In the dynamic and rapidly evolving modern world of business, “agile” leadership has become a topic of considerable focus for leaders. However, despite all of the talk about it in the media, many new entrepreneurs, senior leaders and c-level executives may not be totally clear on what being an agile leader entails, what it looks like and what the benefits of it are.
Agile leadership encompasses more than merely being adaptable to change; it involves adopting a mindset and implementing practices that empower a leader to navigate ambiguity, foster creativity and propel organizational success. Below, 19 Forbes Coaches Council members explore what it means to become an agile leader and key reasons why it is so important for leaders to embrace agility in today’s economic climate.
1. Embracing An Abundance Mindset
An agile leader embraces an abundance mindset that prioritizes adaptability, resilience and flexibility, seeing change and uncertainty as opportunities to inspire innovation and growth in their team. Agility is essential to creating a culture of abundance that values challenges as opportunities to learn and improve, fostering gratitude and fulfillment among team members. – Anna Yusim, MD, Yusim Executive Coaching
2. Learning From Previous Experiences
Being an agile leader means learning from previous experiences and applying that knowledge in new contexts. This ability equips leaders to adapt and adjust to increasingly complex environments and situations. – Shelli Hendricks, Blue Horizon Solutions
3. Staying Focused On The Big Picture
As the business landscape continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, organizations need leaders who can adapt to changing circumstances effectively. An agile leader is someone who stays focused on the big picture, has a growth mindset and knows how to collaborate effectively. These leaders respond quickly to pivots, are resilient and are not afraid to embrace change in the face of uncertainty. – Adam Cubbage, Center Point Leadership Development
4. Making Decisions With New And Evolving Information
Leaders create a plan and a blueprint, but will inevitably need to respond to unforeseen issues and opportunities in their environment. The timing and effectiveness of a leader’s response will directly impact an organization’s success. Agility is the ability to listen, see patterns and make decisions with new and evolving information. Leaders who have this agility provide a competitive advantage. – Joe Frodsham, CMP
5. Becoming Comfortable With Uncertainty
Being an agile leader requires developing a comfort level with uncertainty (recognizing it as part of the leadership turf) and learning to pivot with insight and intelligence. I prefer the term “cognitive agility,” as it encompasses both of the qualities that I feel are required. A final crucial component of agility is effective communication: frequent, open, transparent and inclusive conversations. – Peter Accettura, Accettura Consulting LLC
6. Leveraging Emotional Intelligence
A truly agile leader is one who is adaptable at every level, whether they are dealing with global macroeconomics impacting their industry, organizational and departmental shifts impacting their company, or team members facing their own challenges. Additionally, a truly next-level agile leader is one who leverages EQ to connect and communicate with people in ways that resonate with them. – Emily Kapit, MS, MRW, ACRW, CPRW, ReFresh Your Step, LLC
7. Knowing When To Call Upon Others’ Strengths
An agile leader is competent in pivoting in response to the current needs of the organization. They are able to use agility in working with the team, other departments and key stakeholders. An agile leader is also able to address challenges in creative, innovative and quick ways! They are self-aware, know their strengths and know when to call upon others’ strengths. – Lyne Desormeaux, PsyD, MCC, Desormeaux Leadership Consulting
8. Embracing A Continuous Learning Mindset
Becoming an agile leader means adopting an approach to leadership that emphasizes flexibility, adaptability and responsiveness to change. It involves embracing a continuous learning mindset and proactively seeking ways to improve processes and workflows. Remember, it is okay to encourage experimentation and resourcefulness—efforts do not always have to be perfect! – Cheri Rainey, Rainey Leadership Learning
9. Being Open To Innovation
Being an agile leader has everything to do with one’s mindset. It reflects on that individual’s ability to be flexible, promote continuous improvement, lean into failing fast and be open to innovation—all with an eye toward speed, quality and performance. – Nishika de Rosairo, HumanQ Inc
10. Being Willing And Able To Pivot When Necessary
Becoming an agile leader is the ability and willingness to adjust or pivot when needed to meet the demands of the situation. Being an agile leader is important because the seas of change are constantly shifting, and leaders must be able to navigate them quickly and confidently; agility equips them to do so. – Karen Tracy, Dr. Karen A Tracy, LLC
11. Providing Space For Growth From The Top Down
Agile leadership means being flexible. When a leader makes the decision to be open in their approach to support, service and delivery, the team follows. It leads to an environment that can fully embrace change and release the process enough to adapt to reality. The result is a culture that is open to creative solutions and output. Agile leadership provides space for growth from the top down. – Meredith Leigh Moore, Leverette Weekes
12. Being Invested In The Best Ideas, Not Your Own
Being an agile leader requires that we be invested in the best ideas, not our own ideas. Choosing not to serve our own egos keeps us open to and hungry for innovation and smart business practices. Agility is the wisdom to see when we should use resources to advance growth and when we should pull back, streamline and build infrastructure. It also means acknowledging when we’re wrong and doing better. – Carmell Clark, Center for Transformational Influence, Inc.
13. Being Flexible And Responsive To Change
An agile leader is someone who is flexible, adaptable and responsive to change. They are comfortable with ambiguity and have a different approach that enables them to make quick and confident decisions. While the traditional top-down approach of leadership may have been effective in the past, we now live in a rapidly changing and complex world where agility is crucial for business success. – Sandra Colhando, TransforMe Learning
14. Working Through Negative Emotions
Emotional agility is required to be an effective communicator. Strong negative emotions such as anger block our ability to express ourselves easily and authentically. Face anger in the moment and work it out physically with a scream, a run or a punch into a pillow. Through release, you remain in touch with your true self, no longer held captive by negative emotional freezes. – Dr. Jayne Gardner
15. Creating A Positive, Trusting Work Environment
Agility is not just about the business benefits; it’s also about building strong relationships and creating a positive work environment. As an agile leader, I feel a sense of joy and fulfillment from working with my team members to achieve our goals. I understand that collaboration is the new competition, so becoming an agile leader is about building a culture of trust and collaboration. – Temitope Olukunle, Outnovately Africa
16. Seeing Opportunities In Problematic Situations
An agile leader is one who can adjust course. They are not stuck in their own ways or focused on the problems at hand. Instead, agile leaders are able to adapt, pivot and change course when needed; they have the ability to see opportunities in situations where others might see problems. Agile leaders create more open, innovative and thriving cultures for their teams and the organization. – Julie Menden, Julie Menden, LLC.
17. Approaching Challenges With A Scientific Mindset
We refer to agile leaders as those who act with the mind of a scientist. They continually scan the environment for opportunities, formulate hypotheses, collect data, analyze it, pilot solutions and learn. Leaders who continually meet challenges with a scientific mindset can quickly adapt to a broad range of challenges. With so much emphasis on artificial intelligence and rapid innovation today, leaders need to demonstrate agile traits. – Maureen Metcalf, Innovative Leadership Institute
18. Being Mindfully Alert And Engaging To Effect Change
We are the architects of our future, and the stakes are high right now. Agility is crucial to inventing the future we want. Agility combines being mindfully alert, generating options to increase the odds of achieving success, sitting back and validating our reality, truth or vantage point, and engaging to effect change. This cycle needs to be repeated over and over while we lead in real time. – Michelle Anne, MichelleAnne.com
19. Being Able To Say ‘Yes’ Or ‘No’ As Quickly As Possible
Agile leadership is the ability to simply say “yes” or “no” as quickly as possible. In today’s fast-paced business world, where disruption is the norm and organizations must be able to respond quickly to changing market conditions, leaders must be agile. An agile leader will help their company be proactive by anticipating changes in the market and adapting their strategies accordingly. – Ken Gosnell, CEO Experience
