We are what we share
A long time without writing to you. Two weeks have passed without loving this blog, but enough is enough. My move is over, and I’m finally in another country, accompanying amazing people in outstanding teams of a fantastic organization I’ve always dreamed of collaborating with.
Today we will talk about ethics in Agile Coaching. And this is because a few days ago, I was talking with an Agile Coach colleague who lives in Mexico. He asked me for mentorship on many topics, including dealing with Agile Coaches who don’t understand their role? How do we make it visible that it is not ethical to put 15 students in a virtual classroom to teach a course certified by learning objectives with materials copied from another organization?
I want to share with you three basic terms:
Ethics is the study of morality. It raises fundamental questions, such as how people should act in a given situation and what kind of society we should live in. Ethical principles guide a person to behave correctly based on moral duties and virtues, which in turn are derived from the codes of correct conduct.
Coaching is a collaborative partnership that enables you to maximize your personal and professional potential. Throughout the process, a coach will help you get clear on what is most important to you and develop an action plan to make it happen.
Agility is nothing more than flexibility and adaptability. Being and doing agile is just that… Being adaptable and flexible at all times and making adaptability and flexibility at all times.
For that, and doing a little wrap-up of that conversation. I would like to help you understand why ethics is the first thing you should be clear about when you want to accompany people, teams, and organizations to be and do agile in the best possible way.
The Agile Coach
The agile coach is not a change agent. This person is not responsible for the change of others. What he does have as a responsibility is to be a bridge so that change occurs of his own free will. That is, he makes change attractive. The coach’s role is to help the client identify and create momentum towards the goal they have set out to achieve. The Agile Coach must communicate with others effectively to guide them towards the achievement of their flexible and adaptable goals and/or dreams. And he does it being ethical. The first step toward ethics in Agile Coaching is, ultimately, to understand that you are not responsible for the change of others. You are responsible for paving the way for them and for them to cross their own free will.
In addition, this role will help you understand being and doing Agile. Agile Coaches work with you, side by side, without hierarchy, to improve everything in terms of skills, communication, knowledge of the process, and, of course, ways of working.
Has commitments with oneself and with the rest
Have you ever had the experience of being so focused on your ego or your own agenda as an agile coach that you don’t even realize how your own actions are affecting others?
It’s easy to fall into that trap. It is easy to forget that other people around us also want to fulfill their own goals and dreams but may suffer from our own inability to accompany them.
Being unaware and incompetent as an Agile Coach costs companies millions in salaries or consulting hours. In addition, those two points are expensive for millions of students who are looking for an excellent course to train or where to receive good information, but also examples of how to be a good Agile Coach (And if you detect that your “Agile Coach” or “Change Agent” use materials copied from other organizations, instructors without passing accreditation processes or rooms full of people without proximity to the instructor you know what to do).
Helping build trust and psychological safety by moderating empathy, curiosity, and respect begins with our behavior and example.
When a team feels insecure, it can be hard for them to take risks and try new things. As an Agile Coach, you help build trust by encouraging the team to try new things in a safe environment. You do this by modeling curiosity, empathy, and respect.
You are inquisitive. You ask questions like, “What do you think of this?” or “What do you think will happen if we do this?” “How does it make you feel?” or “What’s the point of that?” He also models curiosity with his body language; As I always say, the medium is the message.
You temper respect in settings by being curious and appreciative, showing that you value what each person says, regardless of who they are or what role they have on the team.
In addition, you provide these people and teams with the best possible experience, starting with ethics in your accompaniments and continuing with non-judgment.
You are a helpful and inclusive human being
Can you imagine a person who accompanies change and is autocratic with the change of others? Can you imagine a “Head of Agile” with favoritism in the team? Can you imagine yourself in “Agility Manager” invalidating your team’s ideas?
Well, they exist, and for them, we will tell you that being a servant leader is basically an approach that emphasizes the importance of inclusion and helping others. In short, Servant Leadership is about putting others before yourself.
Think about how easy it is to work with someone who puts the needs of their team first. I would bet anything that if your “Head. of Agile” was one of those people who helps everyone else before himself — and expects the same from everyone else — you would be more than happy in that work environment (Perhaps the massive resignations you see right now in your company are due to the ego of a few). Applying Servant leadership at all times results in a positive work environment full of teamwork where everyone feels valued.
This brings us back to the question: What makes an ethical leader? Great leaders are often humble enough to see themselves as servants. They expect others around them to act similarly (which can be tricky).
And again, you are not responsible for the change of the others.
The Agile Coach’s job is to create an environment where this can happen and then facilitate the necessary interactions that will make it happen. Once the organization has reached the “other side” of the transformation, you can continue to work with and in them as long as you can maintain their unique perspective, but in doing so, always remember that your role is to help them move forward by supporting their growth as individuals. , teams, and organizations to improve everything.
Then?
Agile and Agile Coaching is based on ethics.
- It’s about helping people.
- It’s about building trust, not just trusting people, but being trustworthy in yourself and others.
- Be inclusive with all those involved in the change process and recognize that each has its own responsibility in achieving things collectively.
- It is being human, showing empathy and understanding towards the feelings and needs of others, and respecting them enough not to impose your own points of view on others without reason or purpose.
Agile coaching is also about being a living example of ethics and being flexible and adaptable.
