When organizations decide to implement SAFe’s Measure and Grow, leadership isn’t just a support function—it’s the engine. If you want real, lasting improvement, the commitment has to come from the top. Let’s break down exactly how leadership shapes success with Measure and Grow in SAFe, what behaviors matter most, and how leaders can build the conditions for measurable, meaningful progress.

What Is Measure and Grow in SAFe?

Before diving into leadership’s role, let’s get on the same page. SAFe’s Measure and Grow is a structured approach that helps organizations assess their current Agile maturity, spot improvement opportunities, and track progress over time. It covers dimensions like team agility, technical health, and business outcomes. But the assessment alone won’t transform anything—action does, and that’s where leadership comes in.

Why Leadership Is a Non-Negotiable Ingredient

Here’s the thing: even the best metrics and assessments fall flat if leaders don’t walk the talk. When leaders take ownership, they create trust, drive accountability, and help teams feel safe to share both wins and pain points. This honesty is the bedrock of real growth.

Leadership as Role Model

Teams pay attention to what their leaders do, not just what they say. If leaders treat Measure and Grow as a checkbox, everyone else will too. If leaders show up, engage honestly, and follow through, the rest of the organization will notice and mirror those behaviors.

Creating Psychological Safety

People need to know they can be candid about struggles and blockers without facing backlash. When leaders admit what they don’t know and show vulnerability, they make it okay for teams to do the same. This level of safety is essential for accurate assessments and, more importantly, for having the tough conversations that lead to breakthroughs.

Removing Obstacles

Leaders have the authority to clear the path. Sometimes it’s budget. Sometimes it’s entrenched bureaucracy or unhelpful legacy processes. Whatever the barrier, proactive leaders step in, ask tough questions, and drive change at the system level—exactly what SAFe Measure and Grow is designed to highlight.

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Five Key Behaviors of Effective Leaders in Measure and Grow

Let’s get practical. These are the patterns you’ll see in leaders who actually move the needle with Measure and Grow:

1. Championing Transparency

Leaders need to demand honesty—starting with themselves. That means sharing not just successes but failures and areas where the organization is stuck. Leaders who admit missteps send a powerful message that growth is the goal, not perfection.

2. Prioritizing Outcomes Over Activity

Too many organizations get stuck measuring what’s easy instead of what matters. Good leaders focus the conversation on outcomes: customer value, time-to-market, quality. They use the SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM) Certification as a framework to shift the team’s mindset from output to outcome.

3. Consistently Following Up

A single assessment is useless without ongoing action. Leaders must keep Measure and Grow on the agenda, review progress in real business reviews, and ask, “What’s blocking our improvement?” This habit separates organizations that make real change from those who stall out after a flashy launch.

4. Investing in Capability Building

It’s not enough to spot gaps—leaders need to invest in closing them. That means supporting Leading SAFe Agilist Certification Training for themselves and their teams, enabling people to deepen their Agile and Lean skills, and making sure the right training gets the right attention and resources.

5. Celebrating Improvement

When you see progress—whether it’s improved team health, faster delivery, or higher quality—call it out. Recognition builds momentum. Leaders who celebrate small wins make improvement part of the culture.

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Leadership Roles Across the SAFe Organization

Leadership influence isn’t limited to executives. In a SAFe environment, several key roles directly shape Measure and Grow success:

Executive Leaders

They set the vision, allocate resources, and make the big calls. Their visible participation signals the importance of Measure and Grow and helps align the whole organization.

Release Train Engineers (RTEs)

RTEs act as the glue, coordinating assessments and improvement efforts across multiple teams. SAFe Release Train Engineer Certification Training provides the practical skills needed to guide ARTs through the Measure and Grow process, keep momentum, and drive results.

Scrum Masters and Advanced Scrum Masters

Scrum Masters are natural coaches and change agents. They facilitate honest assessments, encourage open feedback, and support team-level improvements. If you want to take it further, SAFe Advanced Scrum Master Certification Training dives deep into advanced practices for leading teams through continuous improvement.

Product Owners and Product Managers

These leaders turn insights from Measure and Grow into backlog items, priorities, and product changes that deliver real value. Their ability to interpret feedback and drive action is what makes the loop between assessment and improvement actually close.

You can dig deeper into the evolving roles in SAFe leadership in this Forbes piece on Agile leadership.

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Making Measure and Grow Stick: The Leadership Checklist

It’s easy to run one round of Measure and Grow. The real challenge is embedding it into the organization’s rhythm. Here’s a leadership checklist to keep it alive:

• Lead the Conversation: Make Measure and Grow part of every leadership meeting. Ask for real updates, not just numbers.

• Fund the Gaps: Don’t just observe gaps—direct resources to fix them. This could mean new tools, training, or hiring.

• Model Curiosity: Ask questions. Show that you want to learn, not just report.

• Tie Improvements to Strategy: Link assessment outcomes directly to business goals. If teams see the connection, they’ll care more.

• Hold People Accountable (and Yourself): Set clear expectations for follow-through at every level.

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Common Pitfalls: Where Leadership Drops the Ball

Knowing what not to do is just as important:

• Treating Measure and Grow as a Side Project: If it isn’t seen as a business priority, it’ll die on the vine.

• Ignoring the Tough Feedback: Leaders who only want good news will get fake progress.

• Micromanaging Instead of Coaching: Dictating fixes from above erodes trust and stifles improvement.

• Focusing Solely on Metrics: Obsessing over numbers without looking at the human and cultural elements misses the point.

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Building Leadership Capability with the Right Certifications

SAFe certifications aren’t just for individual contributors—they help leaders build the skills and perspective to guide Measure and Grow success:

• The SAFe Scrum Master Certification builds practical skills for team coaches and facilitators.

• The SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager Certification is all about driving business outcomes from assessments.

• Leading SAFe Agilist Certification Training helps senior leaders align the organization behind a shared vision of continuous improvement.

Want to see how SAFe organizations build leadership at every level? Scaled Agile’s leadership resources are worth exploring.

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Wrapping Up: Leadership Makes or Breaks Measure and Grow

If you want to see real gains from Measure and Grow, leadership has to show up, be vulnerable, and stay invested. The impact isn’t just in the numbers—it's in the culture, the energy, and the momentum for change.

Looking to upskill your leadership team? Explore certifications like Leading SAFe Agilist, SAFe Release Train Engineer, and SAFe Advanced Scrum Master to turn intent into action.

Real progress starts with leadership that’s willing to measure, learn, and grow—again and again. That’s what moves SAFe from theory to results.

 

Also read - Common Mistakes to Avoid in SAFe Measure and Grow Initiatives

Also see - Linking SAFe Measure and Grow to Strategic Objectives