How do you show agile leadership in engineering management?

2 Foster a culture of collaboration and trust

Agile leaders create a culture of collaboration and trust among their engineering teams and across the organization. They facilitate communication, coordination, and alignment among team members, customers, and stakeholders, using tools and techniques such as daily stand-ups, retrospectives, demos, and user stories. They also promote trust by delegating authority, sharing information, providing feedback, and supporting team decisions. They encourage their teams to collaborate with other teams and departments, breaking down silos and fostering cross-functional learning and innovation.

4 Enable continuous improvement and learning

Agile leaders enable continuous improvement and learning for themselves, their engineering teams, and the organization. They foster a growth mindset and a culture of experimentation, where failures are seen as opportunities for learning and improvement, not as blame or punishment. They also support the team's learning and development, by providing coaching, mentoring, training, and feedback. They also seek feedback from customers, stakeholders, and peers, and use it to improve their own leadership skills and practices.

5 Lead by example and inspire others

Agile leaders lead by example and inspire others to embrace agile values and principles. They model the behaviors and attitudes they expect from their engineering teams, such as transparency, accountability, collaboration, customer focus, and adaptability. They also demonstrate their commitment to agile practices, such as delivering value, inspecting and adapting, and empowering the team. They also inspire others by sharing their vision, passion, and purpose, and by recognizing and celebrating the team's achievements and contributions.

6 Balance agility and stability

Agile leaders balance agility and stability in their engineering management. They understand that agility is not about chaos or disorder, but about flexibility and responsiveness. They also understand that stability is not about rigidity or control, but about reliability and consistency. They balance agility and stability by aligning their agile practices with the organization's strategy, structure, and culture, and by ensuring that their engineering teams have the clarity, support, and governance they need to deliver value and quality.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?