CAL Essentials for Organization Leaders

CAL Essentials for Organization Leaders

CAL Essentials for Organization Leaders Logo

The Grow-Lean Certified Agile Leadership Essentials (CAL-E) / Organization (CAL-O) combines two classes into one comprehensive session.

  • You start with the CAL-E, and understand the core principles and values underlying agile methods, as well as your role in supporting and promoting them.
  • In the second half, the CAL-O, you learn how to be effective in supporting agile programs and portfolios and craft a template for organizational transformation and change management with minimum risk and maximum impact.

Your trainer Arlen Bankston has a lengthy career starting prior to the Agile Manifesto. He was a founding executive in one of the earliest agile consultancies, starting with agile in the late 1990's. He has filled multiple roles over his training and coaching career, and worked with leaders at all types of organizations.

As as result you’ll enjoy a consistently fresh and open-minded approach to agility in your CAL-EO that leans on real experience and anecdotes. Arlen uses tools like Mural and Mentimeter in completely unique ways that many students have commented is interesting in its own respect and keeps them fully engaged from beginning to end. Arlen goes to great lengths to help students share with one another, a benefit unique to a class like this with leadership talent.

Find out more about the CAL Essentials for Organization Leaders training.
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Student Testimonials

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Key Details

Understanding the CAL-1

The Scrum Alliance’s Certified Agile Leadership program CAL-1 consists of what was formerly known as three separate certifications, the CAL-E, CAL-T and CAL-O. Grow-Lean’s Certified Agile Leader® 1 workshop is perfect for leaders looking to launch or enhance agility at both the team and organizational level. It is taught by an experienced executive who has worked with companies across the private and public sectors since the genesis of the agile movement. No question will remain unanswered or given vague treatment in this class; with 20 years of real-world transformation experience we will discuss and address your real-world problems.

Certified Agile Leader 1 teaches how agile leaders ought to think, focus, and behave. It covers why agile methods are necessary in today’s complex and ever-changing environment, what some of the leading methods are, how to drive change in an iterative and incremental fashion, and the leader’s role in driving agility throughout an organization.

Certified Agile Leader 1 covers why agile methods are necessary in today’s complex and ever-changing environment, what some of the leading methods are, how to drive change in an iterative and incremental fashion, and the leader’s role in driving agility throughout an organization. It also dives into many common anti-patterns and challenges faced in the real-world, along with proven ways to address them.

Arlen Bankston

CST | CSP-SM | CSP-PO | CAL | A-CSM | CSM | A-CSPO | CSPO | LSS MB | SAFe SPC5

Arlen Bankston, a pioneering figure in the agile movement, was one of the first to integrate lean systems thinking and user experience practices with agile software development methodologies. His innovative approach has left a lasting impact on the field.

Currently, Arlen is a sought-after coach and trainer, specializing in advanced courses such as the Advanced CSPO, Certified Scrum Professional PO, Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster, Certified Agile Leadership Essentials and Team, as well as custom sessions including the Grow-Lean Remote and Hybrid Work. His expertise extends beyond the realm of software, exploring Lean, Six Sigma, BPM and other process management and systems thinking approaches to provide organizations with a comprehensive perspective.

Arlen's journey in the agile world began with his early involvement in the Scrum Alliance (member number 41) and as one of the first Certified Scrum Trainers . He further expanded his knowledge by becoming a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt during his six-year tenure leading a Lean-Agile practice. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found the consultancy LitheSpeed, which he successfully led for fifteen years before joining Grow-Lean.

Known for his thought leadership and dynamic, entertaining, and practical training style, Arlen has trained and mentored thousands of ScrumMasters, Product Owners, team members and executives. He designed the Agile Leadership Academy to address the leadership and structural challenges that many successful companies still face.

Arlen's client list spans across every industry and includes notable names such as RBC, Monster, Marriott, NBC Universal, CNBC, NGA, Capital One, T. Rowe Price, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Armed Forces Benefits Association. His book “HR and the Agile Organization” provides valuable insights on how human resources departments can adapt to support organizations striving for adaptability while enhancing employee engagement and retention.

Get personalized savings for groups, self-pay, hardship, student or military/vet. Plus, pay in up to twelve installments with no interest or fees.

Session Schedule

CAL Essentials for Organization Leaders (CAL-EO)

CAL-E Learning Objectives

Understand core principles and values underlying agile methods, as well as your role in supporting and promoting them, so you can think and act different.

The Growth of Agile

Markets are increasingly volatile, unpredictable, complex, and ambiguous. Agile methods help respond to VUCA as they create short feedback loops to maximize learning, limit risk and increase return on investment.

Why Agile Leadership

Agile methods were created to deal with the need for adaptation without sacrificing quality in software development, but delivering great products and services requires end-to-end flow that extends beyond just technology silos and into other groups like marketing, sales and operations. Agile leaders help to drive better collaboration and coordination at an organizational level, which can dramatically improve product value and quality, delivery speed and employee engagement.

What Agile Leadership Entails

Agile leadership requires different approaches to planning, tracking, and managing work. Creating effective empirical feedback loops and a growth mindset are important to driving agility at scale.

Becoming an Agile Leader

The best leaders blend strong self-awareness, empathy for their employees and a nuanced understanding of the business and customer environment. This allows them to apply situational leadership where the right style depends on the context. They drive lasting change by helping teams to become properly self-organizing.

CAL-O Learning Objectives

Be effective in supporting agile programs and portfolios by crafting a template for organizational transformation and by applying organization change management to reduce risk and increase the potential positive impact.

How Leaders Enable Agility

Creating an agile culture is an iterative and incremental process like that seen in agile methods themselves. Leaders play a fundamental role in modeling agile behaviors and creating a system in which experimentation and learning can be facilitated without undue risk to the business.

Agile Organizational Design Strategies

Basic agile teams are cross-functional, encapsulating dependencies to support strong ownership. speed, quality, and adaptability. Agile organizations effectively connect dependent business units in a way that optimizes the flow of value from planning through delivery and into operations.

Driving Agility as a Leader

Empirical approaches such as Scrum rely on rapidly delivering capabilities in a way that allows for quick learning and adaptation. Leaders play a critical part in enabling this through focused portfolio management, modular planning, and adaptive governance.

What You Get

You get more than great learning, you get a free retake, alumni benefits, two year Scrum Alliance membership and more.

Live On-Line Training
Be careful of other trainings that are largely off-line or which have significant amounts of canned material. Ours is live!
No Surprises
It may sound odd, but no surprises is a good thing. No extra fees or hoops to go through to get certified.
Certification Fees
Your certification fees are covered, there are no additional charges.
Two Year Scrum Alliance Membership
You have a two year membership to the Scrum Alliance, the world's largest, agile only, not for profit, certifying body.
Two Year Renewal
All of your other Scrum Alliance Certifications are renewed for two years. No need to pay additional fees to the Scrum Alliance and no need to collect SEUs
16 Project Management Institute PDUs
You get 16 Project Management Institute (PMI) Professional Development Units (PDUs) to help meet your PMI continuing education requirements.
One Free Class Retake (within 120 days)
Want to learn more, take the class a second virtual class within a 120 days of your session end.
Alumni Discount
Take one training of $495 or more and get 5% off, two get 10% off, three get 15%, all the way up to 25% off.
Want to bring a training to your team or organization?
Contact us to discuss options for private workshops.

Training Discounts

A variety of discounts to fit your situation.

Request your discount on the session (a class on date/time with a trainer) you want. If more than one discount applies explain in your comments.

You can pay in up to 12 installments by choosing Splitit at checkout.

For Grow-Lean Alumni, log in or use your account email when registering, and receive an automatic discount. If you also qualify for another discount, request it, and, if your email matches, we know you are an alumni.

If you have a Visa or Mastercard credit card you can pay in up to 12 monthly installments. There are no fees or interest if you pay on time! Your available credit must be enough to cover the full cost and there is a hold on your credit card for the amount that you have not paid.

For example, if your final fee is $1,000 and you chose 10 installments:

  • You would pay $100 today and have a $900 hold placed on your credit card.
  • The following month your credit card would be charged another $100 and the hold would be reduced to $800.
  • Each month you pay $100 and each month the hold is reduced by $100.

If you are not familiar with the term "hold" this is similar to what hotels do when you check in, to cover extra expenses you may incur including the mini bar.

The benefit to you is that you do not pay any interest or fees if all payments are on time.

Find Session

Find the session you want on the class list, then click "Discounts" link. Early-bird discounts do not need to be requested.

Choose Discounts

You will be on the discounts tab for the class.

Select Discount

Choose the appropriate discount then click the link for it. Not all discounts are available for all sessions.

Enter & Submit

Provide the requested information then click "Submit".

Early Bird
Early Bird

Combines With: Everything

Able to register in advance?

The Early Bird discount is available on many of classes.

There is no need to request it. Simply register while it is available.

If you receive another discount it will combine with the Early Bird.

Out of Pocket
Out of Pocket

Combines With: Alumni, Early Bird

Paying yourself and won't be reimbursed?

The Out of Pocket is for you if you won't be reimbursed. If you are unemployed, a military veteran, or a student request the appropriate discount.

Choose a specific session (class on a date with a trainer), click on Discounts, and complete the request form. If you are not sure of the date, choose a session and explain in the comments.

Group & Private
Group & Private

Combines With: Early Bird

Bringing friends or colleagues to one or more sessions or want a private session?

The Group and Private Discounts are for sending three or more attendees to one or more events or for private events (i.e. just for your team).

To request, choose a session (class on a date with a trainer) you are interested in, click the Discount Link, and when filling out the form describe your situation.

Our Training Team will reach out to you.

Alumni
Alumni

Combines With: Early Bird, Hardship, Out of Pocket, Student, Veteran

Get 5% off for each public session, over $495, you took with us, up to 20%.

The Alumni Discount provides you discounted rates to future Grow-Lean training.

For each Grow-Lean session* you take with us, at a rate of $495 or above, you accumulate another 5% off of a future training, up to 20% off*.

* We have a small number of partner events where the alumni discount does not apply.

Hardship
Hardship

Combines With: Early Bird, Alumni

Suffering an economic hardship and able to provide an unemployment notice or separation agreement?

The Hardship Discount is for you if you are suffering an economic hardship and are able to provide an unemployment notice or separation agreement and are not being reimbursed.

Choose a specific session (class on a date with a trainer), click on Discounts, and complete the request form. If you are not sure of the date, choose a session and explain in the comments.

Student & Educator
Student & Educator

Combines With: Early Bird

Are you a full-time student or educator, with a .edu email address?

The Student Discount is for you if you are a full-time student or educator with a .edu email address.

Choose a specific session (class on a date with a trainer), click on Discounts, and complete the request form. If you are not sure of the date, choose a session and explain in the comments.

When completing the request tell us your major and expected graduation date or explain what you teach and where.

Military & Veteran
Military & Veteran

Combines With: Early Bird

Are you active duty military or a veteran?

The Military / Veteran Discount is applicable if you are active duty, reserve, or retired from the military.

Choose a specific session (class on a date with a trainer), click on Discounts, and complete the request form. If you are not sure of the date, choose a session and explain in the comments.

When completing the request tell us if you will be reimbursed or not.

Have a Visa or Mastercard Credit Card?
Pay in up to 12 installments by choosing Splitit at checkout.
You pay zero interest!

Pre-Class Reading and Videos

Maximize your learning with preparation

Pre-reading for the your Scrum Alliance CAL Essentials for Organization Leaders training.
If you have time prior to the session, you can prepare by reviewing the free reading material and videos.
  • Start with a short read, the Agile Manifesto and the principles behind it.
  • Read the Scrum Guide. It is 13 light pages.
  • Have some more time, watch the videos on Scrum.
  • Even more time, check the CAL Essentials for Organization Leaders specific material.

Why choose our training?

Live Online Workshop with an Agile Expert.

If you want to take a live online CAL 1 Workshop you have options. One thing you can't get with the others is Arlen Bankston who:

  • Has been actively applying agile since the late 1990's.
  • Has been an agile leader much of his career.
  • Was Scrum Alliance member 41.
  • Who delivers the most engaging training experience.

By taking this session, you will:

  • Experience a blend of exercises, real-world case studies, engaging games, short videos and more.
  • Oscillate between theory and application to understand the gap between what is possible and what is most often done in business environments.
  • Leave ready to take your organization to the next level through pragmatic tips and stories from the instructor’s decades of agile experience, as well as learning from often equally experienced fellow students.

By taking this session you get:

  1. Deep discussion and learning.
  2. A 100% live collaborative session.
  3. Meaningful answers to questions.
  4. Case studies and real-life examples.

Plus, you will enjoy the session! We provide edutainment so that you have energy that drives retention.

Why Choose Grow-Lean?

Longest tenured trainers, smaller classes and higher quality.

  • Small group of elite, experienced, experts.
  • The highest quality for a fair price.
  • Caring customer support before and after training.
  • Interactive class experience.
  • Everything is included. No hidden fees!
  • Trainers are practitioners, not talking heads!
  • Unique exercises, templates and approaches.
  • Small class size so you get personal attention.

Earning Your Certification

Become a CAL Essentials for Organization Leader with CAL-E and CAL-O Certification.

CAL Essentials for Organization Leaders Logo

This workshop will confer CAL 1 certifications, as well as make you eligible to apply for the CAL 2 certification. You will leave with the basic skills necessary to start or expand agile delivery at your organization.

  • No additional charges or fees to become certified.
  • No exam required at present.
  • Must attend a minimum of fourteen hours class time to become certified.
  • Two years Scrum Alliance Membership included.
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