Article

Growing Human-Centric COO Leaders

March 09, 2022

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ICAgile Team

Leading sustainable change in an organization is not for the faint of heart - it takes patience, reflection, and a lot of learning.

Marsha Acker interviewed ICAgile President, Ahmed Sidky, who shared a story that was a defining moment for him in his leadership journey. In this interview, he talks about what it looks like to bring inquiry and a human-centric focus into your leadership.

A few key takeaways from the interview:

Leadership is messy because it’s hard. Oftentimes, people think about leadership as someone giving a big motivational speech on stage, but that’s just a vignette. Leadership goes beyond that.

You may not need to struggle to be a leader. But you may need to struggle to be a good leader.

Leadership is not about “tell, tell, tell.” It is about inspiring and guiding.

It’s important to not only understand the range of stances you have to take as a leader but to practice it as well.

Consider the organizational structures in place that keep change from happening.

Creating an inspiring vision takes a lot of time and requires high-touch interactions with people. And it’s a process you cannot shortcut, accelerate, or bypass.

One of the main roles of a leader is to get to know people at a deeper level and then inspire them to a new future that they haven't thought of but is right for them.

A leader’s investment in relationships is what's going to solve most of your problems.

As a leader, don’t focus on who likes you and who doesn’t like you. Focus on setting a vision and finding the right person to execute different parts of this vision.

Listen to the full podcast and fuel your leadership journey with ICAgile’s Agility in Leadership track.