Leadership that supports agile team behavior in gaining resilience, a team study

Abstract

In recent years ING’s Domestic Bank departments in the Netherlands have implemented an agile way of working. The model of the Domestic Bank is often referred to, in- and outside ING. The central theme for the study is related to finding the combination of leadership styles and agile team behaviour that has a positive impact on the level of resilience of teams and subsequently the organization as a whole. Based on the quantitative study of 79 teams of ING Bank, this study gives evidence that a combination of inspiring, coaching and participative leadership is the key leadership style. Pro- activeness, Supportive behaviour and customer orientation were confirmed to be key team behavioural characteristics of agile teams. Furthermore, the research evidenced an important mediating impact of Communal team values and Perceived Performance by the team members on the relation of leadership styles on resilient team performance.