Agile leadership, a term that has gained significant traction in recent years, refers to a leadership style that emphasizes adaptability, collaboration, and sustainable solutions. Research suggests that the number of articles published related to agile leadership increased drastically after COVID-19. Specifically, 70% of the articles were published after 2019. 

Who is an Agile Leader?

Agile leaders, like the one I've always admired, are not just self-aware and adaptable, they are also collaborative. They value the input of others and work towards sustainable solutions, all while contributing to the collective goals of the organization. 

Why Agile Leaders?

Agile leadership is not just a trend, it's a necessity for organizations striving to be nimble, enhance customer experiences, and gain a competitive edge. They are the catalyst for innovation, leveraging the organization's capabilities to lead transformation and drive success. 

While agile leaders emphasize change, adaptability, flexibility, and sustainability, they seek the right balance between standardizing operations and pursuing innovation, which can be risky. Agile leaders foster a culture of collaboration and strengthen the team's confidence. 

Competencies of Agile Leader- 

1. Context Setting Agility- Leaders have deep insight into the ecosystem around them. They scan the environment, anticipate essential changes, and have clarity on the next steps. Context setting encourages leaders to determine the optimal scope of an initiative and clarity of the desired outcome. They look at long-term trends and outside views.  They can articulate and undertake visionary initiatives that are meaningful and beneficial for the organization and its key stakeholders. 
2. Stakeholder Agility- Another crucial competency of agile leaders, refers to their ability to identify the key stakeholders of an initiative, understand what they have at stake, and assess the extent to which their views and objectives are aligned with their own. This competency also includes engaging with stakeholders in ways that lead to the finest alignment.  An agile leader demonstrates stakeholder agility by understanding other people's frames of reference. They honor differences of opinion. They seek input from key stakeholders with a genuine intent to improve the quality of their ideas and the effectiveness of their initiatives. Creative Agility, a unique aspect of agile leadership, refers to transforming complex, novel issues into desired results. Agile leaders look at problems through the lens of systems thinking.  They deeply understand the limitations of any single perspective; therefore, they encourage the questioning of underlying assumptions and the expression of multiple viewpoints. Their willingness to experience the strain between apparent opposites (short-term vs long-term, practical versus idealistic) increases their ability to discover creative solutions.
3. Self-leadership Agility- They are motivated to develop a strong interest in becoming aware of feelings, assumptions and behaviors that would typically escape their conscious attention. They are encouraged to increase their self-awareness and align their behavior fully with their values and aspirations.

Why do we need Agile Leaders?

Build Empowering team- Consider the example of a team leader who demonstrates humility and genuinely seeks input and ideas from every team member.  This behavior promotes learning and a culture of empowerment within the team. This individual is an agile leader, knowing that ideas can come from everyone. They create a culture of empowerment by allowing the team to take responsibility without telling them what and how to do a particular task. They have clarity on ambition, which is further cascaded to the team. Ambition encompasses what, why and metrics to measure success. However, they delegate the how to the team. They don't micromanage. They don't believe that the answer to all the questions lies with the team. Instead, they look to the team for solutions and answers. 

Continuous Improvement- Agile leaders are quick in closing feedback loops. Instead of long meetings, they have daily stand-up meetings to seek feedback, close feedback loops and adapt accordingly. They also promote the culture of seeking feedback within the team from various internal stakeholders and customers. Agile leaders operate on the belief of continuous improvement. They realize that going too slowly may fail to achieve the goals and going too fast may bring chaos. Therefore, they sequence and balance all the components, and recognize the value of role-modeling agile behaviors. Their thought is not limited to making decisions but also the quality and outcome of decisions in the context of the organization. The team works on working solutions. They don't demand perfection. Continuous improvement leads to unblocking key derailers and supports the team in breaking down complex problems and frequently iterating to deliver solutions rapidly. Once the results are achieved, they improve business results, unleash employees' potential, and enhance their job satisfaction. 

Consider the example of a team leader who celebrates learning and creates a psychologically safe workplace for teams to nurture. The teams take product risks and test unconventional hypotheses.  Agile leaders are quick on feedback and adaptability; they identify the results that do not contribute towards goals and change the following steps rapidly. They do not take weeks to make fast decisions. The decisions are made in hours. This helps in turning decisions into reality.  The psychological safety and inclusive environment also promote constructive conflicts. Team members actively participate by giving input and sharing their feelings about the project. The team has clarity of responsibility and high commitment towards achieving the goals. 

The pace of change experienced by organizations will continue to emerge, and the level of complexity and interdependence will contribute to growth. An agile leader demonstrates Agility in changing the organization, developing teams, and navigating critical conversations. They create a work environment of high involvement and shared responsibility by taking the ultimate accountability.  They retain the ultimate accountability and authority that comes with their role, yet they create work environments characterized by high involvement and shared responsibility.