Relearning Leadership Pete Behrens

For better or worse, all types of changes – personal and professional, big and small – impact our lives. In this episode of Relearning Leadership, Pete talks about his own experience managing change fatigue as well as how he has seen its effects in our communities, workplaces, and personal lives. Listen to hear his three ways in which we can acknowledge and manage how change can be tiring – and how it can be reframed as reinvigorating. 

In this episode of (Re)Learning Leadership, Pete welcomes a true agile pioneer, Jim Highsmith. Jim shares how his career has evolved from NASA engineer to ThoughtWorks alum, as well as being a co-author of the Agile Manifesto. In their conversation, Pete and Jim explore the fusion of agile and adaptive principles, shedding light on how these concepts can revolutionize leadership in a rapidly changing world. 

In this episode of (Re)Learning Leadership, Pete discusses the topic of agile transformations with Boston Consulting Group’s David Ritter. David shares insights and expertise from his 40-year career, including the difficulties around implementing agile transformation at large organizations, the courage required of those organizations’ executives, and why it is so crucial to define goals and outcomes before applying agile practices. 

In this episode of (Re)Learning Leadership, Pete delves into the topic of Gen Z entering the workforce. He is joined by Tammy Dowley-Blackman, a culture and leadership expert who shares her insights and expertise on this unique generation’s strengths and characteristics, how leaders can help them grow, as well as the challenges that come with five generations inhabiting a workforce. 

What does it take to become an agile leader?
Agility is a competency of change and adaptation. The word is often defined as the ability to move quickly and easily, but there’s a second half of the definition. It is also the ability to think and understand quickly.  With this in mind, let's explore the four key competencies in becoming a more agile leader. 

In part 2 of this series on scaling agile ways of working, Pete describes how agile scaling frameworks that may help start an agile journey are limiting more impactful organizational and business agility. 

Like recipes that help us create more flavorful dishes, agile frameworks like Scrum and Kanban are good starting points for teams to learn to deliver value more effectively.

However, the best chefs in the world don't follow recipes, they make recipes. And the best agile organizations in the world are not following agile frameworks, they are making their own.

It's time leaders get past the frameworks and become more like a chef of their organization.