Agile Leadership:Thru the Looking Glass
What is leadership? And more to the point, what is modern-day leadership in today’s VUCA world? Certainly it’s not the same as it was. And certainly today’s economic, diversity, and Covid contexts have added to the complexity and challenge of becoming a great leader. Oh, and before you say that—you’re not a leader—hold on. We contend that we’re ALL leaders.
Mary Thorn and Bob Galen will share their lifelong journeys in becoming agile leaders in contexts of software development, testing, and product delivery. They’ll explore the power of self-reflection and how central it has been to their continuous learning. How receiving and earning the right to give candid feedback has been a powerful discovery in leading teams.
You cannot explore today’s leadership without exploring the power of tapping diversity and inclusion in your teams. Both will give real-world stories on how culture and the behaviors they aspire to emulate affect the shadows they cast.
Finally, they’ll share how to combat the things that prevent you from becoming a great leader (including internal imposters). You’ll hear stories of success, failure, learning, and growth. But more than that, you’ll get a sense for how today’s leaders (you) need to show up in unique contexts. All so that you can become the leader that your team and organization need you to be.
During her more than 20 years of experience with financial, health care, and SaaS-based products, Mary Thorn has held VP, director, and manager-level positions in various software development organizations. A seasoned leader and coach in agile and testing methodologies, Mary has direct experience building and leading teams through large-scale agile transformations. Mary's expertise is a combination of agile scaling, agile testing, and DevOps, which her clients find incredibly valuable. Mary is also the chief storyteller of the book The Three Pillars of Agile Testing and Quality and an avid keynote and conference speaker on all things agile and agile testing.