There is not one true definition of what Agile Leadership is and what makes an agile leader. The Agile Business Consortium has sought to identify the competencies, capabilities and capacities of an agile leader. By completing research and through working groups, they found nine principles that make up a strong foundation for agile leadership. Learn more about these principles below.
“Many may think that agile leadership is just “good leadership”, and we have simply added ‘agile’”. We believe this is not the case and that agile leadership feels very different to traditional leadership. The differences are in leadership style and the willingness to expand capacity and extend capabilities to be more agile. This also feels very different to leadership, where leaders are just going through the motions — just ‘doing’ agile because of some wider directive.... Agile leadership is something that varies and improves over time. We feel the nine principles go some way to defining what we consider agile leadership.”
Agile Business Consortium Whitepaper - Nine principles of Agile Leadership
For the purpose of our 2023 survey and report we focused on one of the most critical leadership capabilities needed today – leadership agility. This is the ability to lead effectively under conditions of rapid change and mounting complexity.
In our 3rd State of Agile Culture report, we characterise leaders as ‘heroic’ leaders or ‘post-heroic’ leaders, a distinction first made by David Bradford and Allan Cohen in their book Managing for Excellence. This framework explains that as leaders develop their agility and progress on the path to mastering this capability, they can evolve from being heroic leaders (less leadership agility) to post-heroic leaders (greater leadership agility).
Heroic leaders demonstrate a ‘command and control’ approach to leadership. They rarely empower others, instead assigning tasks and managing direct reports on a 1:1 basis.
Post-heroic leaders, on the other hand, foster working environments in which team members feel empowered and engaged. While retaining the accountability required of their role, they do so without inhibiting their team’s potential.
‘Very few companies have developed the level of agility needed to keep pace with the ever-increasing degree of change and complexity in their business environment. A major reason for this ‘agility gap’ is the need for more ‘agile leaders’, not just in the executive suite but at all organisational levels’.
Bill Joiner, CEO, ChangeWise
Nine Principles of Agile Leadership
The Agile Business Consortium has identified the Nine principles of Agile Leadership
Managing for Excellence
The Guide to Developing High Performance
in Contemporary Organizations
‘Creating a positive feedback culture has been shown to boost organisational performance and individual motivation, learning and development. Guidance and support are necessary at all levels of organisations to ensure people are having the right conversations to support increased performance and personal growth’.
Ben Hutchinson, Director, JCURV
