At first I thought I might have read this book before because professionally I work in leadership and organizational development and the title sounded familiar. I also thought that "agile" was going to talk about being "adaptable" as a leader -- and so was not sure if I would learn anything new here. I was wrong -- I took copious notes on things I will start adopting as a leader with my team as well as share with other leaders in my organization. He talks about leaders needing to be enablers and disrupters and references another book he wrote called "The Connected Leader" which I want to pick up next. Each chapter starts with a few questions to do a self-assessment on readiness and mindset and ends with a summary. One of the questions is "Am I ready to change how I lead" - feels like I have a coach with me as I hold the mirror up to myself -- it is critical to have the openness and readiness in order to be willing to make the required behavior changes as a leader. He describes in-depth how to work in an "agile" frame - the approach used often in IT but can be applied to other functions too. He also talks about psychological safety which is critical for organizations as they shift their culture to a more agile and a learning culture. At the end of the book, there is also a team assessment that also is helpful to see if we are making the necessary shifts. I highly recommend this book to all leaders at all levels of an organization - whether you lead a project team, a small team or a large team.

The Agile Leader is a well-researched discussion on the agile framework. Hayward shares thought-provoking concepts on the complexities of leadership and the value of collaboration. This book provides scenarios and solutions to help business leaders achieve agile transformation.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Simon Hayward and Kogan Page for the advanced copy of The Agile Leader. #TheAgileLeader #NetGalley

A good read, especially for those leaders either not familiar with agile ways of working, or, part way though a digital transformation.

Whilst the book is about the agile leader it is very scrum focused. One thing experience has taught me is that everything is contextual. To this end, scrum may not be the best framework to use.

That said, there is much in this book that leaders can learn from.