Intent-Based Leadership with Michael Guiler

Published: July 10, 2020, noon

This week on the Agile Coaches\u2019 Corner, Dan Neumann is joined by a new guest, Michael Guiler! Mike is an Agile Consultant at AgileThought. He has been an Agile coach for over 13 years now and has tons of experience helping geographically dispersed organizations (both business and technology) transform to better achieve their goals. His focus is on helping organizations learn and apply the values and principles of the Agile mindset to continuously improve.

\xa0

In this episode, Dan and Mike will be focusing on the topic of intent-based leadership and the key leadership characteristics that allow for intent-based leadership. Mike shares how an organization can begin to take the first steps towards intent-based leadership, how to avoid common pitfalls, and shares his best practical tips and advice on embracing intent-based leadership throughout the organization.

\xa0

Key Takeaways

What is intent-based leadership? What problems does it solve?

Helps to get the entire team to chip in and no longer wait for approvals and sign-offs

Takes the pressure off of one single leader and unlocks the potential of every employee

The opposite of directive leadership

Changing the pattern from leader-follower to leader-leader

Those in the leadership level are not telling people what to do/how to do it; they are setting goals and directions

The \u2018followers\u2019 are engaging their creativity, mind, and intelligence and leveraging those skills and sharing their solutions with the leadership (this gives the organization a great opportunity to learn and exposes leaders to things they hadn\u2019t thought about before)

Getting started with intent-based leadership/Characteristics of leadership to allow for intent-based leadership:

Before the leader-leader pattern can take place a lot of growth has to take place

Keep in mind that this process won\u2019t happen overnight

Immediately begin to address competence \u2014 leadership at all levels can\u2019t thrive if your team doesn\u2019t have the skills or knowledge to prioritize and take action

Establish safety \u2014 mistakes will happen; it\u2019s how we react to those mistakes that will enable leadership at all levels to thrive or to fail miserably

Use mistakes as a learning opportunity rather than punishing an individual

Be curious and ask good questions from a place of true curiosity

Challenge your preconceived notions of how things have always been done

Embrace new ideas and thoughts \u2014 there\u2019s a real chance you\u2019ll learn something!

Allow time for the team to talk out loud

Respect others opinions and encourage others to have their own point of view

It\u2019s hard and will take a lot of time and investment (but it\u2019s money well-spent \u2014 the productivity will explode)

It\u2019s important to set guide rails in the technology world

Focus on the goal/outcome instead of the \u2018how\u2019; set clear intentions and let the team figure out how

Adopt the \u201cI intend to\u201d language pattern

Mike\u2019s intent-based leadership tips:

Once the competency is established and you\u2019ve gotten your organization thinking about it, it is important to establish safety (without safety people won\u2019t bring their creative-selves or do anything new)

It is key crucial for the team to know what the goals are

Have an \u201cish\u201d mindset; decisions and actions being taken won\u2019t match yours and that\u2019s OK!

Overcome urges to command and control

Be tolerant of differences and encourage different points of view

Mike\u2019s recommendation to further learn about intent-based leadership:

Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders,
by David L. Marquet

\xa0

Mentioned in this Episode:

Michael Guiler

Agile Coaches\u2019 Corner Ep. 84: \u201cGetting to \u2018Finish\u2019 as a Scrum Team with Andrea Floyd\u201d

Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders, by David L. Marquet

Forbes article regarding psychopathology in CEOs

\xa0

Michael Guiler\u2019s Book Picks:

The Age of Agile: How Smart Companies Are Transforming the Way Work Gets Done,
by Stephen Denning

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't, by Simon Sinek

\xa0

Want to Learn More or Get in Touch?

Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com!

Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!