Resources
Agile Coaching Growth Wheel
Authors and Acknowledgments
The Agile Coaching Growth Wheel is a tool that has been created collaboratively by a number of initial contributors: John Barratt, Shannon Carter, Rickard Jones, Martin Lambert, Stacey Louie, Rohit Ratan, Tom Reynolds, Andre Rubin, Kubair Shirazee and Mark Summers.
We would also like to thank all the other Agile Coaches in our community who have worked on it and provided feedback to help us develop this tool.
What is Agile Coaching?
Agile Coaching is a collaborative, thought-provoking and creative journey, using coaching approaches with an agile mindset and principles to help individuals, teams and organisations be the best they can be.
What is the “Agile Coaching Growth Wheel”?
Imagine you’re an Agile Coach. You’ve worked with various teams and organisations, helping them grow and deliver sustainable value using Agile/Lean principles and practices.
You’re good at what you do, but there’s always room for improvement. You want to develop and grow, for yourself and for the teams and organisations you serve. But where do you start?
Enter the Agile Coaching Growth Wheel, a tool that serves as a compass in your journey towards professional growth. This initiative, led by Product Owner Mark Summers, is a collaborative effort involving many practising Agile Coaches. They have evolved it to help you understand where you’ve been, where you are now and where you might be going.
At the heart of the wheel is self-mastery. This is the hub that holds everything together. Self-mastery starts with a focus on yourself and having the emotional, social and relational intelligence to choose how you show up in any given context.
Radiating from this hub are eight spokes, each representing a competency skills area:
Agile/Lean Practitioner
Having a deep and tacit understanding of the principles behind Agile and Lean and experience in working with its frameworks and practices.
Serving
Being concerned with the needs of the team or business over your own agenda. You do this from the stance of Servant Leadership, which focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of the team or business, and the communities to which they belong.
Coaching
Partnering with a person, team or organisation (client) in a creative process to help them reach their goals by unlocking their potential and understanding. A coach can accept the client as a whole and capable, and serve their agenda ethically.
Facilitating
Increasing the effectiveness of a group of people to align collaboratively, interpret their context and mutually identify the most valuable outcomes desired. A facilitator has the skills to create a neutral environment of openness, safety and innovation in a group setting.
Guide Learning
Effectively growing an individual, group or team’s skills and enabling them to be competent and resourceful. With this competency, you choose the most effective method to help the learner achieve their objectives and inspire future learning.
Advising
Using your experience, insights and observations to guide the client towards understanding the value that can help them to achieve sustainable success, even after you have moved on. As a trusted adviser, you are invested in the success of the client, creating a long-term and sustaining relationship with them.
Leading
Being the change that will make the world a better place. As a leader, you are capable of catalysing growth and inspiring others to realise their shared vision.
Transforming
Guiding sustainable change that will allow individual teams and the wider organisation to be more effective, learning how to change for themselves through leading, facilitation, coaching, facilitating learning and advising.
The Agile Coaching Growth Wheel is not just a tool. It’s a commitment to continuous learning and improvement. It’s a pledge to strive for excellence, not just for yourself but for the teams and organisations you serve. It’s a step towards professionalising the world of Agile Coaching. And it’s a journey that you, as an Agile Coach, are ready to embark on.
The wheel now has its own home; use it, and give the gift of feedback so that it keeps growing with us and the profession of Agile Coaching.
Using the Agile Coaching Growth Wheel is a journey of self-discovery and growth.
You start by identifying an area of improvement. You reflect on your current competency in this area, challenging yourself to be honest and thorough in your self-assessment. You brainstorm options for growth and formulate a plan of action. And then, you inspect, adapt and repeat the process, continuously striving for improvement.
