Introduction
With 5 years in software delivery and consulting, plus a strong focus on agile methodology and people development, taking the Certified Agile Leader II (CAL II) course was the logical step in my next development. This follow-up 6 month program allows the participants to deepen their knowledge (not only) in 4 domains – Leadership, Culture, Change, and Organization.
Agile Leader II Course Concept
The main focus of this course is to move the mindset from the individual and team level to the organizational level. As a Scrum Master, you usually start working with one team, with more experience you’re able to work with more teams and ultimately you start to see these teams from the system perspective and can differentiate between different needs for different levels in the organization. That is where the Certified Agile Leader II course should take place. The course covers 4 main domains – Leadership, Culture, Change and Organization. For all of these domains, you will be introduced to new concepts, prepare individual plans, and work on team assignments.
- The Leadership module focuses on your role as a leader in your organization. Together with the other participants (your team members), you will have the opportunity to practice the coaching techniques. The 365 leadership circle allows you to get comprehensive feedback on your leadership style and allows you to work on your profile and identify potential areas for improvement.
- The Culture module explains the organization as a system and helps to understand how to approach the mindset and the structure. Within the team assessment, you will need to apply a given concept in different ways and in different scenarios. You will also have an opportunity to reflect on the culture in your organization and identify potential improvements or different approaches you can try in the future.
- The Change module brings a new concept of how to approach and work with change in your organization. You will have the opportunity to try this concept and iteratively discuss your findings within the CAL team as well as the team members in your organization. You will understand the driving force for the change and how to prepare the ground for the upcoming change in your organization.
- The Organization module covers all the topics discussed within previous modules in the course and creates the ground for experimentation in your team or organization. The main focus is on planning, running and evaluating the experiments by using different concepts.
The main added value of this course is that everything that is discussed is not a one-time activity or some theory only. Everything can be easily implemented on a smaller or bigger scale in your company. It’s regularly worked on, evaluated and adjusted during the whole course (and after it). Discussed concepts, approaches and ideas are therefore not only possible but almost mandatory to be used in your organization during the course. For that it’s mandatory to have a great understanding of discussed areas, real experience and also preferably the possibility or mandate to do the experiments and changes in the teams or company you are working with.
The strongest element – as in any other agile courses – is the opportunity to meet great people from different companies, industries and environments. Yet with the same goal to learn, share and have fun and make new friends. These people will help you to see discussed topics from different perspectives, think about new ideas and approaches and help you by consulting, coaching, or sharing their experiences during the whole course. Most likely you will end up with a group that will go beyond the borders of this course. And that’s it. Because leadership is not a destination or even certification, but a journey. And the best journey is with the people going the same direction.
Certified Agile Leader II: Key Takeaways
- Not another 3 day course – due to the length you have to constantly work on the tasks you’re both given, but also creating for yourself
- Regular follow-up with your team is a must – it helped with the alignment within team assignments, motivation and learning a ton of new stuff from others
- Great opportunity to discuss the concepts – learn from others’ experiences or get a different perspective even before you implement something new
- 365 leadership circle – to validate (or not) that you as a leader are going and evolving in the direction you wish to improve
- Dedicated coaching session – it really helps when you can just talk and someone really listens without interrupting, only helping from time to time to move forward (or backward)
I can definitely see the change in the mindset. I’m able to stop ‘the doing process’ and start ‘the thinking process if I need to. I’m able to better understand the levels in the organization and its needs and explain if needed. And I see the organization as a system with its dependencies and specific needs. This course was helpful in moving forward and has a lot to offer to everyone who wants to become a better leader.
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