Photo By Lisa Crawford | Nebraska Army National Guard 2nd Lt. Tessa Harding, a medical operations officer with...... read more read more
Opportunities to speak one-on-one with Nebraska National Guard senior leaders don’t come around all that often.
While the Nebraska Military Department’s command team strives to be transparent and readily accessible to the state’s troops and employees, their busy schedules often make it difficult for lower-enlisted Soldiers and Airmen, junior officers and civilian employees to meet the state’s highest leaders outside of ceremonial events.
In an effort to allow up-and-coming leaders to not only learn from but also engage socially with these senior leaders, the Nebraska Military Department founded the two-day Leadership Enrichment and Development (LEAD) training course in 2007. Since then, more than 200 future leaders have completed the training, taking the knowledge and advice they learn from the course back to their respective units and work environments.
“As they say, ‘You can’t be the best unless you learn from the best’,” said Master Sgt. Jeremy Dean, Nebraska National Guard 155th Air Refueling Wing recruiting and retention manager. Dean was one of a dozen students who completed the most recent LEAD course, held Jan. 11-12, at Offutt Air Force Base near Bellevue, Nebraska.
“This training really allowed us to relate to the leaders,” Dean said. “It allowed for more real-world idea sharing where we could talk to senior leaders in an unofficial status and really pick their brains on the leadership styles they used to reach their personal success.”
The LEAD course is a two-day retreat designed to provide an opportunity for emerging leaders explore such leadership topics as communication, strategic thinking, decision making, motivation, collaboration and ethics.
Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac, Nebraska adjutant general, solicits student nominations from major support command commanders. Nominees must have at least three years retainability, and while the course’s target audience is typically for E-6 to E-7, CW2 to CW3 and O3-O4, commanders can nominate students of all ranks if they perceive there is leadership potential.
“My hope is the students will emerge from the course with better understanding of who they are as a leader,” said Lt. Col. William Prusia, LEAD course co-coordinator. “They should also recognize the value the Nebraska National Guard places on developing its leaders by investing in them with a program such as LEAD.”
The LEAD course includes two days of leadership focused classroom lessons and an evening social event that allows the students to network with the state’s senior leaders in a relaxed environment.
As a traditional Guard Soldier, 2nd Lt. Tessa Harding, a medical operations officer with the 1-134th Cavalry, said the LEAD course gave her the opportunity to meet and greet with senior leaders and share stories in an intimate setting and on a casual level.
“I’ve truly been impressed with this course,” Harding said. “I didn’t expect the multitude of instructors or their willingness to connect with us. We’ve had some really good blocks of instruction. The content is exceptional and it’s exciting to take tips from (our) own leadership and develop them further with the different advice we’re getting here.”
In preparation for the January LEAD course, students were asked to read “Strengths Based Leadership,” by Barry Conchie and Tom Rath. The book focuses on being a more effective leader, including identifying personal strengths and investing in others’ strengths.
“The course taught me to really listen and learn the strengths of the people I lead,” Dean said. “I want to be that type of leader, the kind who develops others and puts them in positions that they’ll be most likely to succeed in.”
Similarly, Harding said she hopes to take her newfound understandings of leadership – including her self-identified strengths – and translate it to her team members, both in the Army National Guard and her civilian career as a child and family services specialist for the Department of Health and Human Services.
“The overall message I’m taking away from this course is that it’s more productive to capitalize on strengths than to overcome weaknesses,” Harding said. “You don’t have to do everything yourself, that’s why you have a team that can cover down on areas where you lack – and that’s okay.”
“I am absolutely grateful to have this opportunity early in my career,” Harding said. “What I’ve learned over these two days? I just wish I would’ve known this about myself sooner.”
| Date Taken: | 01.18.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.18.2017 15:21 |
| Story ID: | 220569 |
| Location: | OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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