I Want To Be A Scrum Master/Servant Leader

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life Podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy. Hey yo, what's up? So I'm your host, Tim Pratt Jr. We're going to jump into this whole agile space thing today. Um, I've definitely gotten feedback on kind of like, hey man, can you kind of break this down a little more. Um, and so I'm not going to talk about like the ministry side of it, the consulting, coaching, none of that, you know, with the exception of right here. I do want to say this though, man, God has been so faithful that I just took on another ministry, um, in this context of just consulting, uh, consulting and coaching. I, I love it. And man, I was able to actually, a part of this enterprise thing, come across a great mentor and coach, um, that is heavily in the ministry aspect of it, preaches the possible, but he's one of like 200 with this sort of certain certification, um, combination in the world. And I just believe that it was nobody but God that aligned our paths. Uh, so very, very challenging, and I really think I'm— he's going to help me expedite so many things in this space. I am a true believer in coaching, and I wish I would have sought out a coach 5, 6, 7 years ago. Uh, man, I think it's about finding the right coach for you, and I know areas that I want to improve in but I also know areas that I want to learn how to really, you know, stay relevant, uh, or make areas that I believe that I'm strong in, and I want to refine those to become even stronger. Um, so man, I'm just blessed and I'm just loving it, man. God has been so faithful. But that being said, um, I do want to talk about Scrum, Agile leadership, Agile delivery, uh, in the context of this. And I promise you I'm not going to bore you with details, but on the other side of it, I have had a lot of people that's interested in this whole servant leadership thing and Scrum. And people have wrote me, like, called me through the chat, coming through the website, and just as well as like, you know, some people that I know, um, and just have reached out to me through Facebook and Instagram. And so I want to take a little time to really just talk about that, uh, in very, very just straightforward terms. So I'm gonna give it to you the way I understand it., and I'm pretty sure you're gonna find somebody that disagrees. But before I jump into that, I do want to talk about— and I'm not going to call any names, but there's some content that I've seen not too long ago, and I've been meaning to do this video, and I was going to do this as a part of a bonus episode, but it was basically talking about Scrum and, um, kind of like getting into the tech field.. And the guy was basically saying like, you know how you want a true scrum master position to make over 6 figures and not really do a lot of work? Like, man, I promise you, man, I only work like 15, 20 hours. And you want to coach your team just a little bit, but you don't want to give them too much because you still need them to be dependent on you. And it went viral. And you know, a lot of people— it's leading a lot of people that want to get into this space for all the wrong motives, all the wrong reasons. I personally didn't know anything about Scrum until actually a company— I, well, I had heard of it, but I didn't do a deep study. And before this company called Perks took me on and hired me, that, that's when I really, really got into it. And I was like, wow, like, okay, you know, this is something like major. Like, this is servant leadership, transformational leadership. The people skills, soft skills. And it just— I, I was actually going down more of the traditional project management route, and man, this just leaped off the pages to me. And I was like, man, I can come in here and I can just, you know, be a servant leader, just serve, work behind the scenes. Because it, it can be a very thankful— thankless role, uh, to be truthful with you. Because, you know, in this, in this day, you know, like the product and the team Um, that's what you want. You're, you're trying to keep them at the forefront, eliminate roadblocks, and keep them going. That's how I personally see, you know, that you can add value right away. Uh, but things have changed now, and, you know, as we get into more automation and like just with, um, you get into like this whole scale thing and you have more and more people that are learning these soft skills and can lead teams and cross-functional teams, things like that. I do believe that you have to kind of reinvent yourself. And so I believe that those technical skills are going to be very, very important. I, I really think a lot of people struggle with the whole leadership, like, servant leadership, transformational leadership mindset, uh, because you do have to really be a people's person. Like, you do. I know a lot of people use those buzzwords, but you really have to be a people's person. Uh, look, I grew up in Pine Bluff. I went to Pine Bluff High. Uh, I used to be a person— I mean, let me tell you this story real quick. I remember when somebody had came at me the wrong way. I was like 22, 23 years old, um, and it was in a professional setting, but they really kind of talked kind of like stern with me, but it was really disrespectful. Um, and I'm not gonna say what I said at the time, uh, but it really got unprofessional. And I was like, really, in so many words, like, bro, really, you can come see me outside? Like, like, real, like, for real, for real, uh, but it was an older guy named Calvin. And, um, man, I, I, yeah, I'm gonna give Calvin this. But anywho, I shouldn't have probably name-dropped, but anywho, Calvin, um, he just pulled me to the side and he like, he taught me. And, you know, he was like, Tim, man, this is how you are going to navigate this space. Um, so he just kind of mentored me. He was like, man, you have to have a professionalism. You have to learn how to check people in a professional way. Like, you can't, you know, just kind of have that— just, I'm being straight up, he was Black, you know. So he was like, man, you can't have this hood aura with you and stuff and come into the professional version. Because it was a very low— like, it was just like intern, drafter, or something like that at the time. Um, so, but he really just taught me. And not just him, but other managers that I'm thankful for, like Chris Hershey. I'm just like, I don't mind giving them praise. Like, I'm not gonna say the bad name, the names I had run-ins with. But when they really took me up under their wing and they taught me, and then I come to works. And then, you know, I have this guy named Jason and Chuck who hired me, um, and, and a lot of other people that really just— I, I studied and I kind of watched the way they, you know, did things. Now, um, for me, just being straight up with you, being a black man, you know, it is a lot of times in this one— I don't want to get into like a, like the whole race baiting things. I mean, I'm not the first to do it and won't be the last. I don't speak for all black people or nothing like that. Uh, but most times it's a culture difference. Like, I, I came up in a very, very, uh, parents were great, kept me in church, but I still came up in like a rough upbringing in the context of just everything I was exposed to. And, and my parents can only do so much, you know, going to school where I went, um, being around. As I got older, a lot of things I brought on myself in college, you know, just running with certain groups. And getting in trouble. I mean, like I said, a lot of y'all know my story, you know my testimony. I was like literally probably a gavel away from being a felon, you know, where I probably wouldn't even have seen my oldest son until he was about 8, uh, because it's just the things I was into. So man, when you talk about 180 turn, thank God. Um, so this discipline has really grounded me, man. God has grown me, and I believe that I'm able to exercise a lot of things right here in this discipline, in this Scrum Master role. So now I come back full circle to what this guy— so when this guy was sharing this information, I mean, it just really rubbed me the wrong way because I was like, no, that is not where this discipline is going. That's why things are blowing up now, because so many people are just chasing certifications, people are just taking boot camps, and then they come in and they think like, wow, like I can make all of this money and I can do whatever I want to do, and all I have to do is just give the, you know, 15, 20 hours a week. And that's the furthest from the truth. Uh, I think you'll be found out very, very quick. Now, I'll be honest, I will say some days in this space, you know, if you stay on top of your stuff, if you really working with your team, building relationship, you're doing the coaching, you know, teams are going to mature. Some days you will have maybe like a 3 or 4 hour day and you can focus on, you know, just other things and whatever it is, personal development. Uh, you can probably focus on some things, you know, work-life balance, man. And, and I know that's really not a thing in today, but you can focus on other things. Now there are days where like when it hits, it hits and it's like a flood. Uh, and so I think it all balances out because there's times where I've had about 3, 4 hours, 5 hours, and then there's days where I'm like, I've legit been up at 5 in the morning and didn't get offline to 7, maybe an hour, hour and a half break, uh, over combination in between. Then there's times where I've only took a 20-minute lunch and worked the 11-12 hour day. Um, it just, it, it all depends. It just depends. Uh, so for me, you know, I would say if you are considering getting into this space in agile leadership, uh, Scrum Mastery, uh, technical project management, agile delivery management, I would say one, you got to come in with the right heart posture. You have to come in really, really with a mindset that I have to put people first. I have to help people present their best self in this space because we live in a knowledge age. We live in a knowledge age where people are just as smart as you, just to be real with you. People— we're not in this, you know, where people are like just more so gonna sit up and just be do as they're told, like, hey, you do what I said, I'mma fire you if you don't do what I said. And so no, no, no, that's not where we're in. Again, like, we are in the knowledge age where we're working with very, very smart people. And like I said, people bring their entire self to work, um, their problems. If something's going on at home, like, I believe that you have to read the room. You have to know when to call people out. You have to know when not to do it. Uh, my principle is always champion in public and challenge in private. Uh, so the more sensitive the conversation is, the more I'm going to have it in private because sometimes I believe, you know, especially when a Scrum Master, if you call people out and let's just say Vince is like, man, their child was sick or something like that, and you might say, man, it's all touchy-touchy stuff, man, nobody got time for this, do your job and go home. We're not in that day anymore, we're just not. And so I just believe, man, if you're not careful And then like, you know, if you look at the drama triangle, and you can go look that up, just look up drama triangle, uh, but man, you can really, really lose your team. And people might only work, you know, in whatever parameters. They might only work just until they find something else. Uh, they, they're probably not going to give their best. And so I just believe we have to be very careful with this. So I would say number one, man, you have to really, really be a people's person. I'm not saying you got to go be a psychologist because I'm not. Uh, I have a counseling degree through seminary, uh, but, uh, like, truthfully, and I have learned a lot of things from, you know, from the connecting and building relationship, how to study, how to analyze, break down things, break down concepts and people, uh, in a seminary perspective. Now, not, not like at the level my wife has studied it, but, uh, but I've learned some frameworks and some tools, and, you know, I went to some coaching programs and things like that. And I'm not saying I'm the best at it, but I love it, and I do believe that's more of a strength for me because it's a natural element. Now, you also have to have the technical side of it in the context of what we do. Now, I'm not talking about writing code and none of that. I'm talking about really knowing the art and science behind being a project manager or, or someone that can manage processes and coach systems and manage systems. I don't believe that you manage people. I believe that you lead and inspire people, but I believe that you manage everything around that to help people do their job more effectively and just be more efficient and things like that. So yes, I would say number 2, you have to have those technical skills too, or those hard skills, I should say. So number 1, yes, you have to have the soft skills, but knowing how to study flowcharts and things of that nature, uh, knowing how to improve and, and lay out the groundwork and the framework and to speak to that. Now that's where my struggle was, because although I had minored in, uh, project management when I was doing my bachelor's degree, um, in business, um, I minored in it. So I lost my train of thought right there, but, um, it had been so long. Like I said, I had went away from all of that. I stopped studying for the PMP, um, and I just went head-on on the soft skills. And I struggled. And then I came into the world of 360, and I was like, man, like, a lot of these people, they're highly technical. Now, I did see something in the team where a lot of them lack coaching, a lot of them lack the facilitation skills and things like that on that coaching side. So I was like, man, like, you know, I really fell behind. I really truly thought I wasn't gonna make it, just to be real with you. I thought I was going to get demoted. I was like, man, I'm not going to live up to this because this is very project management driven. I was being— I was trying to be made something that I wasn't. I don't believe that was intentional or anything like that. And so I really kind of lost myself in it, man. I became like a Cancer, just to be honest with you. Very negative. I did my job and I showed up because, I mean, I really liked the teams I was serving. So Got back and my daughter was born. I got some time off. Actually stayed connected with a coach that was there and man, like just represented it and really gave it to me straight and was like, this is where you are and this is where you could be. And but the way it was presented to me and teaching me how to use these things to my advantage and saying, you don't have to go so far on that end, but you know, these are really the common things that you just really teaching me and help, like I say, helping refine me. Came back, okay, yeah, you know, I, I was like, man, I'm fresh, I'm ready to go, um, and then it just fizzled out. So here I go again. So I study books, you know, I'm looking, I'm searching, I'm searching, and I'm trying to just continue trying to refine myself. And then boom, you know, just through prayer, all of a sudden it clicked. It was like so many words, man. Tim, this is what you got to do.. And so I started to do that. I ended up getting a coach that helped me, and I was like, man, you really, really need a coach. And I just, I literally felt like all of it just started to make sense. I was like, all of it started to come together, and I was like, why have I been making this thing so hard? Like, I used to be highly technical back before I even got into this field when I was kind of on the mechanical side. And I was like, why am I overcomplicating this? And let me mark one preacher. It was the same thing I did with preaching and teaching. But you have to practice, man. Repetition is the mother of skill. Reputation is the mother of skill. And you have to find your voice. I see it in sports. Like, I'm telling my kids this right now. Listen, we all see what you can do better. But if you keep thinking about the game when you're putting in the work every day— like, I know I was looking at podcasts, studying, uh, studying books, listen to audiobooks, uh, just listening to coaches, reading articles. Like, I know I was eating this stuff up, but I had to find my voice and figure out how to study them in a way. But then, okay, now I got to become it in my own way. And once that started to click for me and I started learning how to contextualize it in the base of the company I was working for, the rest is history. Now I'm not saying— like I say again, I still got a lot of growth to do but you gotta work. You have to work. Um, and so I would say, like, just being straight up with you, uh, in, in this episode, and being a Scrum Master, like Agile Delivery Manager, Technical Project Manager, whatever you want to do, you have to do the work. You, you have to have a blend of the two. Now it's all going to be based on where that company is, how mature the company, uh, is from enterprise level on down to the team to the individual level.. It's gonna depend on the mindsets. It's gonna depend on how many catalysts do you have. I mean, how many people really understand this? How many people really devote themselves to this? And this can be on anything that you do. You might say, man, like, you're not even really talking about Scrum. Well, I mean, you go look at the framework right now. I mean, the framework is simple, but truly mastering it, man, it, it It's a dedication, it's a lifelong process from my perspective. Um, of course, like I say, you can stack it on other things and get into, like I say, scale frameworks and all of that. But what I have learned, when you strip away a lot of this stuff, a lot of people are just remixing stuff and changing words. And, um, that's what I found out too. Like, I was like, man, like, wow, okay, I go study this over here, I go study this over here. Now some things are different, but for the most part, people are just remixing it. And then it's like remix over here, remix over here. So now it's like, okay, how do I cherry-pick this? And I think it just reminds me of a quote where it talks about, um, all frameworks are, uh, wrong, but some are useful, or something like that. But it's true. It's just like, man, you have to figure out what works for you. Uh, so I just think that's all a part of servant leadership and transformational leadership in itself. As a leader, man, this has put me in a situation where I'm always, always striving to improve or trying to work with various personalities and bring the best out of people. Sometimes it's very, very hard conversations. Most of I sit there and eat. I got one rule. I can really take anybody saying anything to me, whether if it's a way they don't like that I do something, whether they're challenging me. I make it very easy to give me feedback. As long as you say it with the right posture and tone. If anybody— and I feel like I got a God-given right— if anybody yells or talks crazy to me, I'm gonna let you know, tone it down in the most respectful way. And if I get fired behind that, man, it is what it is. But I do think it's a tactfulness behind it. But like I say, for the most part, hey, now, it will be certain ways I go about it. Like, I've had 3 or 4 people that have tried it over the course of my career. That I can remember, and they've tried it one time and they never tried it again. Because one thing my dad taught me is like, before titles, before we strip all this stuff, at the end of the day, man, I'm a man, and that's what you're gonna talk to me like. Now you might say, you know, hey, I'm a human being, I'm a woman, and that, that's true, but in my case, I'm a man. And so, and I'm gonna teach my kids that, I'm gonna teach my boys that, I'm gonna teach my daughter, hey, before anything else, you're a woman. Well, my boys, hey, before anything else, you're a man. As they grow up and they mature and become men, you know, become— and she becomes a woman. And so, uh, I just think in this discipline, man, if you're hearing anybody say, hey, just get into this for the money, just get into this because it's easy, um, and that's the motive that you're looking for, don't do it. You have to have the true heart of a servant leader, a transformational leader, uh, helping people become the best version of themselves. Uh, one of the things that I, I think I love the most is— I'm gonna close out with this— is that I was reading a book and it reminded me of a story where— and I think I had a cousin that dealt with this— but you take an eye surgeon, and when they do surgery on people that didn't have sight, and they wrapped it— they wrapped their eyes. So, you know, they go through this surgical procedure, delicate eyes, and they then, you know, they wrap that people in bandage. But then it's like the after effect when they— the surgery is done and whatever the wait time is, and they start to remove that bandage off the person's eyes. And you can hear them describe it or watch movies or TV shows, documentaries, when the person starts like squint and they have sight. Their sight, sight has been given to them, you know, through the grace of God. Working through that doctor or whatever. But sight has been given to them, and so now they can see, and it's like, wow, this is what I've been missing. This is— I, I, this is— I see it now. It's so clear. I can see now. And I think like that's the art and science behind what I do and a lot of different things, just like trying to help people see the value in the organization within their teams and within theirself. And it is very, very complicated, very, very complicated depending on the person, depending on the nature. But then it's also, I have to be open to that because I don't know everything. And then that's the other part of it, like I'm trying to bring and elevate the wisdom of the group versus an individual. Uh, and so that's why I said I just believe I'm in a very, very unique, unique position. I love it. I love being behind the scenes. I don't really care about any praise or anything like that. I just love what I get to do, man. I love people. Uh, truthfully, I can be a Jesus freak and don't even have to mention Jesus. Um, and you know, I, I let, I let people rant. I mean, it's just, you know, people have been trusting me with some very, very, um, hard things, man, that, you know, I, I just over time try to chip away at it. Little by little. Um, I've been people's sounding boards. I've just been some of everything. And I just believe that it's only by the grace of God that he's graced me with the capacity to be able to sit there and meet some people that I probably would have never met in my life, never come across paths. So man, I'm thankful for it. I just believe that you really, really want to do this role. It can be fun, it can be dynamic. It's so different. It's never a dull day. But I'm telling you, if you are thinking about being a Scrum Master only because you can work a part-time gig and make over 6 figures, uh, if you do find it— hey, no, I'm joking. But if you do find it, uh, man, I can rest assured that it's only probably a matter of time before you found out. But at the same time, I will say, like John C. Maxwell, uh, said, I do want to lead myself out of a job. I want to lead myself out of a job, meaning that I don't want to just come do a job, man. I want to operate in calling and purpose, and that's what I look at. Like, I— this is more than just a job to me, man. This is more than really just a career to me at this point. Like, I was telling my wife the other day that I was like, I can't— I was like, I just feel like I didn't fell in love with this discipline. As I've— as I have went through different courses and cohorts and things like that and programs and found mentors and coaches, I was like, babe, I'm just It's like it's all making sense now, uh, and it's all coming together. And she was just like, no, I can tell, I can tell that you really, really like love it. She's like, I really believe that you was called to this space. Um, and that's what I tell people now. Like, the only way I probably put in a notice, uh, is if, uh, full-time pastor role comes in. But even in that, man, I probably, probably do both for a while, just to be honest, because that's what I really love about this agile leadership coaching, facilitating delivery or project management, whatever, like space. And so, uh, like I said, I just want to say again, man, do your homework. Uh, if it is a role or space that you considering, it's being a Scrum Master, you have to start with those 3 things. You have to have the soft skills, you have to have the hard skills, and you have to be willing to do the work. Like, you are going to have to work, and primarily you're helping clean up a messy, messy middle most of the time. You have to start and it's real messy in the middle, then you have to end and then get ready to do it all over again. Um, so that's just very, very surface level because like I said, I didn't want to get into like all the details and talk framework or nothing like that. I just wanted to give you an overview of kind of how I look at it. And if you're thinking about being a Scrum Master for whatever reasons other than like You know, that you just like— if you think about being a Scrum Master just for the money, or any type of agile, like I said, I think you far from it, and I don't think you're gonna last long. Uh, just, just my opinion. That's just my heart from what I have seen. I've only been in this space for almost 7, maybe almost 8 years, I don't know, but I've been in it for a little while, you know. Technology and engineering altogether, like, going on almost 12 years because I was fortunate to start at 21. And I'm 33 now, going on 34. So, uh, I hope this kind of gave you some context into what I do and a little bit about servant leadership. And you know how really, truthfully, this whole discipline has just really, you know, took a lot of buzzwords. But at the end of, at the end of the day, man, it's really servant leadership meet, uh, meeting with a little bit of project coordination and management here and there. Uh, that's how I look at it. And of course, a lot of other things— coaching, you know, and facilitating things like that. But, uh, I'm rambling now. But for the most part, I love the discipline. Uh, I hope you consider it if you do. And again, if there's anything I can help you with in it, just feel free to reach out to me through my social media. So go directly to the website that you'll also hear in the outro, I think, www.timothypratt.org. So other than that, y'all be blessed. We'll get back into some other content later, but I just really want to do this episode, uh, when I just kind of see— start seeing like a lot of disturbance, uh, disturbing information around this discipline. Be blessed. Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to the Student Life Podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothyprattjr.org. Once again, thanks.