Agile is about the ability to inspect and adapt to change. Can we become adaptable agile leaders? You don’t need to change your title. You might not need to change where you sit in the organization. You will need to change your mindset to have the courage to lead. Johanna will discuss how you can develop an agile mindset, seeing and living the “art of the possible.” We’ll discuss how your mindset influences your change artistry tools, and maybe even what you call yourself. We’ll see how to learn from small successes and continue to make progress, as you change yourself and your organization. You can start your change by changing your mindset to be one of change artistry and leadership. (BTW, when I say "Change is good. You first," I mean that you model the change you want other people to consider.)

1. Becoming an Agile Leader
Regardless of Your Role
Johanna Rothman
www.jrothman.com
@johannarothman
jr@jrothman.com
+1-781-641-4046
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2. © 2015 Johanna Rothman
TraditionalView of Leadership
• Guide, champion,“lead”
• Champion a cause
• People follow you
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DoTraditional Leadership
Views Fit Agile?
• Agile is about team
collaboration
• Servant leadership
• We need leaders at all
“levels” in agile
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Some Stories of
Inadvertent Leadership
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Common Themes
• See a problem
• Brainstorm ideas to solve
it
• Involve others
• Experiment
• Create a new reality
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What is Leadership?
• Change something about
the status quo
• Collaborate with others
• Create effective change
when the situation
changes
• Adaptability
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Adaptable leaders create
effective change when the
situation changes.
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Change Invites Reinvention
• Take advantage of
opportunities
• Make more opportunities
• Experiment
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Why DoYou MakeYour
Choices?
• We each have a personal
mission
• You can discover this with
a career timeline
• Your timeline explains
your values
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Start With Why
• What do you desire for
fulfilling work?
• Purpose (why)
• Autonomy (how)
• Mastery (how and what)
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Everyone Lives Up or Down
to Expectations
• Expectations shape us
• Everyone on your team
has potential—of some
sort
• It’s all about mindset
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Start WithYour Mindset
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Carol Dweck,
Mindset

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Focus on the Possible
• When you focus, you
change how your brain
works
• When you consider the
possible, your
expectations shape reality
• Source: http://
www.strategy-
business.com/article/
06207?pg=all
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Changing Mindset is
Challenging
• We often confuse our
roles or titles with our
identities
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Change is good.
You first.
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Have the Courage to
Become…
• A T-shaped person
• Someone who questions
the way things are
• Collaborative
• Change artist
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Inspect and Adapt to Change
• Ability to solve problems
• Focus on what could be
• Adaptability
• Perseverance
• Leadership
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Inspect
Adapt

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How DoYou Solve Problems?
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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_loop

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Satir Change Model
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People don’t resist change;
They resist being changed.
— Peter Senge
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WaysYou Persevere
• Tell yourself the value of
the change
• Know what keeps you
going
• Celebrate incremental
progress
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Agile is Change
• Cultural change
• Project change
• Process change
• Teams might change
• Each person can become
a leader in a self-
organizing team
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Become a Change Artist
• Invite people to change
• Experiment
• Listen to everyone
• Don’t label people
• Start with the smallest
possible change
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Artistry is Difficult
• Requires a particular
mindset:
• Let’s experiment
• Let’s learn early (instead
of fail fast)
• Let’s learn as we go
• Think Growth Mindset
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Lead from Anywhere
• Your title is irrelevant
• Your actions count
• Adapt
• You can change to fit your
reality
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Agile Leadership
• Start with yourself…
• See the environment/
system:
• What needs to change?
• Work with others to
effect change
• Learn from results
• Do it again
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References and Resources
• My questions on
createadaptablelife.com
• Pragmatic Manager and
other articles on
jrothman.com
• Explore more at the
InfluentialAgileLeader.com
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Let’s Stay in Touch
• Pragmatic Manager:
• www.jrothman.com/
pragmaticmanager
• Please link with me on
LinkedIn
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