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Certified Agile Leader® 1

Taught by: Rickard Jones

Agile Affinity LLP

Thrive with the agile leadership skills required in today's fast-paced markets and organizations. Learn how agile leaders drive better ROI, mitigate risks, and stay ahead of the competition. You will receive a two-year professional membership with Scrum Alliance upon successful completion of the course requirements.

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16 hours |

Start Jan 27, 2027 UTC

£475

Course details

Location

Online

Schedule Details

Wednesday, January 27 | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM UTC

Thursday, January 28 | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM UTC

Max number of students: 12

Course

At a Glance

FormatLive interactive online via Zoom

Duration2 days, 9:00 to 17:00 GMT with breaks and an hour for lunch

CertificationNo exam - awarded by active participation across both days

Group SizeMaximum 12 participants - genuine peer dialogue, not a webinar

Investment£475 + VAT | €570 | $650 USDSpecial Scrum Alliance direct price

PrerequisitesNone - open to all leadership levels and functions

Most transformation initiatives fail - not because of the teams, but because of the system around them. Organisations bring in agile coaches, run workshops, and train ScrumMasters, and yet nothing fundamentally changes. The missing ingredient is almost always leadership: the structural decisions, cultural signals, and management behaviours that either enable or block everything else.

The Certified Agile Leader® 1 (CAL 1) course gives you the frameworks to change that. Over two live online days you will work through the Integral Model, Psychological Safety diagnostics, Intent-Based Leadership, and Schneider's Culture Model - tools that operate at the structural and cultural level, not just the team level. You leave with a credential from Scrum Alliance and a concrete plan tailored to your own organisation, developed with your trainer in an included private strategy session.

Other providers charge £1,000+ for this certification. We deliver the same Scrum Alliance credential in a smaller, more intensive cohort - led by practitioners who coach enterprise leaders every week - at our special Scrum Alliance direct price.

Escaping the "Doing" Trap - Blue Work vs Red Work.

Legacy leadership courses focus on "Red Work" (execution, compliance, delivery). CAL 1 focuses on "Blue Work" (thinking, designing, improving). We help you bridge the "Great Divorce" between the leaders who think and the teams who do - shifting your organisation from compliance-driven execution to contribution-driven ownership, unlocking the discretionary effort your people have been holding back.

Every model we teach is one our trainers use with real clients in real organisations every week. You will bring a live leadership challenge from your own context and apply the tools to it directly during the course. The included private strategy session afterwards ensures you leave with a concrete action plan - not just a certificate to add to your profile.

What Will You Receive?

CAL 1 Credential

The Certified Agile Leader® 1 from Scrum Alliance - the globally recognised gold standard in agile leadership education, awarded by active participation.

The Agile Leader's Toolkit

Actionable models for team launches, Safety Inquiry diagnostics, and the Integral Model for organisational design - tools you apply in your next leadership meeting.

Outputs to Outcomes Framework

Advanced strategies for shifting from Outputs (Project Thinking) to Outcomes (Product Lifecycle Thinking) - the single biggest lever for organisational value delivery.

Psychological Safety Blueprint

A proven blueprint for building Psychological Safety and driving out fear - the number one structural impediment to team flow and discretionary effort.

Private Strategy Session

A free 30-minute one-on-one with your trainer after the course, applying everything you have learned directly to your organisation's specific challenges - no generic advice.

Free Udemy Course

Free access to our 'Coaching Conversations for Agile Professionals' Udemy course (normally £34.99) - yours immediately after the course ends.

Rated 4.9 out of 5 from 52+ verified Google Reviews

★★★★★

“Thank you so much for the best course and your support. This course has benefited me greatly. The step-by-step approach and clear explanations allowed me to learn and apply the knowledge in real life.”

Unchasa Anong, Scrum Master

★★★★★

“Very knowledgeable instructor with solid course materials. I’ve done a lot of these types of courses, and this is honestly the best one I’ve participated in.”

Skylar Robaczewski, Senior Agile Product & Delivery Leader

Included: A Private 30-Minute Strategy Session with Your Trainer

After the course, you sit down one-on-one with John to apply what you have learned directly to your organisation's challenges. This is not a debrief - it is a working session.

✓ Analyse your current organisational structure - where hierarchy helps and where it blocks your teams.
✓ Tailor the Integral Model to your specific culture and craft your first concrete culture shift using Schneider's diagnostic.

How the CAL 1 Programme Works

2-Day Interactive Leadership Workshop - Not a Lecture

Delivered via Zoom, the workshop balances instructor-led sessions with group exercises, case studies, and real-world application. Classes are capped at 12 participants - small enough for genuine dialogue between leaders, large enough for diverse perspectives. You will stay energised with regular breaks and an hour for lunch. Cameras stay on throughout - this is a working session.

Applied to Your Real Organisation - Not Hypothetical Case Studies

Before the course we ask you to bring a real leadership challenge from your own context. Every model and framework gets applied to your actual situation during the two days. The course tackles four systemic barriers that cause most transformation initiatives to stall: volatility and VUCA leadership, scientific management habits, Larman's Laws of organisational behaviour, and the cost of standing still while competitors adapt.

No Exam - Certified by Participation and Engagement

There is no written test. Your CAL 1 credential is awarded based on active participation and engagement across both days. Full attendance is required. The Scrum Alliance expects you to apply these tools, not memorise them - which is why everything you practise during the course is something you can use in your organisation next week.

Is This Programme Right for You?

CAL 1 is for leaders responsible for change - or frustrated by its absence. No prior agile experience is required.

C-Suite, MDs & VPs

Looking to embed agility at the strategic level and unlock the full discretionary effort of your workforce - not just deploy more agile teams.

Directors & Heads of Department

Responsible for transformation programmes that have previously struggled to deliver lasting change. The problem was likely structural, not methodological.

HR & People Directors

Shaping culture, talent development, and the conditions for high performance - and wanting the models to do that with evidence, not intuition.

Agile Coaches & Transformation Leads

Who need to influence at the leadership level and help executives understand their role in enabling - or blocking - team agility.

What Topics Are Covered?

The CAL 1 programme operates at the structural and cultural level - the layer that determines whether everything else your organisation does actually works.

✓ Navigating complexity - leading in a VUCA world
✓ Red Work vs Blue Work - the Great Divorce
✓ Breaking the scientific management barrier
✓ Larman's Laws of Organisational Behaviour
✓ The Integral Model - a 4-quadrant approach to organisational design
✓ Psychological Safety - driving out fear to unlock flow

✓ Intent-Based Leadership - from permission to ownership
✓ Schneider's Culture Model - diagnosing your current culture
✓ Outputs to Outcomes - from project to product thinking
✓ Pivot to Growth Mindset - beyond success through compliance
✓ Team Launch framework and Safety Inquiry tools
✓ Building your personal culture shift action plan

Meet Your Trainer

John Barratt delivers the CAL 1 programme. Every course is led by a practising enterprise agile coach who has delivered the outcomes this course teaches.

John Barratt

CST · Enterprise Agile Coach · Military Background

John combines a military background with extensive enterprise coaching experience to help senior leaders simplify complex organisations and build genuine resilience. He understands what it means to ask people to change how they work - because he has done it himself at scale. Client results speak directly to the CAL 1 outcomes: helping IAG Loyalty meet ambitious targets during COVID while reducing staff turnover; creating an internal coaching capability for Maersk saving £50,000 annually; and helping Vodafone's Secure Net product pass 20 million paid subscribers. When John teaches leadership, it is grounded in outcomes like these.

Occasional sessions are delivered by Rickard Jones (CST, Certified Team Coach, LeSS Trainer, ICAgile Trainer - 20+ years, co-author of the AgileHR Manifesto). All Agile Affinity trainers are practising coaches with real-world credentials.

Why Train with Agile Affinity?

Small Cohort by Design

Maximum 12 participants. CAL 1 requires genuine peer dialogue between leaders - that only works in small groups. You are not a passive attendee in a large webinar.

A Trainer Who Coaches Daily

John coaches real enterprises every week - IAG, Maersk, Vodafone. The frameworks he teaches on day one are the same ones he applied with a client last Tuesday.

A Community, Not Just a Course

We run Scrum Event (Europe's largest SA meetup), Agile Coach Camp UK, and the Kanban Coaching Exchange. Your network keeps growing long after you certify.

750+ Certified. Since 2019.

Established, trusted, and rated 4.9 on Google. We have spent six years developing leaders who achieve lasting change - not just people who have attended a course.

Why Agile Affinity?

Agile Affinity has served the agile community since 2019, certifying over 750 practitioners a year across Scrum Alliance and ICAgile programmes. We run Scrum Event - the largest Scrum Alliance meetup in Europe - alongside the Kanban Coaching Exchange, the Agile Coaching Exchange, and Agile Coach Camp UK. When you train with us, you are joining a community of practitioners, not just collecting a credential.

Our trainers are practitioners first. John coaches enterprises every week - real organisations with real political resistance, real structural inertia, and real results to show for it. The tools in CAL 1 are not academic frameworks. They are what actually worked last Tuesday with a client facing the same structural blockages you are dealing with now.

2019Established

750+Practitioners certified / year

4.9 ★Google rating, 48+ reviews

Max 12Per cohort - every time

£475 + VAT€570 | $650 USD

✓ CAL 1 certification (awarded by participation - no exam)
✓ 2-day live interactive online workshop via Zoom
✓ The Agile Leader's Toolkit - models you apply from week one
✓ Applied directly to your real organisational challenge during the course
✓ Free 30-minute private strategy session with your trainer
✓ Free Udemy 'Coaching Conversations for Agile Professionals' course (£34.99 value)
✓ Peer community access (Discord + Scrum Event Meetup)
✓ 20% discount on future Scrum Alliance courses

Full Refund Guarantee. Contact us within 7 days of purchase for a full refund - no questions asked. Or transfer your booking to a future date at no extra cost.

Paying in another currency? Select your location at the top right of the AgileAffinity website. UK-based buyers must pay in GBP.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this course only for people in technical or agile roles?

Not at all. CAL 1 is designed for anyone in a leadership position - from HR and Marketing to Executive VPs and C-suite. Agility is an organisational necessity, not a technical discipline. No prior agile experience is required.

Is there an exam?

No. There is no written test. Your CAL 1 credential is awarded based on active participation and engagement across both days. The Scrum Alliance expects you to apply the tools, not memorise them for a test - which is why the course is structured around your real challenges, not hypothetical scenarios.

How does this differ from standard management or leadership training?

Standard management training teaches you to manage the system for zero variance. CAL 1 teaches you to lead through the variance - embracing complexity to find discoverable solutions. It operates at the structural and cultural level, not just the behavioural one. Most leadership programmes change the person; CAL 1 gives you the tools to change the system around them.

I have done agile training before and nothing changed. Why is this different?

Most agile training focuses on team-level practices - standups, sprints, retrospectives. That only works if the organisational structure supports it. CAL 1 operates at the leadership level: it gives you the tools to redesign how your organisation makes decisions, allocates authority, and responds to change. That is why previous initiatives stalled - they changed the teams without changing the system around them.

How should I prepare?

No pre-certification is required. We ask only that you come with a real leadership challenge you are currently facing. Every model we teach will be applied directly to your situation during the course - so the more concrete your challenge, the more you will get out of the two days.

Is the course fully online? What software do I need?

Yes, fully online. You will need the latest Zoom desktop application (not the web or mobile version), a stable internet connection, and a working webcam and microphone. Cameras must stay on during the course. Full joining instructions will be sent ahead of your start date.

How many people will be in the group?

Classes are capped at 12 participants. This is deliberate - CAL 1 requires genuine peer dialogue between leaders, and that only works in small groups. You will not be a passive attendee in a large webinar.

Is the course recorded?

No. Genuine dialogue between leaders - including challenges shared in confidence - requires a safe, unrecorded environment. Full attendance across both days is required for certification. If your schedule changes, contact us and we will arrange to transfer you to a future cohort at no extra cost.

Is there a discount code available?

Yes - use promo code SA25 at checkout on AgileAffinity.com to save £25 off the listed price. This is a special discount available to learners arriving via the Scrum Alliance website.

What if I need to cancel or reschedule?

We offer a full refund within 7 days of purchase. If your schedule changes after that, you can transfer to a future cohort at no extra cost - just let us know at least 5 working days before the start date. Contact us at [email protected].

Can my employer pay, or can I get a corporate invoice?

Yes. Select "Pay by Bank Transfer" at checkout on AgileAffinity.com and an invoice is generated automatically. Payment must be received before joining instructions are sent. For larger corporate bookings or bespoke requirements, contact us at [email protected].

What if I have another question?

We are happy to help. Email us at [email protected] and we will get back to you quickly.

Details

Agile Affinity's vision is to enhance organisations with world-class Coaching and Training.

We do this not only by talking about Being Agile but also by Doing Agile coaching with Scrum.

It is why we coach more than we train to bring real experience to the classroom, run the highest-quality courses at a price people can afford, and invest in the agile community.

Scrum Alliance Courses Agile Affinity delivers:

Certified Scrum Master® (CSM)

Gain practical knowledge and certification as a Scrum Master.

Certified Advanced Scrum Master® (A-CSM)

Enhance your skills and advance your Scrum Master certification.

Certified Scrum Professional Scrum Master® (CSP-SM)

Achieve the highest level of Scrum Master certification.

Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO)

Experience unique content and learnings by starting your Product Ownership certification journey.

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner® (A-CSPO)

Deepen your Product Ownership expertise and advance your CSPO certification.

Certified Scrum Professional Product Owner® (CSP-PO)

Achieve the highest level of Product Ownership certification.

Certified Agile Leader® (CAL 1)

Shift from managing work to leading organisational growth in a complex world.

Certified LeSS Basics - Scaled Scrum (CLB)

Understand the basics of Large Scale Scrum (LeSS).

Whatever your needs, we have a team of experienced experts ready to support you on your Agile journey. Our professionals bring a wealth of knowledge and practical experience across various industries, ensuring tailored guidance that aligns with your unique challenges and goals. Whether you're just beginning your Agile transformation or looking to enhance your existing practices, our experts are equipped to provide the insights and support necessary to achieve lasting success. From comprehensive assessments to hands-on coaching and strategic consulting, we are committed to empowering your teams and leaders to thrive in an Agile environment.

Private Training

We offer bespoke private training solutions tailored to your specific needs.

Get in Touch

Agile Services

We provide a full range of Agile coaching and consulting services, including team and programme coaching, Scrum Master Academies, Product Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Agile Transformations, and LeSS adoption.

Get in Touch

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Course details

Location

Schedule Details

Certified Agile Leader® 1 (CAL 1®)

At a Glance

Escaping the "Doing" Trap - Blue Work vs Red Work.

What Will You Receive?

CAL 1 Credential

The Agile Leader's Toolkit

Outputs to Outcomes Framework

Psychological Safety Blueprint

Private Strategy Session

Free Udemy Course

Included: A Private 30-Minute Strategy Session with Your Trainer

How the CAL 1 Programme Works

2-Day Interactive Leadership Workshop - Not a Lecture

Applied to Your Real Organisation - Not Hypothetical Case Studies

No Exam - Certified by Participation and Engagement

Is This Programme Right for You?

What Topics Are Covered?

Meet Your Trainer

John Barratt

Why Train with Agile Affinity?

Small Cohort by Design

A Trainer Who Coaches Daily

A Community, Not Just a Course

750+ Certified. Since 2019.

Why Agile Affinity?

Your Investment

Frequently Asked Questions

Certified Scrum Master® (CSM)

Certified Advanced Scrum Master® (A-CSM)

Certified Scrum Professional Scrum Master® (CSP-SM)

Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO)

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner® (A-CSPO)

Certified Scrum Professional Product Owner® (CSP-PO)

Certified Agile Leader® (CAL 1)

Certified LeSS Basics - Scaled Scrum (CLB)

Private Training

Agile Services

Reviews

More courses by Rickard

Certified Agile Leader^® 1 (CAL 1^®)