Agile Leadership

How to become an agile leader within 4 weeks

Are you ready to become an agile leader? The online program "Agile Leadership" invites you to explore the concept of agile organizations and experience how leaders can develop an agile mindset.

Why should you take a step towards agile transformation? The decision in favor of agility is crucial for companies to survive in a volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, diverse and dynamic market environment. After all, agile concepts enable organizations to react flexibly to changes and adapt quickly to new requirements. This ability is essential to ensure long-term success in a constantly changing world of work. In other words: any organizations needs to go agile rather sooner than later.

Agile transformation: the key role of executives

However, agility goes beyond mere organizational concepts, as it primarily changes the way each individual approaches their work and thus creates considerable value for a company. Yet this requires agile managers who recognize and focus on the needs of the individual - be it customers or employees. The core of the agile approach is to create a work environment that offers room for autonomy, innovation and creativity.

A profound knowledge of agile methods, agile working and the successful transformation of your organization will open up new opportunities for you. Not only will you be challenged by questioning old beliefs, but you will be able to ‘decipher’ and ‘demystify’ the agile wave and skillfully ride on it with new impulses for your personal and career advancement. 

Unlock the Power of Agile Leadership

In our 4-week-program "Agile Leadership" you acquire the skills to co-create an agile company, be it in an expert or managerial function:

• Help your organization to find out how agile it really is. Often, organizations use agile values and practices without being aware of it.
• Analyze your organization in terms of “agile readiness”. This is the first step to capitalize on the treasure of turning implicit to explicit knowledge.
• Be part of a team that drives the agile transition of your organization. Members of such teams know how strategy, structure and culture must change for a company to go more agile.
• Develop your personal leadership style as you will get impulses to raise self-awareness. Question your expectations towards leadership, hone your communication skills and become an agile leader.
• Find out how broad agile leadership is and how many of its methods you could use e.g. in your private life.

The Agile Leadership program structure

Our aim is to enable managers to learn and try out the principles of agile leadership at their own pace. The 1-month "Agile Leadership" online program is divided into four parts, each with 1-week duration. Each week you will be supplied with food for thought, to be consumed and digested within that week at your own pace. Every program part can be worked on individually and takes approximately 6.5 hours to work on.

By the end of the program, you will have a better understanding of what good agile leadership means and how you can apply your newly learned skills in your career.

Live sessions & use in your own agile project

Within the four weeks of the online program, we offer 2 Live Sessions (via Zoom, attendance is optional):

1. In week 1, Prof. Kathrin Köster gives an inspiring input about VUCADD Leadership.
2. In the last week you have the opportunity to present a mini-pilot project. How would you try to implement more agile processes/structures or an agile mindset in your department or company? Get input from Prof. Kathrin Köster and interact with the other participants: Ask each other questions, share experiences and talk about the challenges you have faced.

Please note that the “Agile Leadership” program was designed so that participants can go through all the content and complete the mandatory tasks in 4 weeks. However, the participants will have access to the learning platform and all the materials for 6 months.

Fostering co-creation by providing impetus and opportunities for interaction

Various learning methods are used throughout the online course. Through instructional videos and study materials as well as a selection of podcasts and TED talks, participants learn, for example, how to develop an agile mindset. The “Got it?” feature in our learning system gives participants a chance to test what they have learned so far. Pieces of textual input known as “shifts” provide them with impetus for reflecting on their current ways of working and help them deepen their understanding. In “spotlight videos”, Kathrin Köster explains, among other things, what agility is and what it is not. Under the heading “Connected”, participants can raise job-related issues and ask colleagues for their input on them. So-called “anchors” give participants and teams that take part in the program as a group an opportunity to exchange views and opinions with one another.

Teamwork & cooperation in moderated forums

Anyone who has ever worked in a team knows the importance of iterative feedback to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal. However, it can sometimes be difficult to give and receive feedback.

That's why we offer facilitated forums in our Agile Leadership program. These forums give participants the opportunity to give and receive feedback in a safe and constructive environment. In this way, all team members can learn from each other and build stronger networks.

In addition, the moderated forums help to ensure that the exchange of information is focused and productive. Ultimately, we hope to foster a culture of collaboration and cooperation among our participants.

Faculty