New, in-depth research shows that people move through distinct stages or levels as they become agile leaders. At each new level, managers gain new capacities that make it more natural for them to lead in an agile manner. This article outlines three levels of leadership agility and shows how managers at each level of agility lead projects, lead teams, and engage in pivotal conversations. It ends with a few pointers about ways to assess and develop your own level of leadership agility.

Dave Thomas aka "Smalltalk Dave" was kind enough to join Bob Payne for this podcast while the two of them were both attending Agile 2007. These podcasts are a great way to get the inside scoop to what many of the world's popular conference speakers really feel about the topics that matter most.

This summer in 2006, the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN) co-sponsored the 2nd Annual 'State of Agile Development' Survey. Almost 1,700 respondents from 71 countries shared their companies' experiences using of Agile methods and the challenges that they face with future adoption. Teams have begun to quantify the value that their projects have achieved and are steadily expanding the types of Agile practices and tools that they use. IT metrics are well-understood. Business metrics must also play a role, but few were included in the scope of this survey.

Successfully persuading others to adopt your point of view is a matter of neither magic nor luck. It's a skill and like any skill, improvement takes know—how, opportunity, and practice. In this column, Naomi Karten offers pointers to help you strengthen your persuasion skills.