My Insight into Agile Leadership Principles and Values

From a Graduate Software Developer to a Lead Agile Coach:

When I landed in the UK back in Dec 2006, thousands of questions and thoughts spun through my mind. How will I face the new world, culture, language, individuals, and circumstances? Will I be able to fulfil my dream to get into the tech industry? How am I going to secure my first tech position in the UK? My young heart and brain were navigating through a lot of obscure questions.

With nearly 14 years in the tech industry, there have been many twists and turns bends from then until now. No, it has not been a simple journey on a bed of roses. There were numerous impediments and difficulties while I endeavoured to advance in my career ambitions. But here I am, as the winner of the Women In Tech Excellence awards 'Team Leader of the Year:SME' and working as a Lead Agile Coach for a reputed world-class organisation Hargreaves Lansdown.

Women In Tech Excellence Awards 2021:

If I were to remember one date of my entire career which inspired me in my professional life, it would be the 24th of November 2021. It was the day I was announced as the 'Team Leader of the Year: SME' at the Women In Tech Excellence awards ceremony.?

This date inspired, empowered, and reaffirmed the standards and values I hold dear in my professional journey. A great moment that brought tears to my eyes as an affirmation of all my persistent efforts, responsibilities, and devotion throughout the past few years.?

Winning the title was the feather in the crown for me, but the most significant achievement was to find peace in my leadership style and inspiration to offer more to the tech industry. It has added more obligations to me, commitments to my organisation and the tech industry.

?This article focuses on leaders, what it takes to lead teams and also stepping into leadership for the first time. Through this article, I share with you my Agile leadership principles and values that I observed and absorbed all through my profession, which have empowered me to be who I am today.

Agile Leadership Values:

Winning an award brings a smile to anyone's face, but there is a lot of hard work, sweat, and determination to win such accolades. I had to deal with many challenging situations in my leadership journey. But I believed in and followed some leadership qualities that helped me deal with those demanding situations, build a great rapport with my team members, create happy, and equally high performing teams.

In this instance, I share those leadership values that has influenced me the most in my professional journey and they are in no particular order?

• Teamwork
• Equality
• Trust
• ?Respect
• ?Humility
• Agility
• Diversity

Teamwork:

We know that teamwork is the fundamental quality any colleague and a leader must possess in a team irrespective of any industry, organisation, or group. This key attribute is often put aside due to the of the competition over jobs, career advancements, pay rates, etc.

?The value of unity in an organisation ought to truly be educated since it is vital for the success of an association.

Remember, your team is your organisation. And your actual team is only a part of that big team. So, when teams/individuals compete over each other that shows the lack of agile coaching, and this resounds with an incredible statement:

"Alone we can do so little

Together we can do so much "?

Equality:

As a leader, one must ensure everyone in the team is treated fairly, whether be it economically or socially. Building trust in a team can help to provide a sense of belonging and togetherness between the colleagues which in my experience creates happier teams, resulting in better productivity. Providing that trust, motivation, and encouragement to everyone equally and confidently brings in the quality of equality. Equality can be served to its justice when one understands that everyone in the team starts from a different place but are all learning and contributing to the best of their ability.

Respect:

Who doesn't desire to be treated respectfully in society? I do! Don't you??

As much as one can earn the respect of others, one also needs to understand and recollect that it is a two-way stree. Respect yourself as an individual, character, and personality, which automatically generates energy to respect others.

Trust:?

Trust and respect sometimes go hand in hand. Trusting someone and letting them know that they have been trusted is an essential quality before one desire to earn trust from others.

Start confiding in yourself and your inner abilities first, which automatically leads to believing and trusting others.

Humility:

Have you had moments where you had wished your leader was approachable and listening?

Humility is not a trait required just for middle-level management or emerging leaders. It is a must for every leader, and I firmly believe that as you climb up the ladder in your career and as your responsibility increases as a leader, this trait should increase rather than decline.

Agility:

Having had the opportunity to work with various organisations and with different people, this has naturally helped me to be more agile, whether it be my thoughts or actions. Agility also enabled me to lead my team with a more democratic approach.

Diversity:

Have you encountered issues where you have genuinely performed well in your role but not advanced in your career due to your background or culture? Were you not allowed to express your idea or thoughts not heard due to your race or orientation? Many of these issues still exist in some organisations and need a thorough cleansing of these behaviours.

Human beings are different, and each one of us is complex and diverse in our ways with our reasonings, thoughts, sentiments, ideas, and preferences. Similarity can reduce the challenging of ideas with new or novel approaches and hence more innovative ways of thinking. So as a leader, create a diverse team, which leads to fresh ideas. Educate the importance of diversity in an organisation by coaching employees.

Leadership is a learning process and I am always on a continous journey of fine-tuning my leadership behaviours to reflect these values and principles, with the aim to support the creation of growth of happy and healthy teams for my organisation. I firmly believe people remember your personality and character, not your appearance. This chimes with a great saying by one of my role models, the former President of India, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam

In life no one will remember you the way you looked, walked or talked or what you did...

Everyone remembers you by how you made them feel when they were with you.

All of us are leaders in one way or the other in our respective fields, However these skills are not often capitalized to bring out the best in us . All the above leadership values would help everyone who want to make a difference to the tech industry and also our society in general.

Conclusion:

Team leadership is sometimes a challenging role, and you may feel lost in some difficult situations. It may be due to exhaustive meetings, draining conversations, busy schedules, tight delivery plans, and sometimes a lack of resources to support us. It is quite natural to expect this, and do not dwell too much on such situations. And let me promise you, you are not alone in this journey. When one faces a similar issue, I always suggest reaching out to the senior leaders or mentors around you and asking them for their advice to deal with these situations.

There are so many people in this industry who are willing to help us from all manner of backgrounds and experiences. All we need to do is identify those individuals and ask for help from them at the right time. There are also significant events like Computing Women in Tech Excellence Awards that are genuinely willing to promote women making a significant difference in our industry. Utilise it wisely!! These events will give you an amazing opportunity to meet and greet other amazing women in our industry and it will for sure provide you a great inspiration and motivation . Actively participate in these events and industry-wide programs to establish yourself and mark your identity.

Finally, a message to all those looking to enhance their leadership roles, my only sincere advice would be to believe in yourself first and then in your team. Success and failure are two sides of a coin that will hit you in your path but accept both gracefully. Embrace failure and understand that it is a stepping stone to your magical journey towards success. Be persistent in your goals, work hard, and make them a reality in the future. Let's all join our hands, shine the light, keep inspiring and motivating each other and work towards an empowering, empathetic and democratic tech industry. I hope this article helps all maturing leaders, particularly women, discover confidence in influential positions. All the very best!!