Mini-combo event

Diana Larsen

Leading Skilled Agile Teams: Applying the Agile Fluency® Model

Agile provides a way to build trust over time. Greater trust contributes to employee engagement, which we’ve learned is key to business success. That same trust can only be built between individuals that collaborate and assume responsibility for the results. Leaders build trust by communicating the strategic purpose and acting as advocate-coaches to ensure that people are fully aligned on the product or service "why". By building skills and unleashing agile teams' potential, leaders can accelerate learning loops, create customer-oriented missions, and provide increased value for their organizations.

But first, leaders can only impact teams if they are open to change their leadership behaviors.

In this presentation, Diana Larsen, will lead participants through an examination of the role of trust in team member engagement. Leaders will consider approaches to  communicating purpose and expectations for teams, and walk away with a brief plan for enabling better outcomes from skilled teams. And, we’ll include plenty of time for asking questions about your own situation.

Diana Larsen is the co-founder of Agile Fluency® Project* where she serves as a principal coach, consultant, and mentor. Through the Agile Fluency Project’s programs for training, mentoring, and supporting agile coaches, consultants, and leaders, Diana shares the wisdom she’s gained in over 30 years of working with leaders, teams, and organizations.

Through her books, talks, and work with corporate clients, Diana has contributed to both foundations and extensions of Agile thought. Diana co-authored the books Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great; Liftoff: Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams; and Five Rules for Accelerated Learning.  Most recently she co-authored and offers a free eBook, The Agile Fluency Model: A Brief Guide to Success with Agile, available on the agilefluency.org website. 

*Agile Fluency is a registered trademark of Agile Fluency Project. LLC 

Prof Michael Steger

Master the mechanics of motivation and tap into the power of purpose

Even before the COVID pandemic had fully set in, so many people had changed their plans, binned their dreams, and, dare I say it, pivoted enough times to make a breakdancer jealous that “pivot fatigue” seemed to be a real and deflating challenge. Getting one’s motivation up for goal after goal after changed goal after suddenly-impossible goal was getting more and more difficult. Dr. Steger shares his own experience and how it spurred him to take a deep dive into building sustainable, renewable motivation by tapping into the power of purpose. You will hear about the two basic motivational types, the costs of applying the incentives of one system to the needs of the other, and why you could benefit from infusing purpose into each of your goals.

Mike's presentation will be followed by the opportunity for interactive discussion.

Professor Michael F. Steger, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology, and the Founding Director of the Center for Meaning and Purpose at Colorado State University. He earned his doctorate with specializations in Counseling Psychology and Personality Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 2005.

For more than 15 years, he has researched how people flourish through building meaning and purpose in their lives and in their work. Among his research projects were the development of two widely-used measurement tools, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) and the Work and Meaning Inventory (WAMI).

He has published more than 100 scholarly journal articles and book chapters, and three books, including The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Positivity and Strengths-Based Approaches at Work and Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace. He provides keynotes, lectures, workshops, and consulting around the world on the topics of meaning, purpose, psychological strengths, meaningful work, and creating a happy workplace.