Agility Is the New Leadership Standard
It’s hard to envision a workplace that doesn’t run on hyperspeed! From the rise of new technology to working across six generations to leading global teams to shifting employee expectations to the constant pursuit of innovation, it hardly feels like an overstatement to say that our workplaces are evolving faster than ever.
In which case… Does anyone else worry about being left behind?
If anyone here can relate to such an anxiety, let me be the first to say: fear not! Today we’re going to walk through what great leadership looks like in a time of constant change.
So, what’s the short version? The TL;DR? you may be wondering. And hey, I certainly can’t criticize the desire to allot our time wisely! In a sentence, the most effective leaders in the workplace right now are those who embrace agile leadership: an adaptive, empowering mindset that integrates flexibility, collaboration, and emotional intelligence.
But I suspect most of us here are interested in the details, in diving into the nitty gritty of what it means to embrace true agility as a leader. If you’re ready to learn responsiveness and guide your teams with humility, empathy, and purpose, then read on for eight key qualities of agile leadership!
1. Actions Speak Louder Than Words
It’s only a cliché because it’s so true! Agile leaders embody yet another age-told—and once again, incredibly true!—cliché: be the change you want to see. By modelling curiosity, self-development, and integrity in every interaction with their team, they perform the forward-thinking and reflective behavior they want to inspire. Which isn’t to say that agile leaders cannot issue directives, but rather that they prioritize building their credibility among their employees through presence and consistent action.
How about one more classic adage? (Last one, I promise!) Because agile leaders lead by example, trust becomes the default language of their team. And isn’t that a status quo we’d all like to see?
2. Better Thinking Creates Better Outcomes
We may be told that there’s no such thing as “real” superpowers, and sure, I can only dream of leaping off the ground and remaining afloat in the breeze. But—and hear me out—reflection, too, is a superpower! At least in terms of agile leadership.
Most (if not all) leaders value high-quality thinking that results in meaningful action that improves the bottom line of their organization. Leaders who practice agility, however, engage in purposeful reflection: pausing to analyze problems from multiple angles, inviting critical input from their employees who have worked most closely with the issue at hand. As such, reflection allows leaders to transform data into knowledge into wisdom, ensuring the final decisions are both informed and inclusive!
3. Feedback Fuels Growth
I speak from personal experience as a leadership consultant when I say that the best leaders are learners first. These leaders practice agility by seeking feedback not just vertically up from their superiors, but also horizontally from their peers and vertically down from their team members! After all, diversifying where we source feedback means we are more likely to receive constructive, well-rounded comments—and embracing agility means acting on this feedback, too. (I lied, let’s have another appropriately true cliché: to an agile leader, every voice matters.)
Additionally, agile leaders create safe environments in which honest feedback is not merely welcome but becomes the standard—and not to mention that for agile leaders, mistakes become learning opportunities. If we cannot err, we cannot learn, and we certainly won’t have any reason to receive feedback!
4. Purpose Gives Work Meaning
With the constant corporate cries for efficiency efficiency efficiency!, it has become frighteningly easy to forget that our teams—and ourselves—crave meaning in our workplace, not (or at least not only) metrics. Embracing agile leadership necessitates identifying and articulating a purpose that unites and motivates our employees. This purpose includes connecting organizational goals to human values! In doing so, we turn mere “tasks” into meaningful contributions, arbitrary “roles” into intentional missions.
Though it probably goes without saying, I’ll say it because it bears repeating: purpose fuels commitment and preserves—even accelerates—momentum. Providing purpose is thus a key aim for an agile leader!
5. Leadership Lives Everywhere
In an organization that foregrounds agile leadership, I think we all know that leadership won’t be confined to official titles. Agile leaders cultivate leadership skills at every level, both formally and informally mentoring employees on how to take initiative and ownership. The best part of this multi-level guidance is that empowering emerging leaders accelerates individual and company adaptability! After all, when everyone leads, the organization learns faster—a positive feedback loop.
6. Empowerment Builds Trust
Allow me to share a kernel of wisdom developed from my own leadership experience: control limits potential. Empowerment releases it.
In other words, agile leaders don’t hoard authority! They give their teams autonomy to experiment and forge their own paths. Importantly, agile leaders offer direction and support without micromanaging their employees, ensuring their teams see the forest for the trees while also having the freedom to traverse the metaphorical woods themselves. Finding this balance builds both trust and accountability between leaders and their teams!
7. Collaboration Multiplies Success
Speaking of effective workplace delegation, another key quality of agile leadership is collaboration. On a core level, agile leaders recognize that diverse teams perform better than isolated experts because they have the built-in opportunity of bouncing off one another’s unique ideas. As such, agile leaders prioritize three principles for effective collaboration: 1) forgiveness over finger-pointing, 2) curiosity over criticism, and 3) collective progress over individual perfection. The Jackson 5 were right—easy as 1, 2, 3 indeed!
8. Great Ideas Can Come from Anywhere
This last quality is perhaps most important: agile leaders recognize that excellent ideas can come from anywhere, from anyone, and thus they embrace the mentality that innovation is everyone’s job. And since emotion is the fuel for innovation, agile leaders create spaces where their team members feel safe to express themselves—creativity blossoms only where the metaphorical soil is regularly cared for!
In turn, agile leaders know to listen widely, staying open to ideas and inklings from every corner of their organization. While most of us are probably familiar with active listening, agile leaders take this skill to the next level by not only hearing a variety of ideas but also taking the time to explain why certain ideas could not be incorporated into the organization, thus ensuring their employees’ creativity never feels dismissed.
How to Apply Agile Leadership Today
Now that we understand what constitutes agile leadership, the next question is simple: what steps can we take today, right here, right now in order to start becoming an agile leader? As with any best practice, remember to start small, focus on consistency, and act with intentionality:
Model humility by displaying how learning is part of leadership.
Invite feedback by asking your team what’s working and what’s not.
Empower autonomy by delegating outcomes, not just tasks.
Foster reflection by ending meetings with thought-provoking questions, such as “What did we learn today?”
Lead with empathy: never forget to put people before process.
As these practices transform into habits, agility will become culture. Trust me: the work will be worth it!
Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company with a primary mission for advancing individuals in leadership. As the creator of the Next Level Leader framework, she empowers professionals to break barriers and elevate their leadership potential. Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential. In addition, she provides guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within the organization. Reach her at DimaGhawi.com and BreakingVases.com.
