U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

At OPM’s Center for Leadership Capacity Services (CLCS), we believe that great leaders are made, not born. With 40 years of experience, we have come to know and appreciate virtually every challenge faced by Federal managers and executives along their Leadership Journey. Compared to private sector training companies, we better understand Government leadership training needs because we are Government.

The five Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs), based on an OPM study of 8,000 Federal executives, managers, and supervisors, form the foundation for all CLCS programs and services. Today these core qualifications, and the 28 competencies they comprise, are used throughout Government as an essential part of an agency’s selection, development, and performance management system. For the individual Federal manager or executive, the ECQs represent the guideposts along the pathway to career and organizational success — The Leadership Journey.

While CLCS does not recommend any single developmental pathway for individuals or groups, we have over 40 years’ experience in needs-based curriculum development for Federal Government agencies. Our Core Leadership Curriculum stands as one of the most successful training programs ever conceived for Federal managers. In this multi-phased approach, participants are engaged in a career-long process of leadership development, from the pre-supervisory level through preparation for the Senior Executive Service (SES).

Beginning with the Leadership Potential Seminar and culminating with the four-week Leadership for a Democratic Society program, leaders continually and sequentially prepare for higher levels of responsibility, while providing their agencies with a blueprint for succession planning. These seminars and programs make up CLCS’s Core Leadership Curriculum.