In a podcast conversation about leadership evolution with Bob Anderson, creator of the Leadership Circle Profile and co-author of “Mastering Leadership” and “Scaling Leadership,” (see Read More for links) we explored a fascinating parallel that should give every Agile coach pause: 75% of leaders operate from a reactive mindset, and coincidentally (or perhaps not), 75% of agile transformations fail. As someone who’s been in the trenches of organizational transformation for years, this correlation rings the bell of truth.
The Missing Piece in Transformation
We’ve all been there – implementing new processes, introducing frameworks, training teams about agile values and principles – yet something isn’t clicking. The organization isn’t truly transforming. Bob’s insight cuts to the heart of why: “The organization won’t transform unless there is a corresponding transformation in leadership.” It’s not about the processes and frameworks; it’s about the people leading at one or two (three?) rungs up from the teams.
Bob shared a compelling story about a Chief Operating Officer who embodied this challenge. This leader’s superpower was his ability to manage every detail, run all decisions through himself, and maintain control. It worked brilliantly… until it didn’t. When promoted to oversee a global team of people managing 75% of a Fortune 100 company’s revenue, his strength became his limitation.
The Three Stages of Leadership Evolution
Through our conversation, Bob outlined three crucial stages of leadership development:
- Reactive Leadership: Where most (75%) leaders operate from, characterized by external validation, control, and resistance to change.
- Creative Leadership: A more evolved state where leaders author their own identity and purpose, enabling authentic conversations and true accountability.
- Integral Leadership: An even more advanced stage where leaders can hold complexity and paradox, embracing diversity and finding unity in differences.
For leadership coaches, recognizing these stages is crucial. We’re not just dealing with behaviors; we’re dealing with different operating systems of consciousness.
Coaching Through the Evolution
A powerful moment in our conversation came when Bob described how to approach these leadership transformations. With the COO mentioned earlier, the breakthrough came not through challenging his control-oriented style directly, but through a simple question: “How do you scale yourself?” This is brilliant coaching – meeting leaders where they are and helping them see their own limitations through the lens of what they care about most.
The path to progress isn’t always (ever?) smooth. Bob shared how one leader took two years and a significant drop in his effectiveness scores (from 80th percentile to 30th) before truly engaging with the need for personal change. The lesson for coaches? Patience and persistence matter.
Creating a Feedback-Rich Environment
Another of the many practical insights Bob shared was about creating what he calls a “feedback-rich environment.” As coaches, we often struggle with how to tell hard truths to leaders. Bob’s approach is systematic: use structured feedback tools (like the Leadership Circle Profile), create safe spaces for honest conversation, and help leaders see feedback as a gift rather than a threat.
What struck me was his observation that leaders today are actually quite precise in describing effective leadership. They can see it in others. The challenge isn’t knowledge; it’s integration and personal transformation.
The Path Forward
This conversation offers a crucial compass. Before we roll out another process change or yettanother framework, we need to ask:
- Are we addressing the leadership operating system, or just the organizational mechanics?
- Have we created safe spaces for leaders to be vulnerable and learn?
- Are we helping leaders see their own limitations in a way that inspires growth rather than defensiveness?
What’s particularly encouraging is that leadership evolution is possible. (Frequent, no, possible yet…) Bob shared stories of leaders who made dramatic transformations over time, including one who went from being known as “tough to work with” to creating what his team described as “the best leadership experience of their life.” The key was the leader’s willingness to engage in his own development over the long term.
Moving Beyond Creative Leadership
Perhaps most provocatively, Bob suggests that even creative leadership – which many of us see as the goal – might not be enough for today’s complexity. We’re facing challenges that require even more evolved leadership capacities, what he calls “integral leadership” and beyond.
For coaches, this means our own journey of development never ends. We need to be evolving alongside our clients, constantly expanding our capacity to hold complexity and paradox.
As I reflect on this conversation, I’m struck by how much it aligns with what we see in agile transformations. While tools and processes are necessary they are insufficient. The real work is in evolving the consciousness of leadership to match the complexity of our challenges.
And that’s where we, as coaches, come in. Our role isn’t just to teach new practices but to create the conditions for leadership evolution. It’s challenging work, but as Bob’s examples show, it’s both possible and essential.
