Leadership Agility

How can a leader show agility the quickest way in interactions with team members?

Many times, training participants ask me what they can do to make an impact in their team? In other words, what is the quickest way to act in an agile manner?

Without going deep into the theory about agility at this point, I would like to share my point of view about how to act in an agile way related to people’s skills.

People Agility

My suggestion takes into consideration the definition of what leadership agility or more specific, People Agility means “The degree to which you are open-minded toward others, enjoy interacting with a diversity of people, understand their unique strengths, interests, and limitations, and use them effectively to accomplish organizational goals.”

My recommendation to you comes from my observations in training and shadow coaching. And it is not rocket science, but to be able to do that, you have to fight with a basic instinct. Usually, the default behavior of leaders is talking, giving advice, and telling team members what to do. Why? The explanation is also easy. Because they think they know the answer, they want to keep the way to the end, to the solution quick and “simple.” And because most of them have been in the job role of the team members. So they think the best is if they “help” them with their clear advice.

Add More to The Toolbox

Advice is one of the tools in the toolbox of every leader. There is a reason why the Swiss army knife does not consist of one tool only. Give advice when time is short, and you are 100% sure that it is appropriate. But include asking questions much more. In spontaneous conversations, in meetings, in your negotiations, in your presentations. With your colleagues, family members, and everywhere where human interaction is happening.

When I observe leaders, I hear them asking a lot of closed-ended and or leading questions. A lot of them think that they have involved their team members. Meanwhile, they shared their expectations in the form of “questions.” I am sure you are a Master of Asking Questions, so this chapter is relevant for those NOT reading this book.

Ask the right questions

My clear suggestion is that when you prepare for a conversation, write down 5-7 open-ended questions to make sure you are interested in the other person’s opinion. You show that you care about their solution. It does not cost anything to include more questions, but it lifts your team’s level of motivation and commitment. Some of my favorite questions are:

Classical open-ended questions: “How are you making sure that you focus on your key task?” “What do you need to be ready for the presentation?”

Comparative: “Would you rather choose A or B?” “What would be the advantages of option A?” “For you and the others involved?”

Hypothetical: “What if we postponed this question to next week, and you would think about 2-3 more alternatives?”

Scaling: “On a scale from 1-10, how well prepared are you?”

Playful: “What would you do if you had a magic wand?”

Provocative: “Are you ready for the next challenge?”

Priority questions: “What are your three most critical priorities?” “your most important goal..”, “your least important concern….”

Past: What worked best in the past in such a situation?

If you don’t have time to prepare or the conversation is happening spontaneously, you can still write them down meanwhile the conversation is happening. There is nothing wrong with taking notes either on paper or on your laptop/Mac during a conversation. If you want, you can even share with your counterpart that you are taking notes to focus on what matters.

Have questions about People Agility or Leadership agility? Contact Us to learn more.