You bring up good questions in this posting. I can think of situations where I might do the same (take on a temp leadership role) and where I might decide the situation isn’t right – much depends on the coach’s relationship with those sponsoring the Agile conversion.

I’ve done as you describe – facilitate team activities, etc. to shoe how Agile leadership can work. In one such situation it was because there was so much “history” between the team and their project managers that having a new person in the mix could help everyone start fresh. I enlisted the support of the manager sponsoring my work and proposed a mechanism for the team to then pick up the leadership tasks I began doing.

As you describe, this works quickly and well when the stage is set for it. Thanks for bringing up a significant topic.

– Nancy V.