We hear it everywhere: agility. At first glance, it's a buzzword with a great message—if only it worked. But what does agile leadership actually mean, and why do we keep failing at it?
The increasing complexity and fast pace of our world are leading to a lack of predictability and uncertainty. We have to deal with this, because we can no longer plan for the long term without being left behind by rapid developments in the markets. This means we have to rethink leadership. This is where agile leadership methods come into play.
Agile leadership, or agility, is intended to help teams adapt to change at lightning speed. Who wouldn't want to work in an agile team where everyone passes the ball to each other? Where everyone contributes their strengths to a common goal while compensating for the weaknesses of others? Sounds great, but—let's be honest—does it work?
No agile leadership without self-functionality
Let me illustrate the problem of agile leadership with the following example:
Imagine a team of six people who are supposed to work together in an agile manner. Then something changes on the market at lightning speed and the team now has to adapt just as quickly. How? All six team members must be able to think beyond themselves in order to work together toward a common goal.
Now here's a question for you: How many people do you know who are capable of thinking beyond themselves? Who aren't preoccupied with proving themselves right and others wrong in order to justify their existence?
Now let's assume that there are actually four people in this team with highly developed self-functionality. They have a high level of self-leadership and are able to think beyond themselves. Their goal is for the whole team to perform and achieve results. Four out of six members is a high number – but there are still two team members who are so preoccupied with themselves that they cannot set priorities and blame others for their lack of progress. They are trapped within themselves. For this reason alone, the team cannot work together in an agile manner. This is why the concept of agility and agile leadership often fails in practice. Our experience in working with companies also shows us this.
Our path to agility
Commitment = Goals x Self-confidence
Competence = Knowledge x Experience
At the Grundl Leadership Institute, we work with the four levels of self-functionality:
Level 1: High commitment, low competence
Imagine the beginning of a relationship. You are newly in love and putting in a lot of effort, wanting to act as a team—come what may. But you don't pay attention to your partner's little quirks. You don't even notice them.
Stage 2: Less commitment, more competence
You may move in together, but slowly you begin to notice each other's flaws. Your commitment wanes as you realize that your partner is not perfect and has a few quirks that you may not always agree with.
Stage 3: Low commitment, high competence
At this stage, you are fully aware of the price you are paying. In relationships, this is a delicate phase that determines whether you can get through this bottleneck or not. Your commitment has significantly decreased at this point, and the butterflies from phase 1 are no longer there. This is where it is decided whether you are compatible with your partner. This is where it is decided: team or no team.
Stage 4: High commitment, high competence
You have gone through the bottleneck, paid the price, and reached the level of self-functionality. At this point, you know that your commitment is worthwhile, despite your partner's habits. Accordingly, your commitment remains high, even though you have simultaneously reached a high level of competence.
People who can lead themselves at a high level of commitment and competence are self-functional. Once you have reached this level, you can guide yourself and others through the four phases with agile leadership.
The same applies to teams: if teams have a lot of capacity in the fourth stage, they can only function agilely if they lead the remaining members to self-functionality.
I would ask you to consider the following question in the near future: Where is your commitment extremely high, but your competence not yet fully developed? Observe where these components interact in your life.
Become self-functional. Learn to guide others toward self-functionality. Only then can you work together agilely as a team—and apply agile leadership methods. Only then will you become the best you can be. That is my wish for you.
Yours, Boris Grundl
[4-phase agile leadership]
