Weaving Allyship & Advocacy into your Agile Coaching
I received a newsletter from the Center for Creative Leadership entitled—What is Allyship – Your Questions Answered.
And, as my lens is often focused on Agile Coaching nowadays 😉, I shifted the question toward coaches and coaching.
Later that day, I attended a Moose Herd session, where I shared my reflection to see how others responded. They quickly brought up the term advocacy and contrasted the two terms, adding more nuance to my thinking.
Here’s a base definition from this article—
Exploring the Definitions of Allyship Vs. Advocacy
Allyship involves actively supporting marginalized groups, while advocacy goes a step further by taking actions to inspire positive systemic changes, such as addressing gender inequality or racism.
While often used interchangeably, allyship and advocacy have distinct roles. Allyship focuses on support, while advocacy pushes for systemic change and influences decision-makers. Advocates use their privilege and/or platform to bring attention to these issues and help advocate for change.
Here are the definitions that emerged from the Herd—
Allyship – provides support, requires less energy, assumes less personal risk.
Advocacy – implies taking action, requires more energy and assumes more personal risk, power dynamics come into play, as does privilege.
Consideration
In my reflection, I began to think in terms of--
Agile Coach as…Ally
Agile Coach as…Advocate
And what that might look like.
I considered whether it was the right thing to do or if it violated my coaching ethics somehow.
In this case, I was less interested in the DEI aspects and more interested in Allies and Advocacy in my client’s professional development in agile contexts. In other words, when I’m coaching the coaches or providing Supervision.
Wrapping Up
So, what do you think…
Can or should an Agile Coach serve as an ally and advocate for their coaching clients (individuals, groups, teams, organizations, etc.)?
If not, why not?
If so, then why? And what should that allyship and/or advocacy look like?
I’m starting to believe that my answer is yes on both counts, and I want to add that to my coaching mindset. But I’m curious to know what you think.
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.