Agile Manager + High EQ | Need of the Hour – Agile Story/Thought 7

In Industry talks and interactions with Agile Community in the market, we keep hearing below:

Why is my team not changing their ways of working?

I did my Agile Certifications, enjoyed it but failing to execute with teams? Team is not co-operating.

I am delivering splendid work, but failing to be good with team members, colleagues, stakeholders. Why?

Due to scenarios like above and few other key factors listed below the Agile Manager / Scrum Master/Agile Coach who needs to be Servant Leader losing patience, feeling stressed, unhappy – what to be done?

In current scenarios we are dealing with “Knowledge workers”, “Gen X, Y, Z etc “, “Remote working” “Hybrid Model of working”, “Complexity of Projects increasing” “teams are with comparison attitude” and many more

?Transformation of Projects is not so easy, reason transformation of people is particularly challenging.

?Agile is Mindset, Culture.

?Transforming the people is critical to be successful in transforming the projects.?

?Agile teams

• Self-Organizing
• Quick adaption to change
• High Performing
• Empowerment (Required ownership & flexibility)

Your EQ, not your IQ, that will help in removing the barriers you are experiencing and to be as Servant Leader. When you are at your best, you will be able to Mentor, Coach teams to be High Performing teams.

IQ: Know How | Agile Practices, principles, values etc

EQ: Know You | Once we know ourselves, it’s easy to know others

Emotional intelligence, What:

The Capacity to

1)Be aware of, control and express one’s emotions

2)Handle interpersonal relationships emphatically

?The concept surged in popularity in the 1990s after the Emotional Intelligence book by Daniel Goleman got published

Agile enthusiastic friends, does many of the EI competencies like Adaptability, Achievement Orientation, Positive outlook, Organizational Awareness, Coach & Mentor, Conflict Management, Teamwork, Inspirational leadership we keep talking, using in our trainings, discussions? – Yes, very much.

But did we ever assessed how good I am and how good my team is on these competencies, if not start the journey to improve your knowledge on EI, practice and grow yourself and your teams

Today, experts agree on two statements:

1.??????Emotional intelligence is possible to grow and improve with practice.

2.??????Emotional intelligence affects a job performance.

Few of us are great at People Skills and EQ levels will be remarkably high, we see these personas love the team and team loves them.

If you are passionate to improve yourself and influence your team to be high performing teams, focus on the below:

Self-Aware: I am Agile Scrum Master, I am Agile Coach etc titles with so many years of experiences, so many certifications, successful transformation accomplishments adding to your “EGO”, time to reflect, retrospect, Self-Aware and be like SEA to be a Servant Leader

Tao leadership thought:

“All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. humility gives it its power. if you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. if you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.”

Know your EQ and follow below steps:

Steps:

1)?????Test your EQ: https://www.ihhp.com/free-eq-quiz/

Sharing one resource, you can have your own choice as per the resources available to you

2)?????Know the areas you are strong, Know the areas you need to improve

3)?????Periodically reflect on Strong areas and ensure you are strengthening them further

4)?????Move the improvement areas as your Self – Product Backlog, plan sprints, iterate, reflect, and grow – Time boxing is critical ??

5)?????Engage with EI Coach (If needed)

?Not all successful people are happy, we could find many examples in our own network.

In our lifestyles, we need both: Success & Happiness

Let’s Create Success & Happiness

In my next blog, we will discuss another flavor of EI, stay tuned for more details

Passionate to be with the culture where it helps to grow your Agile IQ & Agile EQ, please join us at #ibm with an email to [email protected]

This is the continuation of sharing our Agile Stories/Thoughts Series. I strongly recommend referring to the links below for previous insightful blogs from our #teamagile in IBM

Here are the links of our other Agile Stories/Thoughts Series. I strongly recommend referring to the links below for previous insightful blogs from our #teamagile in IBM??

Story 1?A Small Thought with a Big Dot - By Sandip Sengupta

Story 2?Retrospective: Bring our Smiles Back! - By Ajay Padattil

Story 3?Time is of essence! - By Rajiv Banerjee

Story 4?Sustainability with Agility - By Sudipta Chakraborty

Story 5 Awareness > Inspect & Adapt? - By Rama Krishna Tadepalli

Story 6 Mommies Guide to Agile – By Sheri D’Souza

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are personal and those of my responsibility. They do not reflect the company's opinions.