Pete Behrens
Walking Through the Fog, Alongside You
The Road From Engineer to Leadership Coach
Pete began as an engineer — trained to solve problems, optimize systems, and trust logic. Early success reinforced a simple belief: if you work hard and think clearly, things improve.
Then the problems changed.
They became less technical and more human. Teams struggled not because of missing data, but because of tension. Decisions stalled not because of poor analysis, but because of fear, ego, or misalignment. The tools that once worked stopped working.
That realization set the course for everything that followed — through technical leadership, executive roles, and eventually the work he does today as an organizational coach, speaker, and founder.
What the journey taught him is the same thing he explores on every stage: the most complex challenges in any organization aren't technical. They're human. And the leaders who make the biggest difference aren't the ones with the answers — they're the ones willing to ask better questions, stay present in uncertainty, and keep moving forward even when the path isn't clear.
Learning Leadership the Hard Way
Pete's understanding of leadership didn't come from a classroom. It came from experience — especially the missteps and failures.
From confusing authority with influence. From remaining silent when speaking up would have mattered. From discovering that being right isn't the same as being effective.
Over time, he came to see that failure isn't evidence that leadership is broken. It's part of the terrain. The real work isn't avoiding mistakes — it's learning how to move through uncertainty without losing yourself, or the people you’re leading.
That insight became the foundation of everything he does on a stage and in a room: leadership isn't about having the answers. It's about how we show up when we don't.
Thirty Years of Real-World Leadership Experience
Over three decades, Pete has led teams, guided enterprise transformations, and coached leaders across industries and continents. As Founder and CEO of Agile Leadership Journey, he has helped more than 15,000 leaders develop the capacity to lead through complexity and change.
Pete created the Certified Agile Leader® program for Scrum Alliance — now one of the most recognized leadership credentials in the field — and served on Scrum Alliance's board of directors. He is a certified Changewise Leadership Agility 360 Coach who works with executive and senior leaders, specializing in helping leaders grow beyond reactive patterns under pressure.
Pete has worked with organizations across industries and sectors — from Fortune 500 companies and global financial institutions to nonprofits, educational institutions, and professional associations — including Google, Salesforce, Schneider Electric, GE, Kraft Heinz, Swiss Re, Danske Bank, the Federal Reserve, Scrum Alliance, and many others.
A Few of the Organizations Pete Has Served
Into the Fog: The Book That Grew Out of the Work
Through years of working alongside leaders navigating uncertainty, Pete began collecting stories — not of polished success, but of the moments most leaders quietly carry with them. Those stories became Into the Fog: Leadership Stories from the Edge of Uncertainty.
The book isn't a playbook. It follows real moments of leadership: a single voice choosing courage over comfort in a room that didn't want to listen, a fire that brought a neighborhood together, the slow realization that the leader in the room wasn't who anyone expected. It's an honest look at what leadership actually feels like when clarity is scarce, tension is real, and choices matter more than titles.
It has become a shared reading experience for leadership teams looking for a more human conversation about what they're navigating together.
Relearning Leadership: The Podcast
On the Relearning Leadership podcast, Pete continues exploring what leadership actually requires — the doubts, the pivots, and the lessons learned the hard way. Some episodes are conversations with executives, founders, and thought leaders. Others are Pete working through an idea, sharing a story, or sitting with a question that doesn't have a clean answer.
No polished success narratives. No tidy takeaways. Just an honest ongoing exploration of what it means to lead — and keep growing.
The Why Behind Pete's Company: Agile Leadership Journey
Agile Leadership Journey grew out of a problem Pete kept running into as a coach. He could help teams work differently, but there was always a ceiling — and that ceiling was leadership. Until the people at the top were operating differently, the teams beneath them could only go so far.
That realization sent him on a different kind of journey: not just helping teams adopt new ways of working, but developing the leaders who shape the conditions for everyone else. Founded in 2018, Agile Leadership Journey is a global network of guides — coaches and educators who work with leaders and organizations to build the kind of leadership that makes lasting change possible.
Whether you're a leader looking to grow or an organization navigating real complexity, Pete's team works with you from the inside out.
What Pete's Like on a Stage
When Pete takes the stage, he doesn't position himself as someone who has figured leadership out once and for all. He connects with audiences as someone still learning, still wrestling, still choosing — and that honesty is what makes people lean in.
His keynotes are grounded in story, reflection, and practical insight. Attendees often describe them as clarifying — not because they offer simple answers, but because they help people make sense of the complexity they're already navigating.
As Dean Leffingwell, creator of the Scaled Agile Framework, has said: "Pete captures leadership as it really is: not a destination, but an ongoing journey — leading others through an uncertain future."
A Little More About Pete
Pete lives near Boulder, Colorado with his partner Jana. When he's not working with leaders or writing, he's most likely on a bike in the mountains. Cycling is his meditative practice — the quiet space where he clears his own Fog.
He'll tell you the climb never truly gets easier. You just learn to navigate it better.
Leadership is much the same.
Who is Pete Behrens?
In this interview in Warsaw, Poland Pete is invited to answer that question in his own words. Watch the excerpt:
See Pete in Action
If what you've read here resonates, the next step is exploring what Pete brings to a stage. Every talk is shaped around your audience and what they're navigating right now.
