National Leadership Development Program

Overview

As with most federal agencies, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is facing the inevitability of significant senior leader retirements over the next five years. It is estimated that between 2009 and 2014, NRCS will need to fill over 600 GS-14 and 15 positions. Not all of these positions are line officer positions, of course, but the need to staff these positions with effective leaders is self-evident. The National Leadership Development Program (NLDP) is a major component in a strategic approach to developing leadership talent for the future of NRCS.

Recently several NRCS leaders praised NRCS for establishing the National Leadership Development Program.  View the video here.

The fundamental difference between the current approach versus traditional approaches is that NRCS will pursue a true succession strategy rather than a replacement strategy for development of leaders. Rather than selecting a small cadre of individuals to be groomed, a pool of candidates will be created from which to choose individuals for leadership positions. This approach supports merit systems principles and builds organizational leadership capacity.

The target audience for the program is GS 13-14 employees of NRCS as well as high performing GS-12s. The target audience is not limited to employees in leadership positions. Participants will have an opportunity to prepare themselves for higher level positions and leadership positions, but they will have no guarantees of placement.

The development of leaders is too important to be left to chance. NRCS has chosen to develop its future leaders with a systematic, deliberate, fair, and transparent program as one part of an effective organizational succession plan.

It is in the best interest of NRCS to encourage and recommend that all existing leadership development programs offered by State Conservationists continue in their states and that states partner with others to offer developmental opportunities for all current and aspiring leaders.

Strategic Alignment

This proposal for a national leadership development program advances the Human Capital Management Systems defined by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Specifically, the program addresses Human Capital Management and NEDC responsibilities for leadership and knowledge management as well as talent management. It encourages strategic alignment, a results-oriented performance culture, and commitment to accountability. In addition, the proposal supports the President’s Management Agenda initiative of strategic management of human capital.

Business Leverage

Given the investment of time, effort and resources required for such a program, it is irresponsible not to leverage the strategy to address other significant business challenges. A study of successful leadership programs in other agencies offers NRCS the opportunity to identify collateral benefits of instituting such a program.

Business Drivers

• Expected departure of over 600 GS-14 and 15 senior leaders over the next five years and the resulting loss of leadership capacity, organizational knowledge and experience.
• Increasing trend toward large scale organizational change, both planned and adaptive.
• Accelerating change in the social, political, economic, technological and global context for the NRCS mission.
• Accelerating change in the profile of NRCS employees and partners.

Program Goals

• To create a pool of candidates capable of succeeding 600 senior leaders over a five year period 2009-2014.
• To build organizational leadership capacity.
• To institutionalize an organizational culture in which leaders grow leaders and every employee is considered an apprentice leader.
• To institutionalize organizational capacity to handle rapid, complex change by becoming a learning organization, that is, an organization that continually increases its ability to re-create itself.
• To benefit from the social, ideological, professional and generational diversity present in our employee and partner populations.

Benefits of the Program

While the benefits of the program are many and varied, a few selected benefits are worthy of mention:
• Derivative/Collateral Learning – To implement the program, the organization must also train mentors, coaches, project sponsors and behavioral interviewers. Supervisors and subordinates of the participants must be briefed on the program and how it works. Subordinates or other participants will have the opportunity to serve in detail assignments. In total, approximately 10 employees benefit for every participant in the program.
• NRCS will build overall leadership capacity.
• States will build leadership capacity.
• State Conservationists will benefit from the program through the development of each participant and the collateral learning derived from their participation.
• State Conservationists will observe improvement in performance and behavior of their graduates. Specifically, executives in other agencies report increased poise in graduates, which derives from greater graduate confidence in their skills, professional understanding, and their new networks with peers.

Significant Business Decisions

• NRCS will pursue a true succession strategy rather than a replacement strategy to create successors for current senior leaders. A pool of candidates will be created from which to choose successors rather than selecting a small cadre of individuals to be groomed for leadership positions.
• NRCS will leverage the program to address continuing business needs.
• The program will be based on selected leadership competencies and current research on leadership and adult learning.

Competency Model

As a competency-based program, its effectiveness is contingent upon the selection of appropriate competencies. The research basis for that selection is the Office of Personnel Management’s model for Senior Executive Service competencies, which are categorized into five qualifications and a suite of foundational competencies.

The competencies proposed for the NRCS program are these:
• Core Qualification of Leading Change:
o External Awareness
o Strategic Thinking
o Vision

• Core Qualification of Leading People:
o Leveraging Diversity
o Developing Others

• Core Qualification of Building Coalitions
o Political Savvy
o Partnering

• Foundational Competencies including Life Balance/Resiliency, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Continual Learning, Public Service Motivation and Written and Oral Communication.

While the core qualifications of business acumen and results driven are critical to leadership success, this proposal is based on the recommendation that the results-driven qualification be developed at a lower level. In addition, we recommend that the business acumen qualification be addressed in another program or series of learning opportunities. This would enable NEDC to serve a much larger audience needing to develop the competencies of financial management, human capital management, and technology management.


Program Requirements

Each participant must complete the following in order to graduate:
• The complete application process for selection including a behavioral interview.
• A series of assessments for developmental purposes.
• Developmental plans for three leadership competencies.
• Assigned reading.
• Assigned supplemental distance learning assignments.
• Creation and use of a “Personal Board of Directors,” consisting of the participant’s supervisor, assigned learning coach, chosen mentor(s), chosen career advisor(s), subordinates, colleagues, family and friends.
• Four residential classroom sessions in their entirety for a total of five weeks of formal classroom learning distributed over a 12-18 month period.
• One coaching session per month.
• One three month detail to an existing position or a learning role with NRCS, a partnering agency, a non-government organization, or a learning institution.
• An action learning project as a member of a team.
• A comprehensive examination consisting of three elements: action learning project group presentation and report to the Executive Leadership Team, an individual leadership approach presentation and a report to the cohort, and a transition meeting presentation and report to the cohort. Action learning project presentations will be filmed and distributed for benefit of the agency.

Program Structure

• Week one residential session – Orientation to the program goals and requirements as well as creation of action learning teams and assessment instrument interpretation.
• Week two residential session (approximately five months later) – Development of foundational competencies in a cohort workshop.
• Week three residential session (approximately five months later) – Development of political savvy, external awareness, vision and strategic thinking which employs a seminar of experts and extended interaction with executives. (This session may be two weeks in duration.)
• Week four residential session (approximately five months later) – Participant performance of three elements of their comprehensive examination in a symposium format.
• During the 20 week periods between the residential sessions, the participants will experience monthly coaching and mentoring sessions, work on their action learning projects, complete supplemental distance learning opportunities and reading assignments, participate in details, shadow executives and senior leaders, master those competencies not addressed by the program but identified in their assessments, and otherwise complete their learning contracts.


Executive/Senior Leader Support and Guidance

The single most important executive role in the program is that of Executive Sponsor. The role must be accepted by an executive who is not associated with any one subject matter or operational area, who is a recognized leader aside from position, and is willing to devote all or part of six workdays face-to-face with the participants during the program.

Active participation by all current Executives and Senior Leaders is crucial to program success. Leaders grow leaders by serving as role models, mentors, coaches and teachers. According to research by the Center for Creative Leadership, leadership is learned in four ways:
1. Challenging job assignments (42%)
2. Learning from others’ examples (22%)
3. Hardships and setbacks (20%)
4. Other events including training and education (16%)

Corresponding to these four general roles and four ways of learning leadership, Executives and Senior Leaders will be asked to participate in these specific roles:
• Advocates for the program
• Behavioral interviewers
• Recruiters for applicants
• Hosts for residential sessions and field trips
• Learning coaches
• Mentors
• Career advisors
• Supervisors
• Action learning project sponsor
• Brokers for details
• Subjects for shadowing and on-the-job training
• Interviewees
• Providers of case studies
• Speakers, presenters and facilitators
• Panel members

Explanations of these specific roles and scheduling requests will be provided well in advance.

Selection

Selection of participants is a significant element in the success of the program. Selection must be rigorous, fair, and transparent. Participants must be high potential employees who are ready for such an experience.

Briefly, employees apply for the program; nominees are chosen and prioritized by their State Conservationists or equivalent; and the Employee Development Board (EDB) recommends 30 participants and five alternates to the Chief.

The EDB consists of the following voting members:
Katherine Gugulis, Chair of the EDB, Deputy Chief for Management
William Puckett, Deputy Chief for Science and Technology
Leonard Jordan, Deputy Chief for Strategic Planning and Oversight
Wayne Maresch, Deputy Chief for Soil Survey and Resource Assessment
Thomas Christensen, Deputy Chief for Programs
Robert Dobbs, President, Conservation District Employees Assc., Partners Representative
William Hunt (MN), Central State Conservationist Representative
Joyce Swartzendruber (ME), East State Conservationist Representative
Sylvia Gillen (UT), West State Conservationist Representative
Terry Cosby (OH), Fourth State Conservationist Representative

 

NEDC Contacts:

Don Haake and Jacqueline Horne

Technical Specialist

Don Haake and Jacqueline Horne

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