Course Outline
Agile Foundations & Leadership Mindset
Session 1: Why Agile Matters (90 min)
- The modern business landscape: volatility, complexity, & the innovation imperative
- What Agile is (and isn’t): principles, mindset, & empirical process control
- Business value realization: speed-to-market, quality, customer centricity, & risk reduction
- Workshop: Mapping your organization’s current challenges to Agile value drivers
Session 2: Challenges of an Agile Leader (90 min)
- Traditional vs. Agile leadership models: command-and-control vs. enablement & service
- Common transformation pitfalls: siloed adoption, metric misalignment, & resistance to change
- Navigating uncertainty: decision-making under complexity & the limits of predictive planning
- Case Study: Analyzing leadership breakdowns in real-world Agile transitions
Session 3: Complexity & Empiricism in Leadership (90 min)
- Understanding complexity theory for organizational leadership
- Empiricism in practice: transparency, inspection, & adaptation as leadership tools
- Shifting from planning to probing: safe-to-fail experiments & iterative delivery
- Simulation: Leading a complex product discovery scenario using empirical decision loops
Session 4: Leaders Grow Agility: Enabling & Scaling Teams (120 min)
- The leader’s role: clearing impediments, fostering autonomy, & aligning incentives
- Psychological safety, trust, & coaching vs. managing
- Introducing Scrum & Agile frameworks as organizational enablement tools
- Group Exercise: Designing an empowerment strategy for a multi-disciplinary team
Developing People, Measuring Agility & Scaling
Session 5: Developing People for Sustainable Agility (90 min)
- Coaching frameworks for Agile leaders: GROW, ORID, & situational leadership
- Building T-shaped, cross-functional capabilities & continuous learning cultures
- Recognizing & rewarding Agile behaviors vs. traditional output metrics
- Workshop: Creating individual development plans for POs, SMs, & team members
Session 6: Measuring & Guiding Agile Product Delivery (90 min)
- Metrics that matter: outcome-based vs. output-based measurement
- Health indicators: velocity, predictability, quality, flow efficiency, & team well-being
- Feedback loops: reviews, retrospectives, & product metrics dashboards
- Exercise: Designing a lightweight Agile measurement system for your organization
Session 7: Scaling Agility Across Teams (90 min)
- Aligning multiple teams to a shared product vision & strategic objectives
- Coordination patterns: Agile Release Trains, Nexus, & enterprise backlog alignment
- Avoiding scaling anti-patterns: over-engineering, bureaucracy, & loss of empowerment
- Case Study: Structuring cross-team alignment without losing Agile agility
Session 8: Capstone, Certification & Next Steps (120 min)
- Capstone Simulation: Lead a mini-agile transformation initiative (diagnose, plan, measure, scale)
- Reflection, peer coaching, & personalized action planning
- PAL I certification pathway, retake policy, & Scrum.org learning resources
- Open Q&A & leadership commitment pledge
Requirements
Audience
- The Professional Agile Leadership Essentials course is designed for managers and those in leadership roles including Product Owners and Scrum Masters who want to grow their organization’s ability to respond to market opportunities, competitive pressures, or opportunities for innovation.
Testimonials (3)
I liked the break outs and the chance to work with my peers taking the course. I also liked the small group we had although I understand this is not the norm
David - Home Office
Course - Professional Scrum Product Owner II
Paul was a fantastic trainer. I enjoyed his style of teaching and delivery pace
Adeola
Course - Professional Scrum Master II | PSM II (Scrum.org accredited training course)
Really pragmatic. Lots of detailed discussions, practical exercises. Constructive debates.
