01 Agile Leadership Role

Ken Martin
Agile Leadership
01 Agile leadership role
Leadership styles
Leadership overview Leaders with a growth mindset are open to new ideas and
different ways of doing things where they embrace new
challenges to persevere and think outside the box to develop
new solutions to business problems. Leaders with a fixed
mindset have a fear of failure and uncertainty and their focus is
on reducing these factors with extensive planning and
micromanagement.
Autocratic leadership A task-oriented “command and control” style. They set clear
expectations & directions to staff, tell them what to do & when
and how to do it. Make decisions without input from anyone.
Delegative leadership A people-oriented leadership style that is delegative. The

leader doesn’t provide much direction; decisions are made by
staff. Good for highly motivated, highly skilled small groups.
Democratic leadership A mix of the task-oriented and people-oriented leadership

styles. The leader provides guidance and direction and asks for
feedback from staff but the leader makes the final decisions.
Agile leadership Agile leadership is about creating the context for self-
organization where agile teams collaborate, learn from each
other, get quick feedback from users and focused on quality &
continuous learning.
11
The Transformational Leadership Handbook

Agile companies
Software delivery The No.1 reason companies want to speed up software

delivery & products.
Changing priorities Have a greater ability to manage to change priorities by being

able to adapt quickly.
Productivity By ensuring building the right products efficiently as possible.
IT / business alignment Greater stakeholder involvement at all stages results in better

alignment.
Software quality A better approach in agile is quality is fixed, & scope &
sequence are variable.
12
Ken Martin

Agile mindset
An agile mindset Achieving an agile mindset is a process. It takes a lot of effort

and it takes time to achieve.
Innovation A key aspect of an agile mindset is innovation which is the

development and application of ideas that improve the way
things are done & help to improve productivity and efficiency.
Customer focus An agile mindset focuses on customer value which is the

satisfaction a customer experiences or expects.
Self-organized teams An agile organization empowers its employees and teams to

use collective wisdom to solve problems and produce solutions.
Adaptive to change An agile mindset embraces change by being adaptive to

change, learning cycles and improvement.
Agile teams fail fast Agile teams fail fast and learn fast resulting in seeking learning
opportunities. They create working deliverables and then
gradually improve them.
13

Agile mindset
Proactiveness Agile teams practice proactivity in the relentless pursuit of

improvement by delivering value and receiving feedback &
learning.
Complex problems Agile organizations understand the end solution is not

predictable at the outset for complex problems.
Communication Communication and collaboration are critical success factors

for an agile organization that help people work well with one
another.
Transparency Agile teams share responsibility & are accountable together.

The success of others is celebrated as a victory for the team.
Critical thinking An agile mindset is thinking objectively, identifying problems

and how they relate to a situation.
A growth mindset An agile mindset has similar goals to a growth mindset. A

growth mindset believes talents can be developed & mistakes
are an essential part of learning.
14
Ken Martin

Agile mindset
Respect Respect starts with team members & goes to staff at all levels
of the organization & the product itself.
Ongoing improvement No process, leadership style or way of working is written in

stone. There is always room for improvement.
Learning to fail Allowing staff to try new ideas & possibly fail, allows staff an
opportunity to learn and improve.
Pride in ownership Pride in what is delivered increases the desire to deliver quality
work.
Delivering value An agile team focuses on delivering the greatest value to the
customer.
Ability to adapt If unplanned changes are needed, the organization adapts to

them.
15

The qualities and outcomes of an agile mindset
Self-awareness A successful leader is self-aware and prioritizes personal

development.
Lead by example Good leaders are ethical, have integrity and lead by example,
can show respect, empathy, and encourage others to follow
them.
An influencer An influencer who can inspire, motivate and get the best out of
their people.
Focus and clear vision A good leader has focus, a clear vision, is courageous, has
integrity, honesty, humility, and a clear focus and direction.
Collaborative approach A strategic planner who believes in teamwork and

collaboration.
Clarity of purpose A good communicator who has a clarity of purpose and is great
at articulating their vision for an organization.
Aims for consensus An accomplished leader leads by positive direction and builds
agreement among an organization.
Helps others succeed A true leader focuses on helping his team succeed and their
success is built upon the success of their team.
16
Ken Martin

The qualities and outcomes of an agile mindset
A strong focus on goals An effective leader ensures that employees stay focused on the
goals by keeping them motivated and helping them to achieve
their goals
Facilitates team A good leader knows the strengths and weaknesses of their
development team members and focuses on developing them to reach their
full potential.
Good communication Communications, active listening and social skills are all key
skills success factors.
Adapts messages to Successful leaders can communicate clear messages and

audience make complex ideas easy to understand for all employees and
stakeholders.
Staff empowerment Effective leaders now empower their employees, encourage

strategic thinking, innovation, and be action-orientated,
Recognition of people Good leaders recognise the value of people and surround
value themselves with great people who can work as a team to
achieve shared goals.
Project management A successful leader nowadays requires good project

skills management skills, leadership, and business strategy acumen.
17

The leadership quality of critical thinking
Critical thinking Critical thinking is the ability to think in an organized to

understand connections.
Analysis The ability to collect and process information and knowledge.
Interpretation The conclusion of the meaning of processed information.
Inference Assessing whether your knowledge is sufficient and reliable.
Explanation Communicating findings and reasoning clearly.
Self-regulation The drive to monitor and correct ways of thinking
Open-mindedness Taking into account other possibilities and points of view.
Problem-solving The ability to tackle problems.
18
Ken Martin
02 Agile leadership questions

Vision and direction What is the vision and direction that is wanted to take the
organization?
Organization alignment How to align the organization with the vision and mission?
Communications How best to best communicate the goals and vision to the
organization?
Decisions to make What key decisions to make in the short term and long term?
Leadership How to become a better leader?

improvement
Definition of success How is success defined?
SWOT of the firm What are the organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)?
Priority actions What priority actions to take to make the organization more
successful?
Staff motivation How can I keep my employees motivated during these

challenging times?
Status of the firm What is working and not working well for the organization?
19
Competition activities What is the competition doing in our marketplace?
Current goals What are the current goals? How to achieve the goals?
Quick win focus area If there was one focus area to improve, what would it be?
Immediate improvement What can be done be better now?
Barriers to success What barriers to greater success has the organization?
Leadership development How can to grow and develop as a leader?
Collaboration How to facilitate an organization of collaboration and

innovation?
Organizational silos How to break down organizational silos so we can work

together better?
20
Ken Martin
Business transformation How best to transform the business?
Increased authority As a more senior leader, what could be changed?
Stakeholder and Is there a clear understanding of the needs of our customers

customer needs and stakeholders?
Operational excellence How to achieve operational excellence?
Employee performance How to improve employee performance and productivity?
IT investments What should IT spend its money on next year?
Organization On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied with the current status of the
satisfaction rating organization?
Leadership performance How to measure the performance as a leader of the

organization?
21
03 Agile leadership process
Agile styles
Shared vision An agile leader creates an environment with a shared vision for
an agile organization and teams to be successful & provides a
way forward of continual improvement in leadership, quality &
efficiency.
Coaching Agile leaders focus on coaching and helping others in their

development as leaders.
Process & quality Sets expectations on quality, metrics to improve things &
introducing new practices.
Organizational shared Facilitates orientation around a shared vision (town halls, group
vision lunches, ‘break-outs’, outside speakers.
Organization dynamics They understand the challenges & barriers teams run into and
help their teams overcome these barriers.
22
Ken Martin
03 Agile leadership process
Growth mindset goals
Process goals Process goals are specific actions or ‘processes’ of performing.
Performance goals Performance goals are based on a team/organization metric.
Outcome goals Outcome goals are based on outcomes and achievements,
Agile team working
Emphasize trust & Agile approaches support team-building and teamwork, and
teamwork they emphasize trust in self-managing development teams. A
skilled, motivated, empowered team is a successful team.
Value face to face Agile teams believe the most efficient and effective method of
comms conveying information to and within a development team is
face-to-face conversation.
Everyone works Business people and developers must work together daily
together throughout the project. Effective communications and
collaboration are valued.
Use reflection for At regular intervals, an agile team reflects on how to become
performance more effective and then adjusts its behaviours accordingly.
23
04 Agile leadership challenges

Resistance to change Even with the advantages of agile leadership, changing
people's minds and behaviours is difficult. A large firm's
behaviours & values are inherently ingrained.
Many employees are content with their current situation and
are wary of the responsibilities that come with autonomous
teams.
Support for agility Many leaders are hesitant to adopt an agile attitude because of
the loss of control it entails. One of the most common reasons
why agility fails is a lack of management support.
To have an agile attitude, all executives, middle management,

and senior management must be conscious that leadership
techniques will change. They must comprehend both the
benefits of the approaching transformation to an agile way of
working and the specifics of how this transformation will affect
the business's operational components. They must understand
what is required of them to successfully adopt an agile mindset.
Silo based leaders Communication and cooperation are important aspects of an

agile workplace. Many company leaders in large firms still have
a silo mentality and a controlling mentality that prevents agile
businesses from communicating and collaborating. Employee
empowerment in taking responsibility for their work, over which
they have little direct influence, makes them feel threatened.
Enterprise view Customer satisfaction and experience are at the heart of an

agile company's strategy. An enterprise comprehensive
perspective of processes and services within the organization
is required to achieve the goal of this strategy.
All departments, teams, and individuals in this network of

processes and services can self-organize around the task,
collaborate, and adapt the way they function while being
motivated by quality improvement. Increasing the value of the
service, product, and labour processes.
24
Ken Martin
05 Agile leadership benefits

Agile mindset To generate high-performing results, the agile mindset is a
mental process that incorporates understanding, cooperating,
learning, and remaining flexible. Teams can react to change
and deliver customer value by combining an agile mentality
with processes and technologies.
Promotes leadership It promotes responsible leadership & management.
Boosts innovation Boost innovation of new services.
Firm performance It boosts organization performance as a whole.
Customer focus Customer focus attracts more customers.
Knowledge sharing Improved knowledge sharing amongst teams and the firm.
Faster problem solving Using a team approach for problem-solving provides faster and
better solutions to problems.
Reduced business silos Facilitates the breakdown of organizational silos.
Improved transparency Creates greater transparency of decision making within an

organization.
25
Common understanding Everyone understands the vision and goals of the organization,
and everyone has input into how they can be improved.
Improvements There are improved results in customer satisfaction, sales,

revenue, and employee productivity.
Strategic alignment Improved strategic alignment from increased employee

productivity, optimised processes and measured achievable
results.
Agile organization An agile, proactive organization that can react and change
quickly and positively to changing customer and market needs,
High employee morale The result of good leadership is high morale, good employee
retention, and sustainable long-term success.
26
Ken Martin
Employee engagement Employees have increased engagement and passion, which

lead to higher levels of customer loyalty, service, innovation,
and ultimately profits.
Talent is developed The organization has developed the best of its talent. for the
benefit of the organization.
Empowered employees All employees feel positive, are empowered and engaged with
the organization, trust the leadership and feel their
contributions are valued.
Regular comms Communication is daily and transparent. Employees feel that

they are an important part of the organization.
Agile mindset part of the The organization has agility, leadership has an agility mindset
DNA and employees are flexible and energised by the changes.
Enterprise collaboration Business silos are broken down and employees across the
enterprise are working and collaborating for shared success.
27
06 Agile leadership risks
Just talking "agile" Several organizations have adopted an agile mindset just as
the latest management fad and playing 'lip service" to it.
principles and just continuing with the old ways but calling it
agile working.
Staff dissatisfaction Employees can become quite demotivated when they hear
messages of empowerment and collaboration from leaders and
nothing changes within the organization from the traditional
controlling management style and silo-based thinking.
Change plan An agile mindset is all about embracing, and making the most
of change. Introducing agile thinking and working in an
organization with the skills and experience of an Organization
Change Management specialist who can develop a detailed
change management plan.
Organizations with an agile attitude can adapt to any situation,

from changing market demands to a total revolution of the
corporate world. Firms can change their culture to encourage
cooperation and creativity without fear of failure by adopting a
positive attitude toward shifting views.
Staff feedback Adopting an agile mentality means believing that there is

always room for improvement, which is an iterative process and
a crucial agile principle.
Anyone can freely propose changes, which is a vital success

factor for a firm seeking to build an agile culture that
encourages employee feedback and innovation. A most
positive aspect of feedback is it motivates people to participate
fully, contribute and promote creativity.
28
Ken Martin
07 Agile leadership best practices
Action Agile leaders are more around doing.
Success Agile leaders focus on transformation success.
Roadblocks Focus on removing obstacles.
Constant learning Agile leaders are constantly learning,
Developing people Agile leaders focus on maximising talent.
Communications skills A passion for communications and listening skills.
Focus on priorities An agile leader knows what to focus on.
29
Drive & inspire The ability to drive & inspire staff.
Sets out new roles An agile leader sets out new roles that describe specific skills
sets that staff need to ensure a more efficient flow of work.
Time for reflection They use reflection to think and learn.
Openness and honesty Clear ethics of ethics and integrity.
Planning as they go Plan and strategize as they go not before.
Make decisions quickly With limited information, make decisions fast.
30
Ken Martin
Agile learning Agile leaders aim to increase learning & adjust thinking to that
learning.
Visible & transparent Make things visible & transparent.
Flexibility Use a high degree of flexibility in how they structure, organize,

& execute the work.
Create conditions To promote collaboration & ownership.
Feedback Know how to give, receive & encourage feedback from staff.
New practices Providing coaching & mentoring to help staff to become better
communicators, better adapt their plans to unplanned changes,
and new emerging ways in software development and delivery.
31
08 Agile leadership activities
Leaders "walk the talk" Leading by example is an important leadership action that
allows employees to see their team leaders and supervisors
'live the talk.' That involves admitting to mistakes and viewing
them as opportunities for growth, promoting collaboration, and
demonstrating a real desire to improve.
Change plan Develop a change plan with a vision and direction on why the
organization should become agile and persuade employees to
want positive change, to gain a thirst for new knowledge and to
see it as beneficial despite the discomfort it causes.
As part of this change, a plan should be an impact assessment,

training, enterprise collaboration workshops and the
introduction of an effective feedback mechanism.
Enterprise policies Review enterprise policies and processes to promote

teamwork, communication, collaboration and innovation.
Agile learning space Develop an organizational approach to training development

that focuses on speed, flexibility, and collaboration.
32
Ken Martin
1
Ken Martin
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Preface
Introduction
01 Agile Leadership
02 Transformational Leadership
03 Transformation PMO Leaders
04 Project Manager Leadership
05 Leadership
06 High Performing Teams
07 The role of a CIO
08 Digital Transformation
09 Business Agility
10 Customer Experience
11 The role of a CTO
12 Business Architecture
13 Enterprise Architecture
14 Operational Excellence
15 Disruptive Tech Innovation
16 Artificial Intelligence
17 Cloud Computing
18 Robotic Process Automation
20 Blockchain
21 Internet of Things
22 3D Printing
About the Author
Acknowledgements
3 Magic Publications
5
𝗦𝗜𝗫 𝗣𝗢𝗣𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗥 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗦
1) 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖 𝗠𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞
The Transformation Magic Megabook - best practices for Business Transformation
𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘: https://lnkd.in/ei7AbWSC
𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞: https://lnkd.in/em2zkRj7
𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗭𝗢𝗡 𝗨𝗡𝗔𝗩𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘
𝐏𝐃𝐅: https://lnkd.in/eMtwwVJ6
2) 𝗣𝗠𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖
This PMO Magic guide covers the best practices for a PMO.
𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘: https://lnkd.in/gzsXUnRD
𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞:https://lnkd.in/eghQHJmS
𝐏𝐃𝐅: https://lnkd.in/ehR6Mfw3
3) 𝗣𝗠𝗢 𝗦𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗣
The PMO Setup covers areas of planning & implementation of a PMO
𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘:https://lnkd.in/ejT7_FnQ
𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞: https://lnkd.in/egum9_ps
𝐏𝐃𝐅: https://lnkd.in/ePHJXkNg
4) 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗧𝗢 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞

This CTO Handbook covers the best practices for being a successful CTO.
𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘:https://lnkd.in/e7Mbu6q9
𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞: https://lnkd.in/eAVyGeqn
𝐏𝐃𝐅: https://lnkd.in/eN7fcHQ5
5) 𝗣𝗠𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖 𝗠𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞

This PMO Magic Megabook covers the best practices for a PMO.
𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘:https://lnkd.in/eYsUwd8M
𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞: https://lnkd.in/dv_niJF9
𝐏𝐃𝐅: https://lnkd.in/d-rQPvQ6
6) 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
This Operational Excellence covers the best practices for Operational Excellence.
𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘: https://lnkd.in/eAmYz2GE
𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞: https://lnkd.in/e8ngvZCm
𝐏𝐃𝐅: https://lnkd.in/d-QWRUQH
About the Author
Ken Martin
After an extensive successful career And then organisations are surprised why
working for some of the best organisations so many of the programs and projects fail to
in the world in various countries, I was deliver any business benefits. So I decided
disheartened to see how many times to author and to create several Best
programs and projects failed from not Practice Books based on my 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞
paying heed to lessons learned and best 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜™ format on topics such as PMO,
practices. Even today, how many current Project Management & Business
programs are being executed without Transformation for leaders to learn from
proper assessment, planning or other's experience for project success.
organisational change management.
316

01 Agile Leadership Role

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

01 Agile Leadership Role

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ken Martin

Delegative leadership A people-oriented leadership style that is delegative. The

Democratic leadership A mix of the task-oriented and people-oriented leadership

01 Agile leadership role

Software delivery The No.1 reason companies want to speed up software

Changing priorities Have a greater ability to manage to change priorities by being

Productivity By ensuring building the right products efficiently as possible.

IT / business alignment Greater stakeholder involvement at all stages results in better

01 Agile leadership role

An agile mindset Achieving an agile mindset is a process. It takes a lot of effort

Innovation A key aspect of an agile mindset is innovation which is the

Customer focus An agile mindset focuses on customer value which is the

Self-organized teams An agile organization empowers its employees and teams to

Adaptive to change An agile mindset embraces change by being adaptive to

01 Agile leadership role

Proactiveness Agile teams practice proactivity in the relentless pursuit of

Complex problems Agile organizations understand the end solution is not

Communication Communication and collaboration are critical success factors

Transparency Agile teams share responsibility & are accountable together.

Critical thinking An agile mindset is thinking objectively, identifying problems

A growth mindset An agile mindset has similar goals to a growth mindset. A

01 Agile leadership role

Ongoing improvement No process, leadership style or way of working is written in

Ability to adapt If unplanned changes are needed, the organization adapts to

01 Agile leadership role

Self-awareness A successful leader is self-aware and prioritizes personal

Collaborative approach A strategic planner who believes in teamwork and

01 Agile leadership role

Adapts messages to Successful leaders can communicate clear messages and

Staff empowerment Effective leaders now empower their employees, encourage

Project management A successful leader nowadays requires good project

01 Agile leadership role

Critical thinking Critical thinking is the ability to think in an organized to

Analysis The ability to collect and process information and knowledge.

Interpretation The conclusion of the meaning of processed information.

Inference Assessing whether your knowledge is sufficient and reliable.

Explanation Communicating findings and reasoning clearly.

Self-regulation The drive to monitor and correct ways of thinking

Open-mindedness Taking into account other possibilities and points of view.

Problem-solving The ability to tackle problems.

02 Agile leadership questions

Leadership How to become a better leader?

Definition of success How is success defined?

SWOT of the firm What are the organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses,

Staff motivation How can I keep my employees motivated during these

02 Agile leadership questions

Competition activities What is the competition doing in our marketplace?

Immediate improvement What can be done be better now?

Barriers to success What barriers to greater success has the organization?

Leadership development How can to grow and develop as a leader?

Collaboration How to facilitate an organization of collaboration and

Organizational silos How to break down organizational silos so we can work

02 Agile leadership questions

Business transformation How best to transform the business?

Increased authority As a more senior leader, what could be changed?

Stakeholder and Is there a clear understanding of the needs of our customers

Operational excellence How to achieve operational excellence?

Employee performance How to improve employee performance and productivity?

IT investments What should IT spend its money on next year?

Leadership performance How to measure the performance as a leader of the

03 Agile leadership process

Coaching Agile leaders focus on coaching and helping others in their

03 Agile leadership process