A Coaching Model By Brett Amundson, Leadership Coach, UNITED STATES
Agile Principles and Best Practices
This coaching model is based on my experience as a software engineer and aspiring coach. Just as modern software development benefits from iterative approaches like Agile, leadership development can also benefit from a similar methodology, by applying Agile principles toward coaching leadership habits, leaders can continuously improve their effectiveness, adaptability, and impact on their teams and organizations. This iterative leadership development model lays out an approach for leaders to identify, prioritize, and enhance their leadership habits over time by fostering positive leadership habits centered around high Emotional Intelligence (EI). It’s worth noting this model can be applied to anyone who wishes to be a better leader, however many of the terms and concepts involved are very relatable to those in a technical leadership role.
Agile Principles
The Agile Manifesto (agilemanifesto.org) identifies ‘Twelve Principles for Software Development’, and below are the distilled concepts that can be applied to leadership development.
Focus on Customer Satisfaction – As a leader, you have ‘customers’ above and below you on the org chart, and you are responsible for delivering value to all of these people.
Accepting Changes – Change is the one constant in our complex and dynamic work environments, and leaders who accept that change is usually driven by a legitimate need to grow and improve are much more likely to commit to the steps they need to grow and improve themselves.
Face-to-Face Communication is Critical – Frequent face-to-face communication allows leaders to gather and share information about progress, vision, and expectations.
Focus on Continuous Improvement at a Sustainable Pace – A steady pace wins the race is the mantra of the Agile methodology and that applies to making steady and meaningful personal improvements.
Regular Retrospection and Tuning – Self-reflecting and accepting ‘customer’ feedback about what is going well and what isn’t allows a leader to determine the areas they need to focus on next.
What’s Working Well is a Measure of Progress – It’s important that those on a journey of improvement celebrate their wins by acknowledging what is working well. This positively reinforces the commitment to self-improvement and elevates performance to even higher levels.
Emotional Intelligence is just one aspect of overall intelligence that focuses on how we interpret ourselves, understand where our emotions arise from, and how our past influences us. Being able to effectively navigate the complexities of our emotional intelligence is a key component to being an effective leader that elevates others and the organization. The specific areas of EI are:
Self-Awareness – Being able to recognize one’s own emotions and how they affect thoughts and behaviors.
Self-Regulation – Controlling impulsive feelings and behaviors and managing emotions in a healthy way.
Social Awareness – Being able to pick up on the cues of other people’s emotions, needs, and concerns.
Relationship Management – Being able to develop and maintain positive relationships with people and groups.
Where an Agile methodology creates a framework for personal self-improvement, emotional intelligence is the source that feeds the framework with specific, actionable goals. The role of the coach in this model is to introduce and reinforce the concepts throughout the coaching relationship to help the client achieve their long-term goals, however, the client ultimately will decide on how much, if any, of the concepts they wish to adopt.
The initial phase of this model is very similar to standard coaching practices where a meeting between client and coach serves as a personal introduction and has the goal of identifying the desired outcome of coaching sessions. An initial assessment will be performed where a client’s leadership habits are evaluated. This can be a combination of self-assessments and/or evaluations by peers, direct reports, or client leaders. A leader’s core values, personal goals, and assessment results will be taken into account when determining the desired outcome from coaching. At this point, it’s good to think about the Epic goals, in Agile terms, that a client wants to achieve. The coach will discuss their style and together, the client and coach will come to an agreement on the number, frequency, and length of sessions as well as the expectations and requirements of both parties. This agreement will form the coaching contract.
Coaching sessions in this model will follow the Core Competencies spelled out by the International Coaching Federation (coachingfederation.org) and clients will be responsible for determining what areas they would like to discuss in each session. If they are unsure or need guidance on where to get started it is appropriate for the client to seek counsel from mentors, peers, or other sources they trust. If a coach is asked for advice it is appropriate to offer personal advice once techniques such as brainstorming ideas and identifying individuals who may be able to help the client have been explored. The primary goal is to empower the client to be in charge of deciding what areas they want to focus on.
This model includes a non-traditional coaching session dedicated to reflecting on progress and outcomes to date. This session is an organic way for the coach and client to explore what has been working and what has not been working and a way of celebrating and acknowledging their accomplishments. These sessions may be coach and client or coach and client plus other clients ‘customers’. The client ultimately has the final say of the attendees, however, the coach may lead some of this discussion as the goal is targeted towards reflection, acknowledgment, and encouragement to embrace a growth mindset and look for other ways to improve leadership habits.
In conclusion, by applying EI and Agile principles to leadership development, leaders can systematically identify, prioritize, and improve their leadership habits in a structured and iterative manner. Through iterative improvement cycles, feedback gathering, and reflection, leaders can cultivate positive leadership habits that drive team engagement, performance, and organizational success. As leaders committed to continuous improvement and adaptability, they not only enhance their own effectiveness but also inspire and empower their teams to thrive in dynamic and challenging environments.
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