Peter van de Voorde from Belgium led us with a super villain inspired presentation through 7 skills that are related to agile development. The following bullets sum up these skills and what it concerns
Invest
- Invest in your team
- Invest in yourself
- Invest in the future (5 years, 10 years)
Listening
- Be open to what people tell you
- You have 2 ears and 1 mouth, so listen twice as much as you talk
- Listen to body language
Empathy
- Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, think about what it’s like to be be that someone, what’s his or her history, background etc.
- Be aware of cultural differences
- Everybody is different
- Know your strengths and weaknesses
Adaptability
- Always be ready to adapt
- Get out of your comfort zone, so you will learn and enlarge your comfort zone
- If it’s broken, Fix it
- Embrace change, opportunity ahead
Coaching
- Know the people who you coach, or those who coach you
- Take time to do it right
- Be a leader, don’t be a boss
- Autonomy, mastery, purpose: motivate people to work, give people purpose, explain what you want to achieve WITH them. (book “Drive” from Daniel H. Pink)
- Coach the coach
- Do the beer test
Assertiveness
- Be assertive, not aggressive (don’t yell, listen and respond, stand your ground, but do it without being aggressive)
- Don’t be afraid
- Know your options (don’t be afraid to talk about and solve the issues)
- Have a plan
Creativity
- Say: “Yes and” instead of “Yes, but” (this nurtures creativity)
- Do some improvisational theatre
- Play (let yourself be coached by children playing)
- Read
See www.petervandevoorde.com/talks for his presentation
