1. NOAA Leadership Competencies Development Program Overview
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NOAA Leadership Competencies Development Program Overview
Facilitated by Tracy Levstik
LCDP Program Manager
February 18 & 20, 2014

2. Agenda Webinar guidelines Introductions What is LCDP?
What does NOAA get
for this investment?
Who are the LCDP alumni?
How does the LCDP work?
LCDP Class IX recruitment
Advice from alumni
Q & A
Join us via phone at:
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3. Webinar Guidelines
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4. LCDP Program Manager
Tracy is a Leadership Program Development Specialist with the Workforce Management Office’s Strategic Human Capital Division. 
Located in Boulder, Colorado she is the Program Manager for NOAA’s leadership programs/projects, including:
Leadership Competencies Development Program (LCDP.)
Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program.
SES Executive Development Plan Pilot Program.
Worked for NOAA since 2002.
Assumed PM responsibility of the LCDP in May, 2011.

5. Guest Speakers: LCDP VIII Graduates
Kelly Denit (NMFS) George Jungbluth (NESDIS)

6. What is LCDP? Structure Purpose Audience Objectives
Structure: Competitive 18-month NOAA leadership development program. More about program components later.
Purpose: (1) Identify & develop NOAA’s potential future senior leaders. (2) NOAA’s premiere succession planning initiative.
Audience: GS-13/14/15 (or equivalents.)
Objectives:
Develop core leadership competencies.
Gain knowledge of, & experience with, NOAA business processes.
Gain knowledge of NOAA’s current environment & challenges and work together across organizational lines.
Expand network.
Highly customized program.
Promotes cross-line and multidisciplinary experiences.

7. The LCDP Experience
As an LCDP participant, you will have the opportunity to:
Build your network;
Complete assessment tools;
Attend leadership training;
Complete developmental assignments;
Enjoy close support from a carefully structured network; and
Gain increased visibility.
LCDP graduates interested in future senior or executive level positions may compete for them under merit promotion procedures when openings occur.
Build your network and grow your leadership competencies;
Complete assessment tools including Benchmarks and MBTI;
Attend 5 weeks of leadership training at FEI;
Complete developmental assignments with significant technical or leadership responsibility;
Enjoy close support from a carefully structured network of peers, mentors, and leaders across the agency; and
Gain increased visibility within your office and across NOAA.

8. Why Does NOAA Need LCDP?
NOAA’s Strategic Challenges:
Declining budgets
Increased public demand for services
Succession for increasingly retirement-eligible workforce
Low morale, reputation challenges .
Priority focus areas of the most recent LCDP Cohort:
Change Management/ Leading Change
Leading People/ Participative Management
Building Collaborative Relationships/Coalitions
As part of the Benchmarks assessment for the current LCDP cohort (LCDP VIII,) observers were asked to identify which 8 of 16 identified competencies were most critical for success in the organization.
Observations:
Seven competencies were consistently mentioned as being important for success at NOAA: participative management, composure, strategic perspective, leading employees, building collaborative relationships, taking initiative, and change management.
Being a quick study appeared in 2012 as a new competency critical for success that didn’t appear in 2010.
Building collaborative relationships went from 5th in 2010 to the top in 2012.
[Competencies that did not make the top 8 include: self-awareness, confronting problem employees, compassion and sensitivity, career management, decisiveness, putting people at ease and respect for differences.]
LCDP Participants are learning the skills the agency needs to excel into the future

9. What Does NOAA Get for its Investment?
LCDP graduates have the skills to excel in NOAA leadership positions:
47% of LCDP alumni are either GS-15 level (or equivalents) or SES, up from only 10% of participants that began the program at the GS-15 (or equivalent) level.
58% of LCDP alumni are supervisors, up from 23% at program start.
92% non-retirement retention rate, with specific LOs even higher.
29% of LCDP graduates have changed job series, 23% have changed duty station, & 17% have changed LOs/SOs at least once since graduating from the program; improving awareness, knowledge-sharing, & cross-line pollination.
When looking at the five job series that employ the majority of LCDP graduates, it is interesting to note that only four of the of 231 non-retirement separations from were LCDP alumni (1.7%.)

10. What Does NOAA Get for its Investment? (cont’d)
A survey of LCDP graduates’ supervisors demonstrate that alumni are highly trained and motivated:
86% reported that their graduate has used the network & contacts established in the program to advance the objectives of his/her team/function with clearly positive results.
86% reported that their graduate has improved his/her own performance & development as a result of completing the program.

11. Who Are the LCDP Alumni? . Dr. Holly Bamford AA, NOS
Dr. Russell Callender
DAA, NOS
Buck Sutter
Director, NOAA Fisheries
Office of Habitat Conservation
VADM Michael Devany
Deputy Under Secretary
for Operations
Dr. Jim Butler
Director, ESRL
Global Monitoring
Division
The nine LCDP alumni featured have all achieved the rank of SES following their graduations from the LCDP program. All are currently leaders at NOAA with the exception of RADM Kenul and Dr. Fox, both retired.
RADM Phil Kenul,
Former Director,
NOAA Marine & Aviation
Operations Centers
(Ret.)
Dr. Bonnie Ponwith
Science & Research Director,
NMFS SEFSC
Benjie Spencer
Director, Systems
Engineering Center,
NWS Office of Science & Technology
Dr. Chris Fox
Former Director, NGDC (Ret.)

12. “Golden Ticket” To date: 189 program alumni in 8 cohorts since the
program began in 2000.
Cohort 8 had 22 members; graduated 1/31/14.
“LCDP gave me the opportunity to see how the entire agency works together, for the first time. I got to meet and learn from highly-motivated people from all the line offices.
The training at FEI, along with this top-level view and a network of peers across the agency has made me much more effective in leading my home office, especially as we go through some pretty serious changes.
I call LCDP ‘my golden ticket’ because I was exposed to a world that I couldn’t have imagined before.”
- Former LCDP Participant
Demographics (includes alumni and current participants)
Duty stationed in 45 cities across the country (83 HQ, 107 field).
Represent all LOs and several SOs.
44% women, 56% men.
91% are white (not of Hispanic origin).
97% do not have a disability.

13. How Does LCDP Work? Recruitment: Eligibility Selection Process:
Online Application
Rating and Ranking
Interviews
DAA signs off
DUS approves final selections
Applicant Eligibility:
You must meet the qualification requirements to be considered for selection into the LCDP. You must currently be employed at one of the following grade levels in a permanent (not temporary) position:
• GS-13, GS-14, or GS-15
• Pay Band: ZA-4, ZA-5, ZP-4, ZP-5, or ZT-5
• Commissioned Officer: O-4, O-5, or O-6
In addition, you must have been employed a minimum of two years in a full-time, permanent NOAA Federal position as of the closing date of this announcement (March 11, 2014.)
Lastly, you may not be a current participant in any other long-term developmental program (that is, a program lasting 12-months or longer) funded by NOAA or the Department of Commerce.
Supervisor Support – highly encouraged to discuss your interest in LCDP with your supervisor. Supervisor statement is required as part of the LCDP recruitment process. Due 3/14/14.
Please note that no exceptions have ever been made to these eligibility requirements. Pay Band III employees (equivalent to the GS-11 or GS-12) are not eligible to apply to the LCDP. Eligibility is verified before applications are reviewed.
Selection Process:
Competitive multi-phase application & review system follows merit systems principles.
Participants selected based on supervisor & senior leadership assessment of their leadership potential.
Steps include:
Candidates complete an online application, documenting how their background, experience & potential meet the following leadership competencies: leads people, continuous learner, business proficiency, problem solver, strategic thinker & communicator.
Applications are rated and ranked by a 3-person LO/SO panel.
Best qualified applicants are interviewed by a different 3-person LO/SO panel.
DAA of each LO/SO signs off on the panel’s recommendations & determines the budget to support LCDP participants from their LO/SO.
NOAA Deputy Under Secretary approves final recommendations. 13 13

14. LCDP Cost & Funding Cost: Funding:
FEI training for cohort IX will range from $21,194 to $26,865 depending on the size of the cohort.
Estimated $10K per person for developmental assignment
costs & supplemental training (variable and highly
dependent upon LO/SO budget, location and duration of
assignments.)
Funding:
Each LO/SO funds LCDP differently.
Talk to your LCDP LO/SO Coordinator for more information:
For example: NWS has a central fund to support FEI and developmental assignments.
The Staff Offices have a central fund to support FEI and developmental assignments. In addition, individual offices can support additional candidates if funds are available.
Important to investigate the funding BEFORE you apply. Your supervisor must submit a statement indicating whether or not budget support is available – do this legwork for them.

15. LCDP Class IX Recruitment & Program Requirements
Online application open: February 18 – March 11, 2014.
Apply online at:
Recruitment and Training Timeline
Date
Supervisor Statement Due
3/14/14
Application Rating & Ranking
3/31 - 4/04/14
Applicants Notified
On or by 4/11/14
Interviews
4/21 - 5/02/14
Selectees and Non-Selectees contacted
On or by 5/23/14
Orientation Week at FEI
7/13 – 7/18/14 (Sun. – Fri.)
Leadership Course #1 at FEI
1/25 – 2/06/15 (2 weeks, starts Sun., ends Fri.)
Leadership Course #2 at FEI
7/12-7/17/15 (Sun. – Fri.)
Leadership Course #3 at FEI
1/24-1/28/16 (Sun. – Thurs.)
Graduation in Silver Spring, MD
1/29/16 (Fri.)
Mandatory core leadership training includes a 5-week split session at the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) in Charlottesville, Virginia. The curriculum, which varies slightly from class to class, emphasizes a range of topics and issues facing today’s leaders.
LCDP class members are also required to participate in specific NOAA leadership training sessions conducted outside of FEI, including hour-long LCDP Leadership Learning Series sessions, conducted via telephone at three-four week intervals throughout the program. Each participant must lead and facilitate one of these sessions.
LCDP Leadership Week.

16. Advice from LCDP Alumni
Kelly Denit:
Current Chief of the Fishery Management & Coordination Branch in the NOAA Fisheries Office of Sustainable Fisheries in Silver Spring, MD.
Prior to joining NOAA in 2005 as a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow, Kelly received an MSc from the University of Miami in Biological Oceanography.
Two LCDP developmental assignments:
Chief of the Applied Ecology and Restoration Research Branch in the Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, NC.
Deputy Director of the Office of Sustainable Fisheries in Silver Spring, MD.
Discussion Topics:
Why did you decide to apply at this point in your career?
What were your goals at the start of the program?
What are your recommendations on how to get the most value from the LCDP experience?
What are some potential pitfalls of participating in LCDP and how would you avoid them?
What did you ultimately get out of the program?
Would you recommend LCDP to others?

17. Advice from LCDP Alumni
George Jungbluth:
Current Deputy Chief of Staff/Director of Communications for NESDIS.
Prior to joining NOAA, George worked in corporate strategic communications in Washington DC and Moscow, Russia.
George is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in International Relations and Russian language.
George joined NOAA in 2008, working in the NESDIS International Affairs office, where he focused on relations with China and Russia.
Two LCDP developmental assignments:
Program Specialist, NESDIS TPIO in Silver Spring, MD.
Chief, IOOS Management, Budget & Planning Division in Silver Spring, MD
Discussion Topics:
Why did you decide to apply at this point in your career?
What were your goals at the start of the program?
What are your recommendations on how to get the most value from the LCDP experience?
What are some potential pitfalls of participating in LCDP and how would you avoid them?
What did you ultimately get out of the program?
Would you recommend LCDP to others?

18. The Bottom Line
LCDP is a proven means of preparing NOAA’s most promising employees for effective leadership roles in the organization.
The LCDP curriculum is based on industry- wide leadership best practices & focuses on how to lead well in dynamic and changing environments.
LCDP is focused on the key skills NOAA’s future leaders will need.
LCDP alumni are recognized as high- performing, effective leaders & advance to higher levels of responsibility.

19. Questions Thank you! Program Contact: Questions?
Tracy Levstik, LCDP Program Manager
Questions?

20. Supplemental Slide: LCDP VIII Class Composition
22 participants; 8 Field, 14 D.C. Area; 10 Female, 12 Male
Name
LO/SO
Duty Station
Tanya Dobrzynski
Budget Office
Washington, D.C.
Mark Eakin
NESDIS
Silver Spring, MD
George Jungbluth
Daniel Muller
Ken Pavelle
NWS
Scott Weaver
College Park, MD
Kevin Werner
Salt Lake City, UT
Jeremy Potter
OAR
LCDR Nancy Hann
OMAO
Norfolk, VA
CDR Todd Bridgeman
Name
LO/SO
Duty Station
Sally Bibb
NMFS
Juneau, AK
John Crofts
Long Beach, CA
Kelly Denit
Silver Spring, MD
Lindsay Fullenkamp
Rosemary Furfey
Portland, OR
Kirsten Larsen
Arlene Pangelinan
Honolulu, HI
John Armor
NOS
Beth Dieveney
Key West, FL
Geno Olmi
Charleston, SC
Laura Rear-McLaughlin
Jon Swallow
LCDP Class VIII Statistics:
Staff Offices: 1
NESDIS: 3
NWS: 3
OAR: 1
NMFS: 7
OMAO: 2
NOS: 5