USAREC civilians present their leadership development team project during the class graduation ceremony Sept. 2, at Fort Knox.
USAREC Civilians Develop Solutions for Communication Issues
Story and photo by Fonda Bock, USAREC, Public Affairs
Sept. 3, 2015
A pilot leadership course developed by the University of Louisville for civilian employees graduated 20 students Sept. 2, 10 each from U.S. Army Recruiting Command and Human Resources Command.
After an intense two months of instruction, those employees presented class projects on how to improve command operations during their graduation ceremony in USAREC’s conference room. Attending the briefing were Maj. Gen. Thomas Seamands, HRC commanding general, USAREC deputy commanding general, Brig. Gen. Tory Kok, and Col. Brian Bassett, USAREC chief of staff.
“Your leaders wanted you to learn some very important skills and apply them in your daily jobs,” Dr. Gale Rhodes, Associate Provost for UL, told the graduates. “I really saw excellence here today in seeking to look at all the elements of an issue and seeking and providing answers.”
Attending class on Wednesdays, the employees took seven exams and participated in team projects identifying a problem, then developing a course of action and a solution in 40 hours of training.
Ken Buckey, an operations specialist for USAREC Health Services Directorate, believes the course made him a better leader.
“It will make me a better counselor, it’s given me more tools that I’ll be able to use in just understanding the different methods by which people learn,” said Buckey. “I was excited to get back to work to use some of the skills and techniques to help with my day to day activities and with the things that we do here in the office within MRB and USAREC.”
The two USAREC teams designed plans for dealing with information overload and improving staff coordination. HRC’s grads made the case for developing a mentorship program and presented ideas for improving the Army’s in-processing system.
Course topics studied included: Effective Leadership: Management, Supervision, and Beyond, Maximizing Leadership Effectiveness and Efficiency; Extraordinary Problem Solving, and The Power of Communication/Listen Like a Leader.
Kim Toombs, USAREC Supervisory human capital specialist for Civilian Personnel Management Division, said she learned a lot about herself, her supervisory skills how to better interact with others.
“I think the better I know my own personality, the better supervisor and advocate I can be for my employees,” she said. “We learned how people learn - do they learn through what they hear, by what they see, or by actually doing something. The more you know that about people, the better you can teach them.”
Participants received the University of Louisville Professional Development's "Certificate of Management Development.” The certificate requires coursework in five key competency areas: management and leadership, coaching and motivation, critical thinking, organization and productivity, and communication.
USAREC Deputy Chief of Staff Col. Brad Luebbert said the command initiated the development of the course to give civilians the same opportunities Soldiers have for developing leadership skills, identifying problems and finding solutions.
“We want them to have opportunity to go to improve themselves professionally,” he said. It shows the people you care about them, want them to become better, and it also benefits the command.”
Luebbert said USAREC plans to offer more civilian leadership development courses and possibly expand participation to include Cadet Command.
Story and photo by Fonda Bock, USAREC, Public Affairs
Sept. 3, 2015
A pilot leadership course developed by the University of Louisville for civilian employees graduated 20 students Sept. 2, 10 each from U.S. Army Recruiting Command and Human Resources Command.
After an intense two months of instruction, those employees presented class projects on how to improve command operations during their graduation ceremony in USAREC’s conference room. Attending the briefing were Maj. Gen. Thomas Seamands, HRC commanding general, USAREC deputy commanding general, Brig. Gen. Tory Kok, and Col. Brian Bassett, USAREC chief of staff.
“Your leaders wanted you to learn some very important skills and apply them in your daily jobs,” Dr. Gale Rhodes, Associate Provost for UL, told the graduates. “I really saw excellence here today in seeking to look at all the elements of an issue and seeking and providing answers.”
Attending class on Wednesdays, the employees took seven exams and participated in team projects identifying a problem, then developing a course of action and a solution in 40 hours of training.
Ken Buckey, an operations specialist for USAREC Health Services Directorate, believes the course made him a better leader.
“It will make me a better counselor, it’s given me more tools that I’ll be able to use in just understanding the different methods by which people learn,” said Buckey. “I was excited to get back to work to use some of the skills and techniques to help with my day to day activities and with the things that we do here in the office within MRB and USAREC.”
The two USAREC teams designed plans for dealing with information overload and improving staff coordination. HRC’s grads made the case for developing a mentorship program and presented ideas for improving the Army’s in-processing system.
Course topics studied included: Effective Leadership: Management, Supervision, and Beyond, Maximizing Leadership Effectiveness and Efficiency; Extraordinary Problem Solving, and The Power of Communication/Listen Like a Leader.
Kim Toombs, USAREC Supervisory human capital specialist for Civilian Personnel Management Division, said she learned a lot about herself, her supervisory skills how to better interact with others.
“I think the better I know my own personality, the better supervisor and advocate I can be for my employees,” she said. “We learned how people learn - do they learn through what they hear, by what they see, or by actually doing something. The more you know that about people, the better you can teach them.”
Participants received the University of Louisville Professional Development's "Certificate of Management Development.” The certificate requires coursework in five key competency areas: management and leadership, coaching and motivation, critical thinking, organization and productivity, and communication.
USAREC Deputy Chief of Staff Col. Brad Luebbert said the command initiated the development of the course to give civilians the same opportunities Soldiers have for developing leadership skills, identifying problems and finding solutions.
“We want them to have opportunity to go to improve themselves professionally,” he said. It shows the people you care about them, want them to become better, and it also benefits the command.”
Luebbert said USAREC plans to offer more civilian leadership development courses and possibly expand participation to include Cadet Command.