PM World Journal (ISSN: 2330-4480) Agile Leadership and Coaching
Vol. XIII, Issue XI – December 2024 by Teresa Ramos, Kate Anderson Foley
www.pmworldjournal.com Featured Paper and Andrea Leven-Marcon
© 2024 Teresa Ramos, Kate Anderson Foley, Andrea Leven-Marcon
www.pmworldlibrary.net Page 1 of 18
Agile Leadership and Coaching 1
Teresa Ramos, Kate Anderson Foley
and
Andrea Leven-Marcon
- Introduction
“Agile leadership is not about how to implement agile, Scrum, Kanban, eXtreme Programming or
lean principles. You have people in your organization who can do that. Being an agile leader is a
state of mind” Zuzana Sochova19.
We begin this paper with this quote to clearly differentiate agile leadership from the agile
methodologies commonly associated with information technology or software projects11. Agile
leadership is a mindset steeped in alternative ways of thinking about, or approaching, situations19.
Agile leadership has its roots in agile methodologies. Understanding agile methodologies and agile
mindset is a helpful first step to grasp what agile leadership is, its benefits, and how to become an
agile leader to meet the needs and challenges created by changing environments. In today’s rapidly
evolving different sectors of the economic landscape, the term agile16 has become a buzzword. It’s
a concept that has moved beyond its origins in software development to influence how companies
and organizations operate, how teams work and how leaders approach their roles. It appears that
every aspect and individual must have an agile flavour to remain relevant.
In this paper, we describe the origins of agile methodologies, explore what this means and uncover
the main elements that define agile leadership through the lens of coaching.
We will not cover the remit of technical agile coaches, as defined in agile methodologies1,12. We
will show that executive coaches do need to get familiar with agile principles and embrace agility
concepts to be effective in coaching agile leaders. It is however essential to keep these two
coaching roles separate. Executive coaching for agile leadership is not the same as what is typically
known as agile coaching in agile methodologies.
1 How to cite this paper: Ramos, T., Foley, K. A., Leven-Marcon, A. (2024). Agile Leadership and Coaching; PM
World Journal, Vol. XIII, Issue XI, December.
PM World Journal (ISSN: 2330-4480) Agile Leadership and Coaching
Vol. XIII, Issue XI – December 2024 by Teresa Ramos, Kate Anderson Foley
www.pmworldjournal.com Featured Paper and Andrea Leven-Marcon
© 2024 Teresa Ramos, Kate Anderson Foley, Andrea Leven-Marcon
www.pmworldlibrary.net Page 2 of 18
Origin of Agile Methodologies
By the year 2000, the digital revolution had created a landscape filled with volatility, uncertainty,
complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). This highly complex environment rendered traditional
approaches to work ineffective, inefficient and too cumbersome. The traditional way of doing
things was too slow and rigid; it was no longer valid in a world that was changing at the speed of
light1.
In February 2001, a group of 17 software developers, troubled and frustrated by sluggish, inflexible
and inefficient conventional practices, gathered at Snowbird, a ski resort in Utah, USA. Their
the digital age17.
The outcome of this gathering was the creation of agile methodologies, encapsulated in the Agile
Manifesto2. This mindset revolves around being adaptable, flexible and collaborative. One
important aspect is that agile thinking is not just about speed; it’s about simplifying complexities,
embracing flexibility, and quickly adapting to change. 2
This agile thinking is translated into various methodologies that emphasize working together,
effective communication, adaptability and continuous learning and continuous improvement 3,13.
Key aspects of Agile methodologies and agile organizations are:
- Work is in short iterations or cycles. This enables fast addressing of challenges and
changes by the team. - Customer focus. By delivering tangible outcomes at the end of each short cycle,
teams ensure they are meeting customer needs and are open to making adjustments
based on feedback, adapting to their evolving desires. - Radical collaboration. Clear and frequent communication or interactions, between all
stakeholders, result in the creation of high performing, empowered and self-organized
teams11.
Overview of the Essential Mind Frames of Agile Leadership and Coaching
Agile leaders build worlds where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, they apply
creativity and create environments where all parties can apply creativity and achieve success. A
state of mind is core to being an agile leader 19.
PM World Journal (ISSN: 2330-4480) Agile Leadership and Coaching
Vol. XIII, Issue XI – December 2024 by Teresa Ramos, Kate Anderson Foley
www.pmworldjournal.com Featured Paper and Andrea Leven-Marcon
© 2024 Teresa Ramos, Kate Anderson Foley, Andrea Leven-Marcon
www.pmworldlibrary.net Page 3 of 18
- Description of Framework and Its’ Key Premise
Agile is a mindset originated in the IT and technology world.16 Its use extends far beyond
technology-related areas and today, we find agile principles across all business and industry sectors
including e.g. government, healthcare, manufacturing, retail and education. The need for agility is
universal as the challenges posed by a VUCA world affect every business and service sector.
It is important to highlight, per the opening quotation, we will not explore the technical side of
agile often associated with IT and technology. In the IT world, agile coaches play a significant role
to assist agile teams and organizations in adopting agile methods and working better within this
mindset.
Our focus is on the world of agile and agility, and executive coaching for senior leaders. We
explore how executive coaches can support senior leaders to become more agile, create agile
cultures and agile organizations. Executive coaches are professionals who team up with senior
leaders to co-create their leadership agility.
There is a tension between the agile leader in a post-pandemic VUCA world and the agile coach
who is able to bring equilibrium to the coaching relationship. Agile organizations are living
systems that value openness, inclusiveness, and are non-hierarchical. The agile leader possesses
the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to effectively respond in like manner to the volatility,
uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of the organization. Therefore, the role of the agile coach
must complement those characteristics by leveraging agile methodologies of adaptability,
flexibility, and collaboration in order to support the agile leader simplifying complexities,
embracing flexibility, and adapting to change.
In this paper we explored the world of agile leadership, the practical tools that executive coaches
and senior leaders can use to become more agile, and how these collaborations can make a
significant impact on organizations striving to thrive in the rapidly changing and highly complex
digital world 15
