Leadership

   Alchemy

          Program

Program Overview
Leadership Alchemy provides participants an opportunity to learn about leadership by being leaders.  Mentors will be matched to each participant to discuss leadership and enhance learning.  All participants will receive personal and group coaching, the latter during workshops and Learning Team meetings.

Leadership Focus and Practices
The NASA Leadership Alchemy Program principally focuses on leadership development at the individual, inter-personal, team/group, and organizational levels.  The competencies emphasized in this program are a subset of the NASA Leadership Model Competencies and include:

• Personal Effectiveness that Fosters Learning and High Performance
• Relating to Others
  • Working to Build Trust and Supportive Relationships and Networks
  • Influencing Others
  • Demonstrating Generous Listening Skills
• Leading and Managing Change
  • Communicating a Vision for Change
  • Planning and Implementing Organizational Change
• Leading and Managing People
  • Promoting Teamwork
  • Appreciating the Richness of Diversity and Utilizing the Full Range
    of Contributions of Others
  • Resolving Conflict

Participation in this program offers you personal insight and leadership mastery, an understanding of the organization and leadership competencies essential to creating a desired future, and the ability to transform knowledge and skill into wisdom and into action. The Leadership Alchemy Program focuses on incorporating the five leadership practices of:

• Reading and Reflection
• Emotional Intelligence and Relationship Building
• Developing the Presence of a Leader
• Appreciative Inquiry
• Action Learning

Program Components
The program will begin on February 2006 timeframe and continue for
approximately 9 months. All learning experiences are fully integrated in
a whole-person fashion. Leadership Alchemy is a rigorous program where
what you learn directly relates to the amount of effort you put forth. The
Leadership Alchemy Program is comprised of the following components:

• Orientation

• Development and Implementation of a Leadership Vision

• Participative Workshops with a Cohort Group

• Coaching (Individual and Group)

• Mentoring

• Individual Learning and Reflection

• Shadowing a Mid-level or Senior-level Manager

• Interviewing Leaders

• Team Learning, Reflection, and Support

• Graduation and Celebration

Workshops
The Leadership Alchemy Program consists of the following all-day workshops, totaling an estimated 26 workdays.  During these workshops, participants will engage in learning, analysis, and discussion of leadership issues.  Workshops range in length from 1-4 days, with most being 2 days in duration.  Certification of successful program completion requires attendance 90 percent of all workshops in their entirety, including 100% attendance at all mandatory workshops.  Mandatory workshops are identified below with an asterisk (*).  All workshops are held on-site at Greenbelt and begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 5:00 p.m.:

• *Setting the Context for Learning and Jumpstarting Learning Teams

• *Discover Your Strengths and Assessment Feedback

• Orientation for Supervisors, Mentors, and Coaches

• Emotional Intelligence and Relationship Building

• Wellness and Setting the Emotional Context in the Workplace

• *Language of Leadership – Parts 1 and 2

• *Difficult Conversations and Powerful Questions

• Narrative and Storytelling as Leadership Tools for Organizational Change

• Teaming Tune-up

• *Coaching for Presence and Presentations

• Applied Leadership Tools

• *Action Learning Report Out

• *Summary and Graduation

• Post-Program Assessment Feedback

Supervisors and mentors are also invited to several workshops, including an
orientation and graduation.

Program Philosophy
The program philosophy guiding program design and implementation is:

• Everyone can and should be a leader, regardless of whether they supervise others.

• Learning begins with an assessment of the learner’s current state and active planning of future learning and career goals.

• Before you can lead, you must be able to connect with and generate trust in others.

• A learner is part of a community where relationships are built on trust and respect for learning.

• Learning occurs best in the context of a community of committed learners where relationships are built on trust and a respect for differences.

• One learns in a whole-person fashion, integrating mind, emotions, and body

• Leadership is more than “what you need to know” and “what you need to do” – it is also about “who you are” in the context of the organization.

• By changing yourself, you can effect and change others.

• Energy follows attention

• Leadership and management competencies, although overlapping, are distinct.

• A leader’s role is to influence both the context and the mood of the organization.

• Language is generative – language does more than describe, it creates our reality and our identity.  Mastery of the power of language is essential to leadership.

• Through practice we can choose to put our attention on the outcomes we want to create.

• Leaders make choices and take responsibility for their own learning and actions.

• Learning can and should be fun.

Program Requirements
Leadership Alchemy is a rigorous program requiring a strong personal commitment.  Successful program completion requires that participants:

• Attend all leadership workshops in their entirety – an estimated 26 work days over the approximate 9-month program

• Attend all Exploring Leadership Colloquia keynote presentations of 90 minutes each, usually scheduled at the rate of one every other month.  Attendance at the afternoon small group colloquia discussions is optional

• Establish and actively participate in a formal mentor-protégé relationship, meeting an average 3 hours per month

• Participate in individual and Learning Team coaching

• Prepare a Leadership Vision and Leadership Action Plan, obtaining concurrence from your supervisor and mentor

• Read selected portions of books, articles, and specially developed Learning Guides

• Prepare five periodic and comprehensive self-assessment reports – one for each Learning Guide

• Shadow a middle or senior manager at Goddard or Headquarters for a minimum of 24 hours

• Interview three leaders about effective leadership and unwritten organizational rules

• Attend Learning Team meetings with other program participants, support each other’s attainment of their leadership vision, and complete team assignments.  Although the amount of time Learning Teams meet varies by team, most teams average 10 hours a month

• Practice, on a daily basis, leadership skills, including the development of leadership presence, and reflect on the impact of practicing

• Design and implement a team Action Learning Project around a real workplace issue.  The scope of the project and the participant’s desired learning dictate the time commitment required for successful completion.  Each participant is expected to invest approximately 3-4 days in designing and implementing the Action Learning Project

Selection Process
A panel will review the applications and all applicants will be interviewed.  In selecting the program participants, the following factors will be considered:

• The interviewee’s ability to commit to fulfilling participant responsibilities

• Expected benefits to be derived by the individual and the organization

• Extent the interviewee influences others at work

• How well the interviewee articulates their leadership vision

• Performance assessment

• Supervisor’s endorsement and input from references

For more information, contact Donna Williams, on 301-286-5834.

Application Due Date
Applications for the 2005 NASA Leadership Alchemy Program are due to the Headquarters Training Office, GSFC Code 114. H, Program Specialist, Denise Workman by January 18, 2006.