The job of an effective leader is to be good at relationships. It’s hard to put it better than this:
Organizations are no longer built on force but on trust. The existence of trust between people does not necessarily mean that they like one another. It means that they understand one another. Taking responsibility for relationships is therefore an absolute necessity. It is a duty. Whether one is a member of the organization, a consultant to it, a supplier, or a distributor, one owes that responsibility to all one’s co-workers: those whose work one depends on as well as those who depend on one’s own work.
Peter F. Drucker, Managing Oneself (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 1999), p47
These are some of the leadership topics that Agile Mind can help you with:
Strategy
This is what leadership is about. Having a clear strategy (technology, people, location), underpinned by a strong culture is what builds trust and credibility. A technology strategy must also align with your business strategy.
Investment and how to advocate for it
When seeking stakeholder investment in technology, the corporate leadership must be educated that they are in the business of investing in intangible assets when building software products. This takes the discussion away from you representing a cost centre and focuses on the need to build great products as a baseline for survival!
Creating self-organising teams
As you will know, this boils down to the dismantling of command and control to make way for servant leadership. The leadership team also needs to encourage teams to bring up to them the impediments that prevent agile ways of working. By forming an executive action team (EAT) with the authority to change policies and unblock impediments, your teams can be more productive and empowered.
Culture and talent retention
Unless you are Amazon or Google, you will be facing a highly competitive market where your best people are being approached and/or poached. It’s not just about salary; people want purpose and the ability to deliver great products – that’s what keeps the best software engineers engaged. Apprehending and engaging actively with your staff on this culture shift is how trust and understanding are built.
Talk to us about how we can help you.
825 total views, 2 views today