• Agile Leadership

Why all Product Owners can use Secure Base Leadership

Okay, but what ís Secure Base Leadership?

As George Kohlrieser became increasingly successful as a negotiator with hostage takers, he started teaching his approach to others. He called his approach Secure Base Leadership. Negotiating with hostage takers? Yes indeed. Because the ultimate leadership, is the leadership where you also get people along who are totally in the other camp. If you can succeed in leadership with a hostage taker, it will certainly work with an employee. Or Scrum team member.

The “Secure Base” is the safe foundation that the leader provides for her followers. Thanks to this secure base, followers dare to move and take a risk. Compare it to the relationship between parents and children. A child who can always turn to his parents with a scratch or bump will climb trees more carefree. Because the child climbs more often, it will quickly become better at it. And the child becomes more self-confident.

Why Scrum and Agile Need Secure Base Leadership

Scrum is a collaborative form of tackling complex problems with a team. You’re generally developing solutions that you can’t be 100% certain will work. So you are taking a risk. Not everyone dares to take this risk of their own accord.

We see in practice that Product Owners who provide a Secure Base build more successful teams. Their teams are more creative, transparent and focused. Leadership makes a big difference.

Leadership must be learned

Because leadership is a profession. It’s actually shocking how you can get promoted at many companies and be responsible for more and more people, without getting the accompanying training for good leadership. The stakes are so high that you can’t blunder your way through. Unlike in business, a promotion in, say, the Defense Department is always coupled with leadership training. And rightly so.

The Product Owner functions best as a Secure Base Leader

As a Product Owner, you are also responsible for a team. The Product Owner training and associated PSPO I certification only helps you understand the Scrum Framework, and your role in that framework. The training just assumes that Product Owners have the right leadership skills to fill their role. But this is quite disappointing in practice. That is why we developed the Inspiring Agile Leadership training: an in-company program aimed at Product Owners and their managers. You will learn how to bring people along, how to motivate them, how to increase commitment and how to ensure that you can quickly change course when necessary. Interested? Send an email or call!