Hidden deep within the heart of every Agile leader lies a universe of untapped potential… In this series, we’ere embarking on a thrilling quest to discover, develop, and deploy your Agile Leader Superpowers! So, far we’ve looked at Essentialism, Constraint Clarification, and Listening. This week, Challenging.

Quintessential Thought

When you notice the villains of complacency or mediocrity showing up…it’s time to use your superpower of challenging!

It’s easy to think about the leadership posture of challenging as just telling the team to work harder. Instead, think of a challenge as an invitation for the team to see from a different perspective that inspires action. It's an opportunity for your team to:

• See the world differently: Expand their perspective and uncover fresh opportunities.

• Discover hidden talents: Unlock their full potential and surprise even themselves.

• Deepen their understanding: Gain a richer appreciation for the work and its impact on others.

• Build confidence: Overcoming challenges strengthens their belief in their abilities.

How do you effectively challenge your team?

1. Listen first: Understand their perspective before presenting a challenge. Check out the last newsletter on listening to unlock this superpower!

2. Be clear and constructive: Articulate what you’re observing, what you’re concerned about, your expectations, and the desired outcome.

3. Support and encourage: Celebrate their efforts, even if the results aren't perfect.

Expect feedback when you challenge your team. Their responses might highlight areas where you can provide additional support or impediments that require your assistance to overcome. Or, they may need your help to craft an experiment as a step toward the outcome.

Without challenging, your team may slowly slip into complacency, just going through the motions. By embracing your superpower of challenging, you foster growth, innovation, and high performance!

Quotes

“The highest calling of leadership is to challenge the status quo and unlock the potential of others.” - Carly Fiorina

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” - Jim Rohn

“A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” - Zig Ziglar

Quick Step

Select one specific concern - a forgotten customer, a low-value meeting, untapped team skills - and gather your observations, your concern, your request, and the desired outcome. Now, discuss it with the team, challenging them to address the concern.

Question

Think of a time when someone challenged you and it helped you grow. What can you learn from that situation to help you challenge your team effectively?

Want to chat? Reach out to info@unstuckagile.com so we can help you get Unstuck!

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