Agile Leadership in Collaborative Teams

Great decision-making is where efficiency meets inclusion. When I work with clients, I emphasize that true leadership goes beyond simply making decisions—it’s about making the right decisions in the right way. This requires a delicate balance between inclusion and efficiency, two forces that, when harmonized, create a powerful synergy. I’ve captured this in the matrix, which I use as a tool to help leaders reflect on their approach: 1️⃣ The Soloist This is a leader who operates in isolation, relying heavily on their own judgment. While this can sometimes lead to quick decisions, it often misses the mark because it lacks the richness of input that diverse perspectives provide. The Soloist may find themselves struggling with blind spots or overlooking critical factors that others might have caught. 2️⃣ The Commander Such leaders focus on efficiency, sometimes to the detriment of inclusion. This leader makes swift, decisive moves, which can be effective in certain situations but often leads to disengagement within the team. Without a sense of ownership or shared vision, the decisions of a Commander might falter in execution or lead to resistance. 3️⃣ The Consensus-Seeker It represents a leadership style that values inclusion, perhaps to the point of over-collaboration. While this approach ensures that all voices are heard, it can lead to decision paralysis, where the quest for consensus slows down the process and results in diluted outcomes. The challenge for the Consensus-Seeker is to find a way to be inclusive without sacrificing decisiveness. 4️⃣ The Collaborative Leader It is the gold standard—someone who excels at both including diverse perspectives and driving efficient, effective decisions. This leader knows that inclusion is not a box to be ticked, but a dynamic process that fuels creativity and innovation. By creating psychological safety and encouraging diverse viewpoints, the Collaborative Leader harnesses the full potential of their team, leading to decisions that are not only sound but also have strong buy-in and are well-executed. 🔎 Why does this matter? Because the success of a leader is not just measured by the decisions they make, but by HOW those decisions are made and implemented. A leader who can navigate the complex terrain of inclusion and efficiency will not only achieve better outcomes but will also cultivate a more engaged, innovative, and resilient team. 👉 👩💻 If you’re ready to explore how you can enhance your decision-making approach in your company and move towards a more inclusive and efficient leadership, let’s connect. Together, we can unlock the full potential of your leadership journey.

Too often, I’ve been in a meeting where everyone agreed collaboration was essential—yet when it came to execution, things stalled. Silos persisted, friction rose, and progress felt painfully slow. A recent Harvard Business Review article highlights a frustrating truth: even the best-intentioned leaders struggle to work across functions. Why? Because traditional leadership development focuses on vertical leadership (managing teams) rather than lateral leadership (influencing peers across the business). The best cross-functional leaders operate differently. They don’t just lead their teams—they master LATERAL AGILITY: the ability to move side to side, collaborate effectively, and drive results without authority. The article suggests three strategies on how to do this: (1) Think Enterprise-First. Instead of fighting for their department, top leaders prioritize company-wide success. They ask: “What does the business need from our collaboration?” rather than “How does this benefit my team?” (2) Use "Paradoxical Questions" to Avoid Stalemates. Instead of arguing over priorities, they find a way to win together by asking: “How can we achieve my objective AND help you meet yours?” This shifts the conversation from turf battles to solutions. (3) “Make Purple” Instead of Pushing a Plan. One leader in the article put it best: “I bring red, you bring blue, and together we create purple.” The best collaborators don’t show up with a fully baked plan—they co-create with others to build trust and alignment. In my research, I’ve found that curiosity is so helpful in breaking down silos. Leaders who ask more questions—genuinely, not just performatively—build deeper trust, uncover hidden constraints, and unlock creative solutions. - Instead of assuming resistance, ask: “What constraints are you facing?” - Instead of pushing a plan, ask: “How might we build this together?” - Instead of guarding your function’s priorities, ask: “What’s the bigger picture we’re missing?” Great collaboration isn’t about power—it’s about perspective. And the leaders who master it create workplaces where innovation thrives. Which of these strategies resonates with you most? #collaboration #leadership #learning #skills https://lnkd.in/esC4cfjS

🔹 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖-𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 🔹 Many Agile teams push for autonomy without seeing the real weight of leadership. It’s easy to call for empowerment. It’s harder to understand the pressures above. I’ve sat in the team room, the boardroom, and the war room. I’ve written code, run stand-ups, and signed off audits. The view changes at every level. 💡 From the Team Room: ✅ Focused on flow, blockers, and delivery ✅ Decisions feel fast and close to the user ✅ Assumes leadership just needs to “get out of the way” 💡 From the C-Suite: ✅ Balancing strategy, solvency, regulation, and risk ✅ Every decision carries visible and invisible weight ✅ Must align action with legal, financial, and public accountability 📉 The Disconnect: • Teams think leaders are slowing things down • Leaders think teams are blind to real-world constraints • Both are reacting to pressures the other can’t see This isn’t about defending bad decisions. It’s about context. 📈 What Helps Close the Gap: 1️⃣ Agile coaches shadowing leadership 2️⃣ Teams learning the business constraints 3️⃣ Execs walking the floor to listen, not inspect 4️⃣ Shared training on value, flow, and risk Leaders who’ve been on both sides must step up. Be the connector. Bring flow and governance into one conversation. This is what real agility needs. Not just better teams, but better bridges. 🔗 Full blog post here: https://lnkd.in/ecuBtjXV What’s one shift you’ve made to help teams and execs understand each other better? #AgileLeadership #CIOPerspective #BusinessAgility #EnterpriseAgility #ExecutiveThinking #TeamFlow

How I lead technical teams when I had no functional expertise – Shared Leadership! The complexity of business is increasing daily. The strains that exist for team leaders are exponentially more in the digital age than the industrial age. The good news is that you don’t need to have all the answers. You can be a leader of a team and leverage the leadership behaviors of your team members to get them more involved, give them experience leading, and outperform teams that rely solely on command-and-control tactics. When I led my Space Crew in the U.S. Army I had no knowledge of IT systems of SATCOM Equipment. The good news though, is that I could set the stage to learn, tie my team together to our collective purpose, and include different team members in different leadership responsibilities depending on the situation. This built trust and elevated us to be highly effective. Want to hear my story about how Shared Leadership saved my life? Check out my TEDx talk. In today's fast-paced business landscape, Shared Leadership is the compass that guides teams towards success. 🚀 Here are three tactics you can use to cultivate Shared Leadership within your team: 1️⃣ Foster Collaboration: Encourage open communication and idea sharing among team members. When everyone has a voice, innovation thrives, and solutions are more robust. 2️⃣ Empower Decision-Making: Trust your team members to make decisions within their areas of expertise. Empowerment breeds confidence, responsibility, and a sense of ownership. 3️⃣ Lead by Example: As a leader, embrace vulnerability and humility. Show that you value diverse perspectives and actively seek input from all team members. The benefits of Shared Leadership are astounding: 1️⃣ Enhanced Creativity: Diverse viewpoints lead to creative solutions that can set your team apart in a competitive market. 2️⃣ Increased Engagement: Team members feel valued and motivated when their contributions are acknowledged and integrated, leading to higher job satisfaction. 3️⃣ Resilience: Shared Leadership equips your team to adapt to change swiftly, making your organization agile and ready for any challenge. Remember, in the journey towards Shared Leadership, collaboration isn't just a buzzword – it's the cornerstone of sustainable success. Let's inspire and elevate our teams together! #sharedleadership #tedx #psychologicalsafety #collaboration #inclusiveleadership #tedxtalks #tedxspeaker

The most collaborative leader I've met rarely used the word "collaborate." Instead, they did this: ---The Collaborative Leadership Code--- 🔹 Spoke less in meetings, but listened intently 🔹 Made fewer decisions, but more impactful ones 🔹 Gave less direct advice, but asked more powerful questions Their team? They were innovative, resilient, and high-performing. Here's what I've learned about collaborative leadership: ✅ Clear Vision: Sets direction without dictating every step ✅ Balanced Input: Knows when to seek perspectives and when to act ✅ Accountability Pro: Holds everyone (including themselves) responsible ✅ Empowered Decision-Making: Trusts team members with real authority Becoming this kind of leader? It's not easy. It requires: ▪ Trust muscle: Are you ready to truly let go of control? ▪ Courage: Can you champion your team's ideas over your own? ▪ Skillful communicator: Can you inspire action without giving orders? ▪ Ego check: Can you handle not always being the one with all the answers? True collaborative leadership isn't just a skill—it's a fundamental shift in how we approach power and influence. What's your experience? Have you witnessed the quiet power of true collaborative leadership? Do you view yourself as a collaborative leader?

After working with multiple cross-functional teams, one thing has become painfully clear: 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬. We obsess over ceremonies, tools, and metrics, but we often overlook the single most important factor that determines whether a team thrives or burns out: PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY Here’s the hard truth: 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬. - You can run flawless standups and still ship broken products. - You can track sprint velocity religiously and still leave your team drowning in burnout. - You can have retrospectives every two weeks and still hear silence in the room. Because when people don’t feel safe to speak up, question assumptions, or admit blockers, “Agile” becomes theater.... busy but brittle. Here's are 5 approaches to bridge the trust gap in your team. 📍T — Transparency in Decision-Making Don’t just hand down priorities. Explain the why. Show your uncertainties. Invite your team into the decision. ↳Start every sprint planning with 5 minutes of context. It changes everything. 📍R — Reward Intelligent Failures High-performing teams don’t avoid failure, they mine it for insights. ↳ Dedicate a section in retrospectives to “productive failures.” Celebrate what you learned. 📍U — Unblock Before You Judge When someone raises an issue, don’t start with “why.” Start with “how can I help?” ↳ Create safe, multiple pathways for people to surface blockers including anonymously. 📍S — Shared Accountability Shift the narrative from “who’s at fault” to “what can we improve together.” ↳ Replace individual blame metrics with team success metrics. 📍T — Time for Reflection Pushing relentlessly without pause kills innovation. Space to reflect is where creativity breathes. ↳ Reserve 30 minutes at the end of every sprint for conversations that are separate from delivery-focused retros. This is crucial because Teams with high psychological safety consistently outperform others with higher #teamperformance, lower turnover, fewer quality issues and higher revenue performance Here's a place to start.... In your next team meeting, take one recent decision and walk your team through your reasoning, including what you were uncertain about. That single act of vulnerability creates space for openness everywhere else. Remember, #Agile isn’t about speed. It’s about creating conditions where teams can thrive under uncertainty. And that begins with TRUST. P.S. How do you build psychological safety in your team? Share in the comments. Your insights could help someone lead better. Follow 👉 Benjamina Mbah Acha for insights that help you plan, execute, and deliver projects with confidence.

Most leadership teams focus on what to do. The best ones focus on: How to do it. Let me tell you about one of my favorite transformations. I worked with a small senior leadership team—14 leaders from a pharmaceutical company.    When we first met, their meetings looked like this:   -Everyone sat down -Gave individual updates, -Reported on progress, and left. No collaboration. Just reports. Their goal? To shift from being a reporting team to a collaborative team—one that makes decisions together.  But before they could do that, they needed to fix one crucial thing: How they worked together. So we started with the basics:   1. Ways of working. – What’s the structure for communication?   2. Feedback rules. – How will they give and receive feedback?   3. Tools and practices. – What tools will they use, and how will they use them?  The realization was simple but powerful: Most teams focus on what they need to work on. Few focus on how they’ll work together. Six months later?  They told me their collaboration was smoother than ever. No more confusion, fewer frustrations, and more time to focus on big decisions.  Here’s the takeaway:  If you want a high-performing team, don’t just talk about the work. Talk about how you’ll do the work. Because when you set clear norms from the start, you eliminate the friction that holds teams back—and unlock the potential to achieve much more together.  📌 Want to build your best team ever? Join 27,000+ who receive these insights in my free newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gCv_2MQ2

Leadership isn’t just about directing; it’s about inspiring collaboration! In many organizations, leaders struggle to foster a truly cohesive and resilient company culture. This lack of collaboration can lead to fragmented teams, poor communication, and ultimately, ineffective decision-making. What if CFOs could be the catalyst for this transformation? At eCapital, we recognized this challenge and set out to redefine leadership within our organization. Here’s how we did it: 1. Modeling Collaborative Behavior: Our leadership team actively demonstrates collaboration by engaging in cross-functional projects and promoting open communication. This sets a powerful example for all employees. 2. Promoting Inclusive Decision-Making: We ensure that all voices are heard in strategic discussions, fostering a culture where diverse perspectives contribute to well-rounded decisions. 3. Encouraging Team-Building Activities: Regular team-building exercises help break down silos and build trust among different departments. 4. Continuous Leadership Development: We invest in ongoing training and development programs that emphasize the importance of collaborative leadership. 5. Recognizing and Rewarding Collaboration: We celebrate and reward collaborative efforts, reinforcing the value of working together towards common goals. These strategies have transformed our organizational culture, making us more cohesive, innovative, and resilient. Our leaders are now not just directors but also facilitators of collaboration, ensuring that every team member feels valued and heard. Are you ready to revolutionize your leadership approach and drive your business forward with collaboration at its core? Wishing everyone continued success with your collaboration and leadership efforts. 🔽 🔽 🔽   👋 Hi, I'm Lisa. Thanks for checking out my Post!    Here is what you can do next ⬇️    ➕ Follow me for more data insights     🔔 Hit the bell on my profile to be notified when I post    💬 Share your ideas or insights in the comments   ♻ Inform others in your network via a Share or Repost #digitaltransformation #finance #cfo #data #businessanalytics

Agility isn’t a phase. It’s a leadership mindset. Lately, I’ve been thinking about what that really means. Because in my experience, the most agile orgs aren’t just chasing speed. They’re the ones where clarity, trust, and adaptability are baked into the culture. Not just in frameworks or sprint cycles, but in how we show up, make decisions, and create space for our teams to move faster than we ever could on our own. A few ways I’ve seen that come to life: Empower small, cross-functional teams: Some of the most meaningful work I’ve seen has come from lean teams with a shared mission and the freedom to move. When people are trusted, they move with purpose. Make feedback continuous and lightweight: Agility doesn’t mean changing direction every week. It means building habits around listening, iterating, and staying close to the signals that matter. Use AI to reduce drag, not just cut costs: The right tools go beyond automation. They unlock autonomy, helping teams make smarter decisions faster and clearing the path for momentum. Agility starts with how we lead, not just how fast we can go. Curious to hear: what has helped you build a more responsive, resilient organization? #Leadership #EnterpriseAgility #FutureOfWork