**LCDP V Survey Responses**

In September 2007, the LCDP V class surveyed current participants,
alumni, mentors, and supervisors. Questions asked concerning the LCDP
program, with select responses, are listed below.

[**What was your favorite leadership lesson learned during your LCDP
experience?**](#LessonLearned)

[**Can you give an example of a challenging situation (either in your
home office or while on a developmental assignment) in which your LCDP
training provided you with the necessary skills to resolve a difficult
issue?**](#ChallengingSituation)

[**What do you consider was the biggest challenge to your participation
in LCDP? How did you address this challenge?**](#BiggestChallenge)

[**Please describe how LCDP has enabled your career
development.**](#CareerDevelopment)

[**How would you describe the LCDP community?**](#LCDPcommunity)

[**Has participation in the LCDP, including participation as a mentor,
had an impact on your career? If your answer is \"yes\", please describe
that impact.**](#Impact)

[**What services do you see that the LCDP has provided to
NOAA?**](#ServicesProvided)

[**Please describe your proudest contribution to NOAA that resulted from
your participation in LCDP.**](#ProudestContribution)

[**How has the employee\'s participation in the LCDP affected your
office and NOAA? (either your employee or one doing a rotation in your
office)**](#Affect)

[**What future effects do you anticipate from the employee\'s
participation?**](#FutureEffects)

**\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\***

[]{#LessonLearned .anchor}**What was your favorite leadership lesson
learned during your LCDP experience?**

"The most important lesson learned was self-awareness. Making an effort
to be aware of how you are reacting to issue, being perceived by others,
and when you are succeeding is the key to knowing where to seek
improvement."

\- Chris Yates, LCDP IV Graduate

"None of us are as strong individually as we can become in the close
association of good people. The things we did together were nothing
short of magical. They shine forth in times of mundane work life as the
power of possibility and group capability."

\- LCDP III Graduate

"That a bunch of previously unconnected people (the LCDP community)
could come together with a common goal\...\....helping and supporting
each and every one of us to succeed in whatever ways we could."

\- LCDP IV Graduate

"Perhaps the most valuable leadership lesson was learning about me. The
environment at the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) was conducive to
taking a comprehensive and sometimes difficult look at who I am, what
motivates me, what my values are, how I communicate with others, and
what my fears and challenges are. I am now convinced that understanding
yourself is the cornerstone to successful communication with others.
However, understanding yourself is only part of the communication
equation. Taking the time to understand others and how they perceive you
are key components. Simple skills that we take for granted such as
listening to what others are saying can provide insights into their
values, motivation and challenges. How a leader uses this information
can determine their success."

> \- LCDP V Graduate

"I learned a great deal about the difference between leadership and
management that has helped me in both my professional and personal life:
the position of manager is something we are given\...the position of a
leader is a role we can carve out for ourselves, regardless of where we
are in the Federal system."

\- Lisa Vaughan, LCDP IV Graduate

"You can sometimes best lead by letting others lead."

\- LCDP I Graduate

"1. Authenticity & self-awareness \-- be fully present\
2. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable\...or\...feel the fear and
do it anyway\
3. Bias for getting the right things done for the mission"

-   LCDP III Graduate

[]{#ChallengingSituation .anchor}**Can you give an example of a
challenging situation (either in your home office or while on a
developmental assignment) in which your LCDP training provided you with
the necessary skills to resolve a difficult issue?**

"Effective communication is critical to good leadership. I learned that
purposeful compassion and respectfulness is essential, particularly
during heated and continuous meetings. I fell back on these principles
during a meeting among an angry group of fishermen and managers. The
level of anger and frustration was particularly high. I maintained a
sense of respect and honored everyone\'s dignity. Eventually, we broke
through to everyone and ended the meeting on a positive note with
successful outcomes."

\- Earl Meredith, LCDP IV Graduate

"LCDP provided great training in coaching. As a new supervisor, I often
find myself recalling that lesson - how to ask people what they really
want and how they want to solve their own problems. It has been a good
lesson to learn that I can\'t take on all those problems, I have to have
the skills to help others solve them on their own."

\- Chris Yates, LCDP IV Graduate

"In both of my developmental assignments, I faced the challenge of
working between groups of people who had grown to mistrust and, in some
cases, actively fight against each other. The major task, then, was
finding ways to understand the perspective of each group, and to use
that understanding to begin to bridge the gap. LCDP training and the
support of the LCDP community were invaluable as I took on these
challenges."

\- Josh Sladek Nowlis, LCDP V Graduate

"A stalemated project, with multiple leaders, was bogged down in
disagreement over how to progress and go forward. I used meeting
coordination skills, along with a myriad of other skills learned at FEI
to allow everyone, in a highly controlled environment, to be a part of
the project team, air their grievance, express their concerns, and
recommend a way forward for the project. By doing this, and taking a
sort of \"outsider\" and objector role, I was able to arbitrate
differences and create an opportunity to go forward with a long term
plan for success."

\- LCDP V Graduate

"LCDP inspires confidence in ones thinking and knowledge. This
confidence improves ones ability to interact with others in and across
organizations, and stimulates one to aspire to constant improvement."

-   Lowell Bahner, LCDP III Graduate

[]{#BiggestChallenge .anchor}**What do you consider was the biggest
challenge to your participation in LCDP? How did you address this
challenge?**

"The biggest challenge to participating in LCDP was the demand for me to
complete normal work requirements in my home office. I found an advocate
in my home office to support my participation to the fullest extent. I
also kept management informed as to how substantially I was involved and
pursuing the program."

\- LCDP V Graduate

"My biggest challenge was personal -- taking advantage of the rotational
opportunities available required being away from my family for 8 months.
I got a cell phone and drove home (275 miles each way) every weekend."

\- LCDP V Graduate

"Getting time off to go do developmental assignments. I had a
sympathetic supervisor, but the challenge was finding someone to take my
job while I was going to be gone. The positive result was that it
enabled someone else in the office (a more junior person) to get some
supervisory experience in my absence."

\- Kristen Koch, LCDP IV Graduate

"The constant change (and instability) of going to different offices
(three different developmental assignments; basically being on the road
for 15 months) and then leaving just when I started to understand the
office and feel like I could make a contribution. Change management and
stretching were two of my developmental goals/competencies to be
enhanced and strengthened."

\- Kristen Tronvig, LCDP V Graduate

"Giving up my \"day job.\" I have a number of great tasks in my office
that I enjoyed working on, and didn\'t look forward to giving those up.
I did a slow exit away from the tasks and giving others the opportunity
to go forward. I also informed my supervisor of my concerns (guilt) and
he went forward to see they were assigned and well cared for in my
absence with limited interactions by me."

\- LCDP V Graduate

[]{#CareerDevelopment .anchor}**Please describe how LCDP has enabled
your career development.**

"LCDP provided me the opportunity to reflect on my personal life,
career, strengths, flaws, and dreams. I now comprehend and can explain
leadership behavior which I had only performed intuitively in the past.
I have a greater understanding of the skills and capabilities I and my
peers bring to serve the Nation. And I have enhanced many of these
skills and capabilities, preparing me for future leadership roles."

\- LCDP V Graduate

"It may be too early after my program to have enabled my career. I have
had some influence on my direct supervisor and begun mentoring
colleagues with interest in leadership. I\'ve developed upon my core
leadership competencies and have been successful in following a
principled path with respect to my personal mission and my current
leadership role in cooperative research."

\- Earl Meredith, LCDP IV Graduate

"As a result of my participation in LCDP I have an improved
understanding of how I can best contribute to the organization. Through
rotations in other agencies and positions I explored the limits of my
comfort and skills, learning that while I am competent in many areas, my
real strength and joy lies in my ability to integrate people, programs,
and information. I will use this to look for, and possibly create,
positions that will allow me to be an integrator for NOAA."

\- LCDP V Graduate

[]{#LCDPcommunity .anchor}**How would you describe the LCDP community?**

"The community is a bright light for NOAA\'s future, comprised of
enthusiastic, intelligent people who are \"going for it\" in their
lives. I remain committed to being an active part of the LCDP community
by staying involved with the program through mentoring, peer advising,
counseling, participating in classes at FEI, and working as part of a
team to create continued learning activities for all LCDP participants."

\- Judith Gray, LCDP I Graduate

"To me, the thing that distinguishes the LCDP community is that they
tend to be people who look at the big picture, believe in what they\'re
doing, and want to make the agency work better. There are alot of
capable people in the agency that are just as competent and bright but,
as a whole, this group seems to want to \"lead change\" more than
others."

\- Susan Pultz, LCDP V Graduate

"A dynamic network of individuals who share a passion for improving
themselves and the work of their agency."

> \- LCDP V Graduate

"A cadre of highly talented and motivated employees that are
self-motivated to lead and change the organization. They include a
vibrant, diverse band of colleagues with whom I can share a similar
language and confidently assume high expectations."

\- LCDP II Graduate

"The LCDP Community is a network of leaders and growing percentage of
the NOAA family that supports opportunities for the development of
leadership skills throughout the agency at all levels."

\- LCDP V Graduate

[]{#Impact .anchor}**Has participation in the LCDP, including
participation as a mentor, had an impact on your career? If your answer
is \"yes\", please describe that impact.**

"Yes, as a mentor it has forced me to think about how well I adhere to
the principles that I advocate. It's a good "sanity check" for my own
sincerity and credibility as a leader."

\- Mentor

"I learned more about leadership and the value of employee involvement
through my role as mentor than through any other activity while at NOAA.
Being a mentor has energized me in a way I hadn't expected, and has
compelled me to develop my own leadership and communications training
classes for fun and profit."

\- Jamison Hawkins, Mentor

"Serving as a mentor as focused me on succession planning. I also have
found the interactions as very energizing which is an overall benefit."

\- Mentor

[]{#ServicesProvided .anchor}**What services do you see that the LCDP
has provided to NOAA?**

"The LCDP has provided NOAA with motivated, caring, dedicated, and
highly skilled individuals. These people also have had exposure to a
broad range of NOAA experiences that increase their general
understanding of how NOAA works from the bottom up and the top down. Our
ability to transcend "stovepipe" line office ways of doing things
greatly increases our efficiencies in regionalization efforts."

\- Ed Levine, LCDP IV Graduate

"It has groomed people to think outside their comfort zone and think
about how to integrate the organization to address the bigger issues
NOAA needs to tackle."

\- Mentor

"The LCDP program is giving current and promising NOAA employees an
opportunity to develop knowledge and experience in the key skills
required for success in leadership positions. I see the program as a
critical workforce planning tool for NOAA allowing it to accelerate the
development of the next generation of leaders and managers."

\- LCDP V Graduate

"One of the greatest services that the LCDP program provides is a
mechanism for all NOAA line offices to interact, understand each other,
and begin truly integrating among themselves. This creates synergy. LCDP
provides an impetus to move from independence to interdependence among
all NOAA organizations. The LCDP program provides a venue for true
leadership to be fostered and developed. Some NOAA leaders don't truly
understand what leadership is. They have a title, but are unable to gain
followers, lead in a purposeful and respectful manner, and when they
look behind, nobody is really following. The LCDP program creates
leaders with true followers."

\- Earl Meredith, LCDP IV Graduate

[]{#ProudestContribution .anchor}**Please describe your proudest
contribution to NOAA that resulted from your participation in LCDP.**

"As a mentor, seeing individuals start out tentative about their career
goals and blossom into people controlling their own destiny."

\- Mentor

"The creation and leadership of the Region's first minority student
summer program that has subsequently been institutionalized and led by
leaders I worked with. I still keep in touch with many of the students,
several of whom have gained jobs throughout NOAA and one in the Region."

\- LCDP II Graduate

"The ability to represent NOAA in the private sector in one of my
rotational assignments. I was able to represent all of NOAA while
working with a group of individuals who knew little or nothing about our
organization. By the end of my rotational assignment a number of
coworkers were not only asking about what NOAA does, but came to the
realization, that the tax dollars they spend, do go toward things they
do find important and are appreciative that the government does support
those projects, such as the NOAA Corp, Marine Fisheries, Weather and
Oceans Forecasting and Satellite data collections. There was little or
no understanding of where this data comes from that is used on a regular
basis."

\- LCDP V Graduate

"Encouraging folks to apply to the program and encouraging supervisors
to encourage their staff \-- in particular in the early years, there was
reluctance by some staff as well as some supervisors."

\- Mentor

"My exploration of other parts of NOAA has sparked ideas for new
partnerships between programs that will lead to new ways of
accomplishing critical agency missions."

\- LCDP V Graduate

[]{#Affect .anchor}**How has the employee\'s participation in the LCDP
affected your office and NOAA? (either your employee or one doing a
rotation in your office)**

"I believe it has enabled them to look at challenges and issue from
different perspectives as opposed to the tried and true mindsets they
may unwittingly adopt in current positions."

\- Mentor & Supervisor

"The gap left by good people leaving (even temporarily) is certainly
felt. But the long term benefits for NOAA are clear. Assignments into
the office have also helped with specific projects bring fresh ideas,
energy, and perspectives."

\- Mentor & Supervisor

"It has raised the visibility of the importance of sharing leadership
experiences. I have experienced more discussions about leadership among
the SES corps in our office as a result."

> \- Mentor & Supervisor

[]{#FutureEffects .anchor}**What future impacts do you anticipate from
the employee\'s participation?**

"They will go further in their work, making even better contributions of
ideas and finding solution to organizational problems. They will be
showing leadership in the organization."

\- Mentor & Supervisor

"More interest and participation by others in LCDP and similar kinds of
professional development experiences. Unless the leadership is
supporting this, there is a tendency on the part of other mid-career
folks to assume this is not a priority."

> \- Mentor & Supervisor

"Many LCDPers look for advancement after participating. If they remain
in NOAA, I consider this a success, not a loss. The interchange among
line and program offices is refreshing and good for the programs."

\- Mentor & Supervisor

"I expect them to raise the bar of their performance coupled with a
desire to move onward and upward with their careers."

\- Mentor & Supervisor

"Employee has moved on to another office \-- however, I think he will
continue to be a positive ambassador for our work, and an excellent
leader in NOAA. In that way, he will continue to be a valued partner for
our office."

\- LCDP III Graduate, Mentor & Supervisor