I wrote this article in 2018, and it’s received quite a bit of attention over the years. I recently saw it reposted again by Comparative Agility, and it made me think about the notion of “rules of Agile Coaching.”
Not don’t get me wrong. I’m not a rules guy. I actually wasn’t that fond of the title of the first article. I may have been inspired by the quote—The first rule of fight club…
But all that being said, as I mulled it over again, I thought other aspects of agile coaching emerged that I’d share with you. And, if one rule was good, then certainly ten are better. So, here we go—
The 1st Rule of Agile Coaching…
Be coachable
The 2nd Rule of Agile Coaching…
Practice, practice, practice
The 3rd Rule of Agile Coaching…
You’re never done learning
The 4th Rule of Agile Coaching…
Walking your talk
The 5th rule of Agile Coaching…
Humility – it’s not about you
The 6th rule of Agile Coaching…
Professional Coaching alone is insufficient
The 7th Rule of Agile Coaching…
Be ethically centered
The 8th Rule of Agile Coaching…
Take care of yourself
The 9th Rule of Agile Coaching…
Self-mastery (awareness) is critical
The 10th Rule of Agile Coaching…
Reflect and make your own rules
Wrapping Up
In the first rule article, I dared to tell you what being coachable was or looked like. I’m not going to make that mistake this time.
Instead, I’d encourage you to review the list and assess yourself within each rule.
Define what that area means to you and if it’s applicable.
If applicable, assess how you are doing in that area.
And then establish what you need to improve upon in that area.
And at the end, decide if there are more (or fewer) rules you need to establish for yourself and explore them.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and reactions to my rules. What do you like? Not like? And what have I missed?
Regardless of my or your list, I’m beginning to warm up to the notion of Agile Coaching “rules” or heuristics as being generally a good idea. At least for now.
Stay agile my friends,
Bob.
And to compliment this post, I want to share this LinkedIn post by Dan Moody entitled Don’t Be Coachable; Be Humble. More food for thought…