Agile Leadership Matrix

Opening Note

What I am going to articulate is not a new concept or a new tool. I have tried to contextualize the standard 2X2 matrix used to represent different business dimension intersections to the two contrasting styles of leadership styles. Please read this article from the coaches’ perspective and the premise is that we as coaches will be coaching different stakeholders.

Introduction

As transformation agents/change agents, we all are aware that any organization's transformation takes time and requires huge patience and resilience on the part of the coach. It is always easy to coach and train team members, middle layer, and senior management on the overall process mechanics of Agile (e.g., ceremonies, roles, events, playbook, frameworks, etc.). However, the major challenges, which we as coaches and transformation agents face, are all related to the bringing about a mindset change, challenging the current thinking patterns, transforming from FIXED to a GROWTH mindset

In any transformation engagement, we find that most of the middle and senior leadership have been in the industry for a minimum of 15 to 24 years. They have been nurtured in the way of traditional management practices; have applied Command and Control techniques with a fair amount of success (in addition to failures). I would typically call these Leaders as one with a FIXED MINDSET having a deep-frozen mental block accumulated over a period of time (Mindset Debt). The challenge for any coach/transformation leader is to thaw this frozen block and then start bringing in an Agile thought process thereby improving the Agility of the enterprise as a whole.

One tool I feel can help is the Leadership Quadrant Matrix, explained further ahead. (Similar to Stakeholder Register from PMBOK 6th edition.)

What Is the Leadership Quadrant Matrix All About?

A simple 2 X 2 matrix, which depicts the positioning of a leadership style across the 2 dimensions of Command and Control and Servant Leadership. 

X-Axis: Degree of Command and Control exhibited by the Leader (Low to High).

Y-Axis: Degree of Servant Leadership exhibited during team interaction (Low to High). As a coach, one would use this grid to plot the current position of various stakeholders in the transformation engagement.

Each of the 4 quadrants represents a unique zone depicting the typical leadership attribute/patterns exhibited by stakeholders in that zone.

Conclusion

This tool will help coaches to understand where stakeholders are placed. Post classification, the coach needs to have a transformation plan in place to ensure Mindset Debt does not prolong too long, as this can be a major hindrance towards achieving Enterprise Agility.