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#110 - Elastic Leadership: Growing Self-Organizing Teams - Roy Osherove

Tech Lead Journal

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Elastic Leadership and Adapting to Different Team Modes

Elastic leadership encompasses three leadership styles tailored to the evolving states of a team: survival mode, learning mode, and self-organizing mode. A team's current state is assessed based on its capacity to cope with challenges. In survival mode, teams may feel overwhelmed, especially when facing unfamiliar tasks under tight deadlines; in such cases, kinetic control leadership is essential to provide guidance and structure. Conversely, self-organizing teams thrive with autonomy when tasked with familiar projects, requiring clear objectives rather than direct management. Learning mode is crucial yet challenging, as it necessitates time for skill acquisition and mistakes, often requiring significant investment in time and effort beyond superficial training. Transitioning from survival to learning mode involves evaluating and adjusting commitments to allow for this necessary growth. This framework emphasizes the nuanced understanding of team dynamics and the importance of context in effective leadership, something often overlooked in traditional management discussions. It underscores the significance of adaptability and reality-focused methods rather than predefined frameworks like Scrum or Agile.

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