5 reasons why you should respect leadership in Scrum.

Agile and Scrum can easily be associated with a syndrome of aversion towards leadership. Proponents of Agile and Scrum can be very vocal on what attributes ‘good’ leadership and what not. And this is speaking in context to servant-leadership and self-organisation and the development of autonomy, mastery and purpose.

It is in our nature to be quick to judge the performance of our leaders. And righteously so. Often they influence our own personal development, career, as well as the sense of safety, achievement, enjoyment and fulfillment in our daily lives. Yet, it pays to be respectful about leadership in Scrum.

Respect as a Scrum value extends beyond the team.

I’ve been in situations where I respected an individual’s autonomy and ability to self-organise, but did not enjoy this individual’s respect as they felt I had to ‘earn it first’. This person was quick to call me out on things that weren’t running smoothly, marking me ‘the leader’, the one responsible for ‘doing something about it’.

Respect, amongst the other values of openness, courage, commitment and focus, is what builds trust.

Without this mutual respect there was no bond of trust between us. When an individual voices mistrust, and is quick to name/shame/blame others (leadership included), would you trust this individual (who is so eager to dismiss responsibility) with more autonomy?

As a Scrum Master I am very respectful of autonomy and self-organisation. I am better at this when I too am respected to be capable in my role by team members.

Here is another situation where respect is a prerequisite to trust in the context of individuals advocating for Scrum in a more traditional workplace. The Agile and Scrum community often present sentiments on why ‘traditional’ management sucks and how ‘we all think we know better’. While equally many such advocates are frustrated and having such a hard time convincing the very same ‘traditional’ leadership about Agile values and the benefits of self-organisation. If…

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