"The rapid disruption brought about by the pandemic demonstrated to me the clear advantage of agile leadership. During those months, I kept the first edition of this book close to hand. In this new edition, Simon Hayward provides more inspiration and timely advice for leaders to draw from on the journey ahead."
"You can't have an agile company without agile leadership. Most 'traditional' leaders, however, struggle to make the transition. It is not that they lack the desire. Rather, agile practices upend so many of the hard-won instincts honed by leaders over years of experience. The Agile Leader is a well-researched, thoughtful guide for those wanting to make the leap. Like any good leadership coach, Simon Hayward reminds us we must first look to ourselves, before asking others to follow."
"The Agile Leader lays out a clear plan for CEOs and their teams to embrace new ways of working that will unlock the agile potential in their organizations. I would recommend this book to any leader who wants to improve their organization's clarity of thinking and speed of decision making. It describes how leaders at all levels can create a climate for agility and diversity to flourish, leading to greater innovation and improved customer experiences."
"Digital is both disrupting and revolutionizing the way we work. Adopting a more agile style of leadership enables leaders to reshape organizations so people can flourish in a future augmented by new technology. The insights in this book will help leaders to transform the nature of work by enabling people to learn and adapt at speed, leading to greater efficiency"
"Agility is a must in a world that is constantly changing. This book is full of practical advice and covers everything you need to think about to transform your organization into an agile business. I found the agile leadership paradox that Simon Hayward sets out really helped me to think about how I adapt my leadership style to become both an enabler and a disruptor."
"This book describes how getting the right mix of leadership and teamwork wins every time. Whether we are running a global business or a famous football club, the need for agile leadership has never been so acute. Great leaders build confidence, change the rules, and focus on the priorities that will make the difference. I can't recommend this book too highly."
"In these turbulent times, thousands of companies are attempting agile transformations in order to survive. The primary cause of failure is a lack of agile leadership, which Simon Hayward 's book addresses forcefully. Reading it may save your company."
"In this book, Simon Hayward breaks down the complex subject of agile leadership into a series of steps that any organization can take. For Yodel, introducing a more agile and connected style of leadership was key to becoming more centred on customers, creating cultural change, and turning our business around. We kept things simple, turned managers into agile leaders, and got colleagues on board with new ways of working. The difference is incredible, and Simon's thinking has been a big part of that."
"In a world that's getting faster, we need to move quickly, learn and adapt. This book provides a blueprint for a more agile style of leadership to help you focus on customers and stay ahead in a highly competitive and unpredictable environment. Highly recommended."
"Technology is accelerating the pace of change. It increases customer expectations. The Agile Leader offers valuable advice to leaders who want to embrace that change and to place customers at the heart of their business. It highlights the importance of developing a clear vision, purpose and framework so leaders can empower others to go ahead and work in more agile ways, and to react to customer needs and new opportunities."
"To be agile, you need to try and test things. Not everything you try is going to work. Fail small, fail fast, and learn quickly. The Agile Leader demonstrates that agility is not just about creating things. It's also about ruthless prioritisation, managing risk, and knowing when to stop. This book helps leaders to make choices that define their business success on a day-to-day basis. If you're not moving forward and innovating and changing things, then your competitors will be."
"This book explains very clearly just what makes agile leadership different to traditional leadership. Making the shift towards a more agile style of leadership can be a huge challenge. Simon Hayward offers a range of insights and advice to help you to make that shift in a sustainable way."
"This is an inspiring book which is both thought provoking and full of practical solutions and insight to help you to be an agile leader in a fast-moving environment."
"We live in a fast-moving world. This book recognises that as a leader, you are on a constant journey. You cannot stand still. You need to stay abreast of new ideas and developments, to learn from others, to seek out opportunities and react to them. There is no finishing post. Being truly agile is about constantly evolving."
"A thoughtful read for leaders and aspiring leaders on the balance between reflection and action needed for transforming, or even just surviving, in an age of digital overload."
"With disruption happening in every industry and customer behaviour changing all the time, agility has become a highly-prized leadership skill. By reacting with agility to changing customer needs and focusing effort where it will have greatest impact, this book shows where leaders can gain quick wins as well as achieving long-term, sustainable success."
"In The Agile Leader , Dr Simon Hayward draws on well documented research into agility, complexity, and distributed leadership. He distils this into some very practical advice to help managers and leaders deal with the everyday challenges of working in an unpredictable and fast-paced environment."
Professor Fiona Devine OBE
"This book is full of useful tips to help leaders succeed in a digital world. Drawing on his extensive research and real-world case studies, Simon Hayward demonstrates how leaders can, indeed have to, adapt to rapidly changing circumstances."
"The digital explosion has had a huge impact on every industry. It has disrupted traditional ways of working. This book highlights the importance of customer focus, learning and collaboration in becoming increasingly innovative and agile. By adopting the principles of agile leadership, you can stay ahead of the competition."
"In The Agile Leader , Simon Hayward develops the approach to building an agile organization that he introduced in his first book, Connected Leadership . He looks at how many successful organizations are led by their customers, working with them to constantly innovate and improve, for mutual benefit. He also focuses on the importance of simplifying business processes and breaking down silos to encourage collaboration. In an uncertain climate, businesses need to be adaptable, flexible and always evolving. As well as spotting opportunities for growth, we need to make decisions quickly to seize these opportunities. We have adopted many of the principles of agile leadership at Pentland Brands to future-proof our own organization."
"This is a really timely and thoughtful book for any leader thinking about how not just to survive, but to thrive, in our fast-changing world. It's a powerful sequel to Simon Hayward's Connected Leadership , really bringing agile leadership to life through a series of compelling interviews and case studies, alongside lots of practical hints and tips."
"I have worked with Simon Hayward in various different formats and have found his insights on leadership to be enormously valuable."
Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell
"In The Agile Leader , Simon Hayward distils a great deal of research and real-world experience into a very practical and insightful guide. Illuminating case studies deliver some real "light-bulb" moments. Building on Connected Leadership , this book provides a roadmap for developing a more agile business and describes how to take people with you on a journey of transformation. It explains why collaboration and connection between colleagues, customers and key business stakeholders is critical to ensuring your business can evolve and thrive."
"Dr Simon Hayward condenses a wealth of research and case-study material into a highly readable guide to agile leadership. He explains how leaders can develop their own capabilities, build more agile teams and play a part in creating agile cultures that support organizational transformation."
"We need to disrupt existing business models to drive growth in our unpredictable world. This book can help leaders to think differently, to agitate for change and to take others on a transformation journey. It highlights the importance of culture, behaviour, and ways of working."
"Many startups begin life as very agile businesses but find it difficult to hold on to that agility as they grow. The Agile Leader shows how businesses can continue to evolve, adapt and innovate, no matter how big they become."
"How to lead effectively in this fast-moving chaotic world? In this fine book, Dr Simon Hayward argues convincingly that today, agility is a crucial element of effective leadership. Packed with research findings and practical advice, this book should be recommended reading for current and future leaders, as well as students of management theory."
Professor John Perkins CBE
"This book demonstrates that by embracing agile leadership you can drive innovation and improved productivity. It is relevant to managers and leaders across all organisations as it promotes less hierarchical structures, collaboration, and devolved decision-making. This encourages a clearer focus on customer needs and enables more agile working by removing bureaucracy and encouraging empowerment."
"In The Agile Leader , Simon Hayward identifies the biggest barriers to agility and explains very clearly how to overcome these. By distilling robust research into valuable insights, he offers guidance to leaders who want to develop their own capabilities in order to drive business-wide transformation. A very practical guide which can change the way you work and help you to influence wider ways of working across your organization."
"Once again, Simon has managed to produce a book that is informative, challenging, and a good read."
Professor Catherine Cassell
"This book provides leaders with a blueprint for creating a more agile organization. It identifies the barriers to agility and suggests some specific ways to overcome them. This is a very useful guide to streamlining your business in a complex world."
