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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has created the Leadership and Development Programs which aim to strengthen the leadership capacity of a candidate by having a deep understanding of DOE’s main leadership characteristics, core values, work processes, and behaviors, which all fall in line with the agency’s model for success.

These programs assist individuals to fully realize their leadership potential and enhance performance through application of personalized development plans that utilize competency or skill assessments. Program participants are informed of the concepts, principles, behaviors and processes required to improve leadership competencies and prepare them for leadership position assignments within and beyond the organization.

The programs are comprised of formal and informal training sessions, developmental experiences, active learning projects, and online learning seminars.  They also cover areas of Personal Leadership, Executive Development, and Supervisory and Managerial Development.

DOE’s building blocks for leadership growth and development

Leadership framework

The DOE Leadership Framework is adopts a process-driven Maturity Model that customizes leadership development to individual needs. It’s a strategic framework wherein it aims to maintain strong participant engagement.

The framework also incorporates an effective leadership development strategy that is reliant on the best practices of leveling with the business strategies of the Department. It’s geared to all levels of leadership and assimilates with the talent management systems of the organization.

The DOE Leadership Development has a strategic mission wherein it aims to optimize human capital investment by building collaborations in terms of leadership potential Department-wide. This investment include incorporating experiences, programs and opportunities that accentuate organizational values, key competencies and skills, succession planning, and information management.

The process enables the Department to establish a performance- and results-driven culture, bridge gaps in the leadership system and build new skills that will address present challenges hovering within the Federal sector.

The DOE Maturity Model explores four levels of corporate maturity in connection to leadership development. The Model doesn’t exactly evaluate individual programs, but the four levels of the Leadership Development Maturity model, according to DOE, are described below:

Level 1 – Inconsistent Management Training (content available, no development process, benefits to employees)

Level 2 – Structured Leadership Training (Core Competencies, Well-Defined Curriculum, Developing Individuals)

Level 3 – Focused Leadership Development (Culture-Setting, Future-Focused, Developing Organization); Strategic Leadership Development (Championed by Executives, Talent Management Integration)

Level 4 – Strategic Leadership Development (Championed by Executives, Talent Management Integration).

Leadership strategy

The Senior Management has formed a leadership scheme that includes the following goals and attributes:

Content is regulated with the business strategy to develop future leaders.

Leaders are held responsible for developing others and consolidating leadership development into the whole talent management system.

Use of performance management for development, for defining knowledge requirements, and for evaluating succession planning data.

Leadership curriculum design

It contains a set of key leadership competencies that increase senior management’s support of the resources, principles and concepts. This is where learning and leadership culture is built that involves the managers of the leaders, as well as enables learning leaders time away from work. It also develops programs that target all leadership levels and evaluate programs to ensure objectives are fully met.

Leadership best practices

DOE will use the 70/20/10 rule, which is a leadership best practices learning model that integrates:

70% of experiential learning and experience

20% of feedback, assessments, and leader exposure

10% of formal classroom learning, formal education, and E-learning

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has introduced the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP), where HHS seeks to recruit the next generation of creative and talented go-getters and changemakers to join the federal ranks and support the agency’s mission to serve the American public.

The ELP offers unique opportunities for qualified individuals to become a central part of HHS’ future workforce. It’s a two-year, highly competitive, paid, federal internship within HHS, where interns are provided with opportunities to develop and hone their leadership skills. These highly-motivated individuals must have a commitment to public service. The program is best for those seeking to kick start a professional career within the agency.

The program may lead to permanent employment for individuals that demonstrate outstanding leadership abilities and are interested in a career that focuses on the management and analysis of HHS’ various policies and programs.

As a participant, the program can be your gateway to a rewarding career experience. You can be assigned as a consumer safety office, chemist, biologist, public health analyst, health insurance analyst, human resources analyst, social science analyst, procurement analyst, microbiologist, etc. Applicants will have to pick a career path designation which are: scientific; public health; social sciences; Information Technology; and administrative.

The program would produce a group of well-rounded, well-trained professionals prepared to become future leaders within the Department through a series of rotational assignments and introduction to the agency’s operating divisions, individual assessments, development activities and mentoring relationships. The developmental positions will be held in Washington, DC.

The developmental positions for each participant will provide the necessary training for the programs inside HHS. Employees will obtain classroom training and hands-on work experience in the concepts, principles and materials related to those programs.  Furthermore, participants will gain a practical understanding of the programs, policies, and work processes of the Department.

Upon completion of the program, participants may be placed in permanent positions.  And during their second year of the program, they will be placed in a target position for development and training in the competencies described for the position.

Eligibility

Candidates who meet the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) criteria based on education and experience can apply for the ELP. Previous or existing Federal service is not required. According to ELP, candidates must also possess: the capacity for leadership; the potential for professional growth and development; and a keen interest in the management and analysis of HHS’ policies and programs.

Applicants

Interested candidates must send a resume and application delineating the minimum required qualifications for intern positions. They must also address any skills, competencies, and required knowledge and experiences in their resumes.

Applicants must apply online through the USAJOBS site by clicking on hot jobs, then clicking on the Emerging Leaders Program. You can also apply directly to the HHS site by clicking on the Emerging Leaders Program button.

ELP participants receive the following:

• GS-9-12 promotions during the two-year program
• Competency-based leadership training and professional growth and development
• Rotational assignments within HHS
• Mentoring and guidance from HHS’ senior executives and prominent experts
• Getting connected with HHS leaders

Also, those who have completed this program may enjoy a comprehensive Federal compensation package and benefits.

What makes a good leader? Good leadership is not just having the capability to traverse through stormy waters and adopt changes, but to also strive for goals that the society considers fitting.

Quality leadership engages people and it’s very much interlaced with positive social and economic change. The main work of a respectable leader should be to inspire and encourage his or her people to become better leaders. A great leader educates society the importance of creating a real, positive difference in the world, how to deliver a sense of purpose, commitment, and integrity to their work.

Apart from providing government grants, the federal government provides leadership development programs designed to make and shape the greatest leaders in the federal government. There are government-wide programs and standards for executive development, from the Office of Personnel Management to the Veterans Administration.

Here’s a list of a few government programs that can make an outstanding leader out of you:

Aspiring Leaders Development Program

The Aspiring Leaders Development Program is an exceedingly exhaustive program for U.S. Department of Commerce employees who are presently in grades GS 7-12 or something similar. The program offers leadership development opportunities and identifies core skills and expertise recognized by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The supervisor’s participation in this program is critical to success. The basis of the program includes formal training and leadership development activities, which results in a well-trained workforce highly qualified for leadership roles within the Department.

Executive Core Qualifications (Senior Executive Service)

The Office of Personal Management (OPM) has established five executive core qualifications (ECQs). The ECQs describe the required skills to form a “federal corporate culture” that strives to gain results, serves its customers, and shape successful teams and alliances within and outside the organization.

The ECQs are needed for entry to the level of Senior Executive Service (SES). It’s used by many agencies and departments in “selection, performance management, and leadership development” for executive and management positions. The ECQs measure executive experience and potential non-technical know-how. SES successful performances necessitates proficiency in each ECQ.

Agricultural Research Service: Executive PEAK

The ARS Executive PEAK is a fiercely competitive leadership development program that offers specialized experiences and training for future ARS executive leaders. PEAK is rigorous, exhaustive and designed for highly skilled and proficient workers. The objective of this program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is to foster a culturally diverse group of highly trained and qualified workforce as future ARS leaders who have the vision and can think strategically, are extremely adaptable, and able to lead and adopt to changes while overseeing a multicultural workforce.

Coast Guard Academy Institute for Leadership

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provides opportunities, training and exposure to cadets through its Coast Guard Academy Institute for Leadership program. This Academy community equips corps of cadets and staff with leadership training, mentoring, experience and reflection to foster their development as quality leaders. It also includes all groups who lead, teach, coach or interact with the cadets including staff and faculty, coaches, and other personnel within the Academy.

VA Leadership Development Portal

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has introduced the VA Leadership Development Portal where it’s a social platform that connects American citizens to ask questions to leaders and colleagues across the VA Department.

The portal also offers a self-paced course wherein employees can develop their leadership skills, find the right mentor, collaborate with colleagues, and enter a working group. The portal requires you to register, so you have to get a VA.gov email address first then use it to open an account.

The federal government has experienced transformations for centuries. This transformation comes with a new administration breaking ground for four years, or with changing lineups from the latest appointed officers and agency leaders. So, how does real change takes place within the federal government? By having great leaders.

Being a great, quality leader takes hard work. It entails the burning desire to positively revolutionize an entire an organization, and comes with its share of critics and defeatists, and those who prevent positive changes because it impinges their personal schemes developed over the years thru the expense of the organization and its goals.

But, did you know that the federal government, aside from providing government grants to those who are in financial need, also offers programs for cultivating great leaders?

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Center for Leadership Development (CLD) is committed to transforming leaders to better serve the government and the American people. OPM works in a wide array of categories to round up recruits, retain, and recognize a distinguished workforce for its U.S. citizens.

OPM works to serve in many ways. This include:

• Managing federal job announcements at USA Jobs and establish policies on hiring procedures nationwide.
• Conducting background investigations for potential employees and security authorizations across the federal government, with volumes of cases every year.
• Defending and upholding Federal civil service merit systems, and ensuring that the Federal workforce applies fair practices in all personnel management aspects.
• Managing pension benefits for retired government employees and their families. It also oversees health and other insurance programs for its government employees and retirees.
• Providing development programs, training and other management resources for federal workers and agencies.
• Taking the lead in developing, assessing and enforcing new government policies associated with personnel issues.
• Working to make the federal government as the nation’s model employer for the 21st century.

For aspiring leaders, it’s critical to continue education through certification or degree programs to better develop skills in the management, leadership or executive levels within the federal government. Irrespective of agency or specialty, sharpening and improving your own skill levels as well as honing the skills of those that surround you spell out better public service and greater personal fulfillment.

With OPM’s CLD, it introduces a set of certificate and training programs aimed to meet your leadership requirements no matter what position you are working at within the federal government.

Find out which program(s) suit you best:

LEAD Certificate Program

The Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Certificate Program emphasizes on the exact career track training requirements of project managers, team leaders, supervisors, or SES-level executives in the federal government.

Executive Master of Public Administration Degree

OPM’s CLD’s Management Development Centers have built a strategic alliance with the American University for individuals in the public and nonprofit sectors pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree.

Academic Credit

The American Council on Education (ACE) approves courses for graduate or undergraduate credits. Credit hours differ depending on the course’s content and length (basically ranging from two to four hours.

Agency Partners Program

OPM’s CLD houses full-time national sales representatives all set to assist in selecting the most fitting leadership development training to reach your career goals.

Executive in Residence Program

If you have something to offer about leadership, this is an ideal opportunity to bestow your experience and knowledge to future leaders.