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One of the hardest lessons a leader must learn is how to challenge and update long-standing beliefs and behaviors that have served them well in the past but are not sufficient for the future. Leaders must continually adapt, adjust, and learn to maintain success in today's complex and rapidly changing workplace. Agile?leadership is not just another tool in the leadership toolbox it is a leadership superpower.

Agile leaders benefit from understanding the following simple equation that provides a framework for understanding why they get the results they receive.

An Equation That Delivers Results

Results

Leadership success requires that leaders deliver exceptional results and build strong relationships. This fact makes it essential for leaders to consider tasks and relationships when assessing their current levels of success.?

Behaviors

A leader's behaviors are a product of their habits, knowledge, skills, personality, perspectives, personal values, goals, etc. Below are questions for leaders to assess how their behaviors impact their current results.

• How do I contribute to this undesired result?
• How do my habits and strengths serve me well?
• How are my habits and weaknesses not serving me well?
• How do my perspectives about this situation impact my behaviors?
• Are my actions aligned to my values and long-term goals?
• Do I have the knowledge and skills to be successful?

Environment

The environment includes processes, systems, goals, roles, values, structure, physical resources, culture, etc. If you put a great leader in a bad environment without any levers for improvement, the leader will usually fail. In many cases, environmental factors will drive behaviors and outcomes even more than personality, character, knowledge, and skills. Below are examples of questions targeted at understanding the contextual factors (good and bad) that influence your situation.

• What about this environment makes it difficult to succeed?
• Are goals clearly defined and aligned for success?
• Are roles clearly defined and aligned for success?
• How effective and efficient are the processes, policies, procedures, rewards, etc.?
• What constraints (time, resources, etc.) does this situation present for you and others?

Applied Learning Cycle

After assessing how your behaviors and environment impact your results, it is time to prioritize your leverage points for better results. It could uncover areas where you need to demonstrate more leadership behaviors such as delegating, giving feedback, influencing, coaching, and setting priorities. It might clarify how environmental?factors such as gaps in skill sets, decision-making processes, reward systems, resource allocation, goal and role clarity, and accountability are getting in the way of success.

Awareness of how your behaviors and the environment impact your results is important, and it is not enough. The primary challenge for leaders is turning new perspectives or insight into action for improved results. The Applied Learning Cycle below provides a framework for leaders to implement new perspectives, learning, and insights into behaviors that deliver better results.

Goal

You should set a goal when you need to do something that has not happened yet and will not happen without focused effort. Creating a meaningful growth goal provides the benefits of clarity, focus, motivation, and accountability. Meaningful goals are a magnet for maximizing effort to achieve an intended behavior change. Setting goals is easy; achieving them is hard.

Practice

As adults, most of our most important lessons do not happen by attending training programs; our most impactful lessons, growth, and learning usually come to us through experience. Leaders must have the courage to practice new knowledge, skills, and behaviors if they want to evolve and learn. After assessing how your behaviors and environment impact your desired results, define key actions and practice.

Feedback

Receiving honest feedback helps you address blind spots and evolve your behaviors in pursuit of achieving your desired goal. For you to receive honest feedback, you must be deliberate about creating a safe environment by actively giving permission and expressing openness and desire to receive feedback.

Reflect

Research shows that a regular practice of reflection increases your capacity to demonstrate emotional intelligence, social skills, and learning agility. One of the simplest reflective models centers around asking three simple questions: What? So what? Now what?

WHAT??- What happened? / What did you notice (5 senses)?

SO WHAT? -?What worked? / What didn’t? / What are the connections between this experience and previous experiences?

NOW WHAT? -?How will you do things differently or the same next time? / What will you do to move forward??

Leadership will eventually expose your flaws. Everyone has strengths, weaknesses, biases, and perspectives that serve them well in some situations and do not serve them well in others. When encountering challenging situations, successful leaders look in the mirror and change how they think and act so their teams and organizations can succeed. If a leader does not develop their capacity to adapt to change, they will never reach their full potential.

BONUS: DOWNLOADABLE PDF'S ON SELF-LEADERSHIP

Response Vs. Reaction

Mindfulness In The Moment

Leadership Behaviors That Support Well-Being & Motivation

SOAR Self-Leadership Checklist

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am the President and Founder of ClearView Leadership, an innovative leadership and talent development consulting firm helping executives and managers bring their best leadership self to their most challenging situations. I am the author of,?Getting It Right When It Matters Most: Self-Leadership For Work & Life. You can also follow me on?Forbes?to see my latest articles on Self-Leadership and Leading Others.