Description

Book Synopsis
Ron Eringa is a Leadership Developer. His mission is to create organizations where people love to work and where real customer value is created. In the last 20 years he has built expertise on how to lead IT organizations that use Agile and Scrum. After an initial education in electrical engineering and software engineering he ended up in different leadership roles. In these roles he discovered the leadership capabilities that are essential to create autonomous teams with a high level of maturity and creativity. He believes that autonomous teams are the fundament of a modern organization that thrives in this complex and ever-changing world.

Kurt Bittner has been delivering working products in short, feedback-driven cycles for nearly 40 years, and has helped many organizations do the same. He is particularly interested in helping people form strong, self-organizing, high-performance teams that deliver solutions that customers love, and helping organizations use em

Table of Contents
Foreword xi
Preface xv
Introduction xvii
Acknowledgments xxv
About the Authors xxvii

Chapter 1: An Organization at a Crossroads 1
Complex Challenges Create Urgency for Agility 2
Reducing Dependencies Makes Change Possible 4
Organizational Change Requires Protective, Progressive Dictatorship 10
Two Paths, One Goal 12
Reflections on the Journey 15

Chapter 2: Forming Teams and Discovering Purpose 17
Changing the Organization, One Team at a Time 18
Finding the Right People 22
Empowering Teams 26
Placing the Customer at the Center of the Change 29
Reflections on the Journey 35

Chapter 3: Shifting from Output to Impact 37
"What Gets Measured Gets Done" 38
Reflections on the Journey 53

Chapter 4: Learning to Let Go 55
Empowerment Doesn't Come for Free 56
Agile Leaders Help Teams to Grow Their Ability to Reach Audacious Goals 60
Letting Go in Small Steps 65
Slow Decision-Making Kills Team Self-Management 69
Reflections on the Journey 73

Chapter 5: The Predictable Existential Crisis 75
New Ways of Working Threaten the Old System 76
Reflections on the Journey 97

Chapter 6: Leaders, Everywhere 99
Nurturing and Growing an Agile Organization 100
Reward Building Teams and Leadership, Not Silos 114
Promotional Rewards Lock in Organizational Structures 117
Performance Reviews Don't Go Away, but They Do Change Dramatically 118
Reflections on the Journey 122

Chapter 7: Aligning the Organization 123
Evolving the Operating Model 124
Scale Agility by Removing Dependencies 131
Consolidating Support and Eliminating Opposition 132
Realign Compensation Plans 140
Realign Career Paths 141
Embrace Catalytic Leadership 142
Replace Status Meetings with Transparency 143
Be Realistic About How Long the Transition Will Take, and What It Means 146
Reflections on the Journey 147

Chapter 8: Aligning the Culture 149
What Makes Changing Culture Hard 150
Agile Leaders Must First Find Their Own Way 152
Build Bridges to the New Culture 153
Anticipate and Overcome Setbacks 159
Use "Self-Sustenance" as a Measure of Success 162
Agile Journeys Never Really End 165
Reflections on the Journey 168

Appendix A: Patterns and Anti-Patterns for Effective Leadership 169

Appendix B: Doreen's Sketchnotes 171

Index

The Professional Agile Leader

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    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Wed 17 Jun 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Ron Eringa, Kurt Bittner, Laurens Bonnema

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      View other formats and editions of The Professional Agile Leader by Ron Eringa

      Publisher: Pearson Education (US)
      Publication Date: 29/07/2022
      ISBN13: 9780137591510, 978-0137591510
      ISBN10: 0137591519

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Ron Eringa is a Leadership Developer. His mission is to create organizations where people love to work and where real customer value is created. In the last 20 years he has built expertise on how to lead IT organizations that use Agile and Scrum. After an initial education in electrical engineering and software engineering he ended up in different leadership roles. In these roles he discovered the leadership capabilities that are essential to create autonomous teams with a high level of maturity and creativity. He believes that autonomous teams are the fundament of a modern organization that thrives in this complex and ever-changing world.

      Kurt Bittner has been delivering working products in short, feedback-driven cycles for nearly 40 years, and has helped many organizations do the same. He is particularly interested in helping people form strong, self-organizing, high-performance teams that deliver solutions that customers love, and helping organizations use em

      Table of Contents
      Foreword xi
      Preface xv
      Introduction xvii
      Acknowledgments xxv
      About the Authors xxvii

      Chapter 1: An Organization at a Crossroads 1
      Complex Challenges Create Urgency for Agility 2
      Reducing Dependencies Makes Change Possible 4
      Organizational Change Requires Protective, Progressive Dictatorship 10
      Two Paths, One Goal 12
      Reflections on the Journey 15

      Chapter 2: Forming Teams and Discovering Purpose 17
      Changing the Organization, One Team at a Time 18
      Finding the Right People 22
      Empowering Teams 26
      Placing the Customer at the Center of the Change 29
      Reflections on the Journey 35

      Chapter 3: Shifting from Output to Impact 37
      "What Gets Measured Gets Done" 38
      Reflections on the Journey 53

      Chapter 4: Learning to Let Go 55
      Empowerment Doesn't Come for Free 56
      Agile Leaders Help Teams to Grow Their Ability to Reach Audacious Goals 60
      Letting Go in Small Steps 65
      Slow Decision-Making Kills Team Self-Management 69
      Reflections on the Journey 73

      Chapter 5: The Predictable Existential Crisis 75
      New Ways of Working Threaten the Old System 76
      Reflections on the Journey 97

      Chapter 6: Leaders, Everywhere 99
      Nurturing and Growing an Agile Organization 100
      Reward Building Teams and Leadership, Not Silos 114
      Promotional Rewards Lock in Organizational Structures 117
      Performance Reviews Don't Go Away, but They Do Change Dramatically 118
      Reflections on the Journey 122

      Chapter 7: Aligning the Organization 123
      Evolving the Operating Model 124
      Scale Agility by Removing Dependencies 131
      Consolidating Support and Eliminating Opposition 132
      Realign Compensation Plans 140
      Realign Career Paths 141
      Embrace Catalytic Leadership 142
      Replace Status Meetings with Transparency 143
      Be Realistic About How Long the Transition Will Take, and What It Means 146
      Reflections on the Journey 147

      Chapter 8: Aligning the Culture 149
      What Makes Changing Culture Hard 150
      Agile Leaders Must First Find Their Own Way 152
      Build Bridges to the New Culture 153
      Anticipate and Overcome Setbacks 159
      Use "Self-Sustenance" as a Measure of Success 162
      Agile Journeys Never Really End 165
      Reflections on the Journey 168

      Appendix A: Patterns and Anti-Patterns for Effective Leadership 169

      Appendix B: Doreen's Sketchnotes 171

      Index

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