To solve modern day business problems, leaders need a new way of looking at business management.
So said Helen Macqueen, principal consultant at ThoughtWorks, speaking at the ITWeb Software Development Management event at the Forum yesterday.
According to Macqueen, most organisations are dealing with market complexity, continuously evolving technology, ever-increasing customer demands, and protecting intellectual property.
In this agile environment, leadership behaviours and mindsets need to shift from a traditional way of leading to an adaptive leadership style.
She believes adaptive leaders are dynamic, agile leaders who are incredibly effective in any environment.
"This type of leadership is paradoxical because as an adaptive leader, to gain control, you have to give it to the employees, and also you can't just tolerate change but you need to drive it."
In a software development project, a good leader needs to identify what has to be done and organise work in a way that promotes a good working environment, said Macqueen.
Organisations that fail to increase their leadership skills in order to deal with change constructively and proactively are bound to fail, she added.
Leaders need to identify their purpose from the point of view of the customer, said Macqueen, adding the purpose of a leader is not to make money but to satisfy the wants of a customer.
When testing a product, an adaptive leader knows customer feedback is important. "If you get slow feedback, the project will have failed and the business will spend lots of money trying to maintain and fix the project."
Macqueen noted for a project to be successful in any industry, there has to be a range of skills in the project team, with individuals encouraged to think differently.
She pointed out it is difficult for an individual to think strategically and tactically but when a group of individuals put their heads together, they will come out with a better solution for the problem. "No one has the capacity or the knowledge to make all decisions; it's a collaborative process."
There has to be room for failure - collaborative and successful teams are going to make mistakes and if they don't, they are not taking enough risk and will not be innovative.
According to Samantha Laing, agile coach and trainer at Growing Agile, an adaptive leader should always trust employees to do the job they were hired to do, and allow them time to learn from their failures.
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