What is a Badass Agile Coach?
Or what is Agile Coaching Badassery?
I sat down with a colleague to chat about everything in Agile Coaching. We explored the Agile Coach versus Life Coach conundrum or #NoSuchthingAsAAgileCoach discussions.
When we discussed my book, he became pretty triggered about the term Badass. Through the emotional dialogue, I think I gleaned that—
He didn’t care about the term and thought it was unclear.
He thought it might negatively influence folks with less experience than me—having them strive for an intangible goal.
He seemed to feel the word devalued the book and the craft of Agile Coaching.
I thought I’d share this section from the book introduction as a means of explaining what I mean by the terms Badass and Badassery in the context of Agile Coaching—
Why Extraordinarily Badass?
I asked a well-known agile consultant, author, and coach to write a foreword for me. He said no, and the primary reason he gave was that he was uncomfortable with my use of the word badass. He even quoted some online definitions of the term in his reply. As I read them, I clearly saw his point. None were very complimentary or positive indicators of the competencies and skills I envision for an Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coach.
I’m not dwelling on that reply here, but it did inspire me to further explain my choice of words. While I can’t change global definitions or individual reactions to the term badass, I can explain what being badass means to me, and my intent behind using the word in this book.
First, I use badass as an adjective. The online thesaurus Wordhippo says this implies “displaying outstanding skill, knowledge, and experience in a given field,” and provides a long list of synonyms, including:
expert, skilled, masterly, adept, proficient, adroit, accomplished, practiced, consummate, dexterous, deft, crackerjack, complete, artful, wicked good, formidable, nimble, agile, distinguished, top-notch, masterful, world-class, effective, admirable, dazzling, finished, exceptional, elite, marvelous, seasoned, well-versed, professional, outstanding, stellar, clever, gifted, competent.
I want to complement those adjectives with a few of my own:
humble, resilient, reflective, curious, artful, playful, exuberant, joyous, dedicated, courageous, dogged, open-minded.
I realize I just inundated you with words, but I want to give you a broad and deep sense of my use and interpretation of badass. Each of these words indicates how I’m thinking about my coaching attitude and posture in relationship to my—and hopefully your—badass agile coaching journey.
Based on feedback from my colleagues and others, I seriously considered changing the title. But on deeper reflection, I decided that the badass theme throughout the book fully represents my vision and aspirations for you as a reader and a practicing agile coach.
You see, agile coaching isn’t easy, nor is it for the faint of heart. It’s full of frustrations, misinformation, bias, and pure change resistance. It’s full of high client expectations that are often based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what coaching is (and isn’t). It’s also full of hubris and imposters who are coaches in name only, looking more for money, title, and prestige than to serve their clients. In a word, agile coaching is challenging, because it deals with people, and people are often messy.
It’s hard to stand out amid these challenges—to set yourself apart, to be an example.
I believe that only by being badass can you do that successfully. By being broadly skilled and well-balanced in your use of those skills, a craftsperson who looks at agile coaching as a lifelong journey of learning, growth, and client impact.
So, to all of you dedicated agile coaches and aspiring badasses, please read on, as I hope this book helps to grow your badassery. And the world, agile and otherwise, certainly needs more Badass Agile Coaches.
To all others, thank you for considering this journey. Now may be a good time to exit the aircraft.
If you’re still offended, that's fine. As I said—now might be a good time to exit the aircraft…
If you want to see many more examples of Agile Coaching Badassery, please register for Badass Agile Coaching Days 2024.
Stay agile and Badass, my friends,
Bob.
BTW: the photo collage contains, IMHO, a few Badasses, some agile and some not. Can you name them?
Luke
David Hussman
Esther Derby
Wolverine & Deadpool
Dana Pylayeva
Tom Gilb
Aanu Gopald
Indiana
Linda Rising
Tricia Broderick