The journey to become a member of the Senior Executive Service is long but achievable. The Defense Logistics Agency helps its employees along that journey through its Executive Development Program.
“The program’s purpose is to develop DLA’s current and future leaders and prepare them to effectively navigate and manage leadership challenges, and to develop the leadership competencies critical to maintaining supply chain excellence,” said DLA Executive Development Program Manager Patricia Proctor.
DLA Energy’s Andre Hinson completed the Life Cycle Executive Leadership Program in August. A strategic fuel planner for DLA Energy Europe & Africa, Hinson found the training rewarding.
“As a strategic planner, I recognize the struggle between warfighter support capability and resources,” Hinson said. “This course expanded my understanding of life cycle management, plans and the challenges brought into the resource equation.”
The Life Cycle Executive Leadership Program is one of 20 courses offered during the 2018 DLA Executive Development Program. The career broadening courses offer leadership development opportunities for GS-13 through GS-15 employees and range in length from four days to 10 months.
“I strongly believe the benefits of immersing professionally away from the office far outweighs the challenges of being away from work for a few days,” Hinson said. “Participation in the LCELP allowed me to further hone my leadership abilities and enabled me to bring back knowledge from private industry in order to advance DLA’s efforts during challenging transformational times for our nation.”
The five-day LCELP course brings together leaders from the private and military sector to gain a deeper understanding of life cycle theories, practices, and techniques. The course is taught by the Institute for Defense and Business in partnership with the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University and North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University.
DLA Energy employees who attend the course are expected to proactively leverage the knowledge and skills learned back in the workplace according to DLA Human Resources Director Brad Bunn.
Hinson, a retired Army officer, is an advocate of leadership development seminars and conferences.
“The professional development courses aid in re-assessing where I am today, what I want, and how I am going to get there,” he said.
DLA Energy had 17 employees selected for the fiscal year 2018 DLA Executive Development Program. The competition for these coveted opportunities is fierce. Selection decisions are made by the DLA Executive Resources Board.
A call for the 2019 Executive Development Program nomination packages is expected to be issued in October. To learn more about course descriptions and nomination documents, please visit the DLA Human Resources web page (this link is Common Access Card-enabled). Nominees are encouraged to review course requirements carefully and begin early as incomplete packages will be screened out.