Episode 164 - Unlocking the Power of Agile Leadership: Staying Ahead in a Rapidly Changing World

  Good day and welcome to The Budding Entrepreneur podcast. I'm your host Randy Bridges. In each episode we dive into practical business strategies that you can put to work in your business right away. 

We also focus on inspiring stories from leaders who are shaping and making things happen in their industry. It's all about giving you the tools and insights to take you and your business to the next level. So get comfortable and let's jump right in. 

All right, all right. We are on episode 164 of the budding entrepreneur podcast. Today is Friday, September 6th, 2024. 

On our today's agenda we have a quote from Walter Elliott. We're going to be moving into our business strategy of agile leadership this month. I'm sure a lot of people will recognize agile leadership especially from a few episodes back where I talked about agile as a business strategy in and of itself. 

Now we're of course talking about leadership. But we're going to be looking today at answering three essential questions. What is agile leadership? What drives the need for agile leadership? And what is the mindset of that leadership? These are the things we're looking at today and hopefully get a good handle on what agile is about.

Looking at our quote, this is from Walter Elliott. He's a Scottish politician. He said, perseverance is not a long race. 

It has many short races one after the other. And that's a very appropriate quote considering the fact that in any kind of an agile strategy or any kind of an agile leadership, you're building in small pieces. You're doing things quickly in an iterative fashion to fail fast. 

It's a whole bunch of little short races instead of putting all together in a really long race. So this is a great kind of quote for today. I hope you really enjoy that as we move into agile leadership. 

In our business strategy session we're going to call this unlocking the power of agile leadership, staying ahead in a rapidly changing world. Now as kind of an overview here, agile leadership is a dynamic and adaptive approach to guiding teams and organizations. It emphasizes collaboration, empowerment, and continuous improvement. 

Now you might be aware if you follow this podcast for any length of time, that the agile methodology comes to us from the software industry, focusing on empowering individuals, fostering collaboration, and adapting to change quickly and efficiently. Now if you've been following me for a while, you know that I'm all about helping business owners find ways to stay ahead of the curve. Today I'm going to walk you through what agile leadership is, what it's great for, and what it's not great for. 

Trust me, you'll want to know both sides of this coin if you're serious about building a high performance business. So let's kick things off by talking about what agile leadership is. At its core, agile leadership is about creating an environment where your team feels safe to innovate, experiment, and even fail. 

Yes, I said fail. But here's the thing, it's the kind of failure that leads to breakthroughs. When your team knows they're allowed to take risks without fear, that's when the real magic happens. 

That's when you see creativity flourish and real innovation start to take root. You've probably noticed, especially in fast-moving industries, that sticking to a rigid plan just doesn't cut it anymore. Things change fast in business. 

The markets shift, competitors come out of nowhere, and customer needs evolve. Agile leadership allows you to pivot quickly and adjust your strategy as things change. Instead of clinging to a plan that may no longer make any sense, agile lets you stay flexible and responsive. 

Now let's break it down and start with the basics. What exactly is agile leadership? Well, I think of it as creating a workspace where innovation and creativity can really take flight. Now as leaders, our main job is to make sure our team members feel safe and encouraged to think outside the box, to explore new ideas without the fear of making mistakes. 

Because that's where the magic happens. When your team knows they can experiment and even fail a little, maybe sometimes fail a lot, that's when you see those big breakthroughs that keep your business ahead of the curve. Like most strategies, collaboration is a huge piece of the agile leadership puzzle. 

It's all about bringing people together from different parts of your business to solve problems as a team. When you have different perspectives in the room, you open the door to solutions that one person or department might not see on their own. This kind of teamwork is what really drives a business forward, especially when you're dealing with complex challenges that need more than just one approach. 

Now for my clients who seldom implement things, I recommend building a growth team with their most creative people to complement a core team. These two teams actually work most of the time together, but it's when you're introducing new ideas, programs, or products that the growth team actually takes a step aside and they focus specifically on that. They build and test to learn how the things work, always keeping in the back of their mind what already exists in the company. 

After everything new is ready, they then meet and cross-train the core team on how to support both the existing and the new. When it's time for implementation, your team is prepared. The growth team absorbs back into the core team and everyone continues as before, only now with a new idea added to what already existed. 

This process really allows for smooth integration of the new while maintaining what is already working, and that is one of the key things that a lot of companies make the mistake of. They'll leave what exists behind and only move forward with new. That's very dangerous. 

That's very, very dangerous. But anyway, moving on. One of the biggest strengths of agile leadership is its ability to adapt quickly. 

In the business world, we all know that things change fast. Our markets shift, customer needs evolve, and new competitors pop up out of nowhere. Well, agile leadership is designed to handle all that. 

Instead of sticking to a rigid plan that might become outdated in very short order, agile allows leaders to pivot quickly and adjust as needed. This is especially important in today's fast-paced world where the ability to respond to change can make or break a business. So let's take a look at what kind of business problems agile leadership solves. 

It's particularly effective in environments where there's a lot of uncertainty or rapid change. If your business is struggling to keep up with market shifts, or if you're finding that traditional management styles are too slow or too rigid to respond to your new challenges, agile leadership could be the solution. It's great for businesses that need to stay nimble, whether that's because they're in a highly competitive market or because they're trying to innovate in a new space. 

Now let's talk about some specific situations where agile leadership really shines. First up, fast pace or rapidly changing markets. Think about industries like technology, fashion, or consumer electronics.

These are areas where things are always evolving. Traditional leadership might leave you stuck with plans that no longer fit, but agile leadership lets you shift gears quickly to keep up with new trends or customer demands. Then there's innovation and product development. 

When your company is focused on creating new products or services, agile leadership fosters an environment where creativity and experimentation are encouraged. Traditional leadership might slow you down with too many rules or fear of making mistakes, but agile leadership is all about testing, learning, and improving as you go. This approach helps bring new ideas to market faster and much more effectively. 

Agile leadership is also fantastic for solving complex problems that need input from different parts of your business. In traditional leadership, departments might not communicate well with each other and it leads to a lot of issues that don't get solved properly. But agile leadership breaks down those barriers, bringing people together to tackle problems from all angles. 

This kind of cross-functional collaboration leads to innovative solutions that you might not have thought of otherwise. As an example, let's say your business is facing uncertainty, maybe due to economic shifts or new competitors. Agile leadership will help you manage the risks better. 

Instead of sticking to one risky plan, you can try different approaches, learn from what works, and adjust as needed. It's a flexible approach that reduces the likelihood of costly mistakes and allows for more informed decision making. Let's be real, anytime you're going to make a mistake, it's better to fail fast than it is to fail over the long term and then have to go back and find your way through and fix all of the pieces that are failing that you didn't see before now. 

Another area where agile leadership excels is in customer-centric environments. Customer is absolutely the king and if your business prioritizes customer satisfaction and it needs to be responsive to customer feedback, agile leadership is often the key. Now traditional leadership might be too slow to respond to customer input and that leads to a lot of dissatisfaction and let's face it, lost business. 

Agile leadership on the other hand is designed to quickly adapt based on what customers need, keeping them happy and coming back for more. And that's the key to lifetime value, have them coming back for more. Now let's not forget about team morale and engagement, another major part of this. 

If you're dealing with low morale or disconnected engagement, agile leadership can turn things around. It encourages everyone to work together, share ideas, and feel like they're part of something bigger. This boosts the overall team spirit and productivity leading to better more efficient outcomes for your business. 

Now on the same topic of everyone working together, it really helps to break into smaller teams, especially cross-functional teams with a hierarchy matching your overall structure. This is something that I recommend for legal firms a lot of times, is instead of having these this layer cake and everything has to filter up, you build small functional teams that start with the attorney or the assistant attorneys and drill down all within the same team. So a case can move up and down quickly and be able to move forward a lot faster, deal with those inevitable curveballs that come in from clients and even opposing counsel. 

So something to think about. Looking at what you can expect if you implement agile leadership in your business. First of all, I think the outcomes are pretty powerful.

You'll see a team that's more engaged, more innovative, and better equipped to handle whatever comes their way. Your business becomes more resilient, able to adapt to changes in the market or in customer needs without missing a beat. Ultimately, agile leadership helps build a culture with continuous improvement and it's the norm, not the exception, along with everyone being aligned with the company's vision and goals. 

Now let's get real on this. Agile isn't perfect for every situation. It's powerful, but it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. 

There are times when agile might not be the best fit and trying to use it in those situations can cause more harm than good. For starters, agile might not work well in highly regulated industries or environments where compliance and strict procedures are mandatory. Think healthcare, banking, aviation.

In these settings, following precise rules and regulations is crucial and the flexibility and rapid changes that come with agile can lead to compliance issues or mistakes that could have serious consequences. Another area where agile might struggle is in large-scale projects that require extensive upfront planning and coordination, like an infrastructure project or traditional manufacturing. These projects often need a clear long-term plan and significant upfront investment. 

Constant changes could lead to delays, cost overruns, and confusion. Those would all suck. We wouldn't want to make that mistake more than once, right? Agile can also fail in organizations that aren't culturally ready for it. 

If the team or leadership isn't fully on board with the principles of agile, things like collaboration, openness to change, and self-management, it can lead to confusion and lots of resistance. Agile requires a mindset shift and if that shift doesn't happen, you might end up with teams that are directionless, lack accountability, or overwhelmed by constant changes. Implementing agile the wrong way can be even more problematic. 

For example, if a company tries to adopt agile without proper training or understanding, they might focus too much on speed and flexibility at the expense of quality and strategy. This can result in a chaotic environment where decisions are made too quickly without enough consideration, leading to inconsistent results and a lack of overall direction. Another common pitfall is applying agile too rigidly. 

Ironically, trying to force agile practices into a rigid framework defeats its purpose. Agile is supposed to be adaptable, so if it becomes just another set of rules to follow without room for flexibility, it loses much, if not all, of its effectiveness. And let's not overlook the importance of communication.

In organizations where communication isn't strong, agile can lead to misalignment and miscommunication. It relies heavily on collaboration and quick feedback loops, so poor communication can cause delays, misunderstandings, and a lack of cohesion within the team. Finally, agile might not work in environments where stability and predictability are valued over innovation and rapid change. 

If the primary goal is to maintain a steady course with minimal disruptions, Agile' s constant iterations and shifts might create more instability than anyone desires, leading to frustration and burnout among the team. In short, agile leadership is a powerful approach in the right circumstances, but it's not the right tool for every situation. If it's used inappropriately or without the right understanding, agile can lead to chaos, miscommunication, and lots and lots of failed projects. 

It's important to carefully assess whether agile is the right fit for your organization and ensure that everyone involved is fully on board with the approach before making the shift. So how do you know if agile leadership is right for your business? When I'm consulting clients, I like to start by talking with them about their industry and the nature of their projects. Ask yourself, are you in a fast-paced, ever-changing market? Do you value innovation and yet need to respond quickly to customer feedback? If so, agile leadership could be an awesome solution for you and a wonderful leadership style. 

Next, consider your team and the company culture. Are your team members open to collaboration and continuous learning? Do they feel empowered to take ownership of their work? If your team is ready to embrace these principles, agile leadership can help unlock their full potential. Now remember, implementing agile isn't just about changing processes.

It's about changing mindsets. It requires commitment from everyone, especially you, the leader. 

All right, that's it for this episode. I hope you picked up some valuable insights and maybe even sparked a few new ideas. If you want to keep the conversation going or maybe even explore partnerships, don't hesitate to reach out. And hey, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs to hear it. 

The steps you take today could be the start of something big tomorrow. For the budding entrepreneur, I wish you the best in your health, your wealth, your business, your family, everything about you. Take care and we'll see you back here next week.