Women in Agile

Staying Present with Mental Toughness - April Jefferson | 1920

April Jefferson is a self-defined “experienced craftswoman and mindset harmonizer that nurtures the journey to nurture yourself”. She values connecting people and teams to ownership of their needs and goals.
Jefferson recounts her Agile experience and the challenges she’s had to overcome to become her full self as a woman and a leader in the Agile space. She shares that “the weaknesses that others perceived in me were actually my greatest strengths” and “as a woman in this space, sometimes we need that mental toughness to stay present.” Jefferson emphasizes the positive impact women helping women through sponsorship and mentoring relationships has on their success.
April Jefferson’s Words of Wisdom:
“Stay curious and invite others in.”
Accenture | SolutionsIQ’s Leslie Morse hosts.
The Women in Agile community champions inclusion and diversity of thought, regardless of gender, and this podcast is a platform to share new voices and stories with the Agile community and the business world, because we believe that everyone is better off when more, diverse ideas are shared.
Podcast Library: www.womeninagile.org/podcastWomen in Agile website: https://womeninagile.org/
Connect with us on social media!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womeninagile/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womeninagile/Twitter: https://twitter.com/womeninagileorg

The Impact of Culture and Purpose on Agile Transformation - Alize Hofmeester | 1919

Alize Hofmeester is an Agile leader, owner of TwinXter, and founder of the People Journey Circle. Hofmeester shares her Agile journey, and the importance of defining and staying aligned to her purpose. She emphasizes the need for teams to not only know the way they work together but also with whom they are working in order to establish trust. 
Alize also recommends the following read to better understand how different cultures work together: 
The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business by Erin Meyer 
Accenture | SolutionsIQ’s Leslie Morse hosts. 
The Women in Agile community champions inclusion and diversity of thought, regardless of gender, and this podcast is a platform to share new voices and stories with the Agile community and the business world, because we believe that everyone is better off when more, diverse ideas are shared.
Podcast Library: www.womeninagile.org/podcastWomen in Agile website: https://womeninagile.org/
Connect with us on social media!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womeninagile/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womeninagile/Twitter: https://twitter.com/womeninagileorg

Change is an Opportunity - Laura Powers | 1918

Laura Powers is an Agile trainer and coach, conference speaker and the founder of Powered by Teams, but it wasn’t always that way. She shares her journey from mechanical engineer to release manager for eBay to a career in real estate and back into tech, this time as an agilist. Now she is committed to changing the world of work by creating high-performing teams. 
Powers shares her experience as a mentor for the Women in Agile “Launching New Voices” Program and her passion for expanding the good work being done in the Agile community into other, adjacent industries like change management and business culture. 
Laura Powers’ Words of Wisdom: 
Change is an opportunity. 
At the end of the day, when deciding whether it was a good day, ask yourself, “Who did you interact with… did you lift them up, did you give them a new idea, did you inspire them in some way. Because if we each do a small something in that way every day, we will transform the world.” 
Accenture | SolutionsIQ’s Leslie Morse hosts. 
The Women in Agile community champions inclusion and diversity of thought, regardless of gender, and this podcast is a platform to share new voices and stories with the Agile community and the business world, because we believe that everyone is better off when more, diverse ideas are shared.
Podcast Library: www.womeninagile.org/podcastWomen in Agile website: https://womeninagile.org/
Connect with us on social media!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womeninagile/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womeninagile/Twitter: https://twitter.com/womeninagileorg

Giving up Control to Gain Agility - Marsha Acker | 1917

Marsha Acker is the CEO of Team Catapult, a leadership development/organizational change firm and the author of “The Art and Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration in Agile Teams”. She shares stories of working in a huge corporation and a tiny startup and the learnings she’s had – including how to give up some control to let agility emerge naturally. Her passion for facilitation was her entry point into Agile, and the need for it is as strong as ever: 
“To truly facilitate requires this unbiased, neutral perspective where you’re not taking sides... When the group gets stuck, you’re helping them get unstuck; you’re not solving something for them.” 
Marsha Acker’s Words of Wisdom: 
Find your own voice. “It’s not that I didn’t have it, it’s that I would have these moments of insights or thoughts, and I didn’t always share it.” 
Accenture | SolutionsIQ’s Leslie Morse hosts. 
The Women in Agile community champions inclusion and diversity of thought, regardless of gender, and this podcast is a platform to share new voices and stories with the Agile community and the business world, because we believe that everyone is better off when more, diverse ideas are shared.
Podcast Library: www.womeninagile.org/podcastWomen in Agile website: https://womeninagile.org/
Connect with us on social media!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womeninagile/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womeninagile/Twitter: https://twitter.com/womeninagileorg

How to Set Up an Environment for Diversity - Jeffrey Davidson | 1916

Jeffrey Davidson is an executive and Enterprise Transformation Coach and Consultant. He has enabled personal development for thousands of individuals over the course of his career. We dive into the question of how to go about teaching leaders to cultivate diversity within their teams. 
Davidson takes two approaches: Asking blunt questions and taking simple steps. For example, he may ask leadership, “How many women are on the teams and what kinds of roles do they have?” to get them thinking about their organization’s diversity. He also helps them realize that “in every meeting, every person there has a voice, every voice has value, and some people need a few extra seconds or few extra minutes to respond. Just because some people talk a lot doesn’t mean they should, and just because some people don’t want to talk doesn’t mean you should allow them to never talk.” 
Accenture | SolutionsIQ’s Leslie Morse hosts. 
The Women in Agile community champions inclusion and diversity of thought, regardless of gender, and this podcast is a platform to share new voices and stories with the Agile community and the business world, because we believe that everyone is better off when more, diverse ideas are shared.
Podcast Library: www.womeninagile.org/podcast
Women in Agile website: www.womeninagile.org
Connect with us on social media!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womeninagile/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womeninagile/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/womeninagileorg

Exhaustion Is Not a Status Symbol - Melissa Boggs | 1915

Melissa Boggs is the Chief ScrumMaster at the Scrum Alliance where she co-leads the largest Agile constituency in the world. Hear how she’s had to learn to stand up for herself as a woman in leadership.  Boggs says the best advice she received was that she’s not just standing up for herself, but for other women as well because she’s a role model for them.  
You’ll also learn how she manages work-life balance. Melissa Boggs’ words of wisdom: 
“Exhaustion is not a status symbol.” 
Accenture | SolutionsIQ’s Leslie Morse hosts.  
The Women in Agile community champions inclusion and diversity of thought, regardless of gender, and this podcast is a platform to share new voices and stories with the Agile community and the business world, because we believe that everyone is better off when more, diverse ideas are shared.
Podcast Library: www.womeninagile.org/podcastWomen in Agile website: https://womeninagile.org/
Connect with us on social media!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womeninagile/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womeninagile/Twitter: https://twitter.com/womeninagileorg

Making a Cultural Connection as a Coach - Aruna Chandrasekharan | 1914

Aruna Chandrasekharan is a transformation strategist with more than a decade of experience in the Agile space and 25 years in information technology. She shares her experiences as a coach who is both female and Indian. 
Chandrasekharan says as a woman, she can get away with humor a man can’t, and she can get to the softer side faster. But she says it’s a double-edged sword, because she also experiences bias and prejudice as a woman. 
Being of Indian heritage also has advantages in working with all-Indian development teams. She shares tips for working with a team from a different culture: 
Show an interest in their language and culture. Show them that you have done your research in the culture, and that you’re willing to show them what you’re learned. 
If you have a peer coach from that culture, go and talk to them. 
Accenture | SolutionsIQ’s Leslie Morse hosts.  
The Women in Agile community champions inclusion and diversity of thought, regardless of gender, and this podcast is a platform to share new voices and stories with the Agile community and the business world, because we believe that everyone is better off when more, diverse ideas are shared.
Podcast Library: www.womeninagile.org/podcastWomen in Agile website: https://womeninagile.org/
Connect with us on social media!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womeninagile/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womeninagile/Twitter: https://twitter.com/womeninagileorg

Allies Don’t Sit on the Sidelines - Chris Murman | 1913

Agile coach Chris Murman is an active blogger, conference speaker, board member of the Agile Uprising Coalition and a recognized ally for women in the Agile community. But what is an ally? According to Murman, it’s someone who intentionally chooses to make room for people that society hasn’t always made room for. He shares his stories of awareness and becoming a coach that naturally led to him being a strong proponent for women, minorities and other voices that aren’t always well represented.
Murman rallies for others to get involved, to not stand idly by: “You can’t sit on the sidelines and call yourself an advocate: you have to do something – where am I giving my money, where am I giving my time, what do my words say?”
Chris Murman’s Words of Wisdom for allies
“Just show up – you don’t need to know anything or prepare anything. Be prepared to engage, be curious.”
“Men often don’t understand the privilege we’ve gotten, or maybe they don’t want to see it.” Ask yourself, “What have I received that I didn’t necessarily earn?”
Accenture | SolutionsIQ’s Leslie Morse host.
Learn more:
Agile Uprising podcast – agileuprising.libsyn.com/
The Women in Agile community champions inclusion and diversity of thought, regardless of gender, and this podcast is a platform to share new voices and stories with the Agile community and the business world, because we believe that everyone is better off when more, diverse ideas are shared.
Podcast Library: www.womeninagile.org/podcastWomen in Agile website: https://womeninagile.org/
Connect with us on social media!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womeninagile/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womeninagile/Twitter: https://twitter.com/womeninagileorg