While I agree 100% with the spirit of this article, I want to riff off of it from an agile transformation leadership perspective… 

It’s simply not good enough for a CEO of a company that aspires to agile ways of working (transformation, business agility, flow, employee engagement, etc.) and not take a strong ownership stake in it themselves.

To simply hire someone to make things be agile without being in the game themselves. Not as a:

  • Sponsor

  • Supporter

  • Proponent

  • Advocate

  • Stakeholder

  • Funder

  • Cheerleader

Isn’t good enough. Not for something as powerful, as challenging, as impactful, with as much potential as changing their culture and the way they do work.

CEO as Agile Change Agent

Instead, I want every CEO who is undertaking any sort of agile adoption, transformation, or initiative to get in the game with their organizational change agents. To act as a Chief Agility Officer.

I’ll share a story to make the point.

Years ago, I worked for a company called iContact. I was brought on to be one of the agile change agents for the technology culture, but also to change the way the entire company operated.

The CEO at the time was Ryan Allis. He was also one of the founders. Ryan was young for a CEO, perhaps mid-’20s at the time. But he was incredibly driven, bright, focused, and energetic. While he empowered the entire organization, he also realized the role he needed to play in key initiatives. Particularly those revolving around culture and change.

I remember on one particular occasion we were having a challenge getting the C-level team to attend our agile events. And I brought it to Ryan’s attention.

He addressed the importance of SLT engagement in all of our agile efforts and reinforced his level of support/engagement but also the need for all of his leaders to do the same. Not reluctantly or out of a sense of obligation, but as an imperative to supporting a change that was so crucial for our company's go-forward strategies and growth.

I thought of him and his engagement at the time, not as a CEO, but as our Chief Agile Officer.

Wrapping Up

This is a call to action for all CEOs in agile transformations of any sort to become more engaged. To view your role as a CAO and to dive in 100% unlearning, growing, and engaging in what your agile teams are doing and planning to do.

Just supporting is no longer good enough.

Stay agile my CEO friends,

Bob.

 

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