SES duo meets with future leaders

By Liz Adrian, Army Contracting Command-Rock IslandNovember 19, 2015

SES duo meets with future leaders
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Melanie Johnson, executive director, Army Contracting Command-Rock Island, and Jay Carr, executive director, Acquisition Integration Management Directorate, U.S. Army Sustainment Command, meet with a Journey to Leadership tier II class, at the Rock I... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
SES duo meets with future leaders
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
SES duo meets with future leaders
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Melanie Johnson, executive director, Army Contracting Command-Rock Island, and Jay Carr, executive director, Acquisition Integration Management Directorate, U.S. Army Sustainment Command, meet with a Journey to Leadership tier II class, at the Rock I... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
SES duo meets with future leaders
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Melanie Johnson, executive director, Army Contracting Command-Rock Island, and Jay Carr, executive director, Acquisition Integration Management Directorate, U.S. Army Sustainment Command, meet with a Journey to Leadership tier II class, at the Rock I... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- Two members of the Senior Executive Service met with a group of 29 Soldiers and civilians enrolled in a nine-month long leadership course, here, Nov. 17.

Melanie Johnson, executive director, Army Contracting Command-Rock Island, and Jay Carr, executive director, Acquisition Integration Management Directorate, U.S. Army Sustainment Command, met with students taking the Journey to Leadership Tier II program.

The Journey to Leadership program is a program that prepares high-potential future leaders for key positions through mission overviews, contact with senior leaders, coaching and networking. The program has three tiers: Entry level employees (tier I), mid-level and journeymen (tier II), and supervisors and managers (tier III).

Johnson and Carr provided overviews of their careers, discussed topics related to successful career advancement and answered questions. At one point, Carr asked for any leaders in the room to raise their hand, resulting in a handful doing so.

"Everybody should have raised their hand," said Carr. "You are all leaders. Those of you who are supervisory obviously have a little bit more authority and responsibility and ability to lead. One of the most difficult things, if you didn't raise your hand, is to realize you are a leader when you have no authority and you may be responsible. It is a huge challenge to lead a team or a project when the only thing you have is your personality traits as a leadership tool to influence."

Johnson encouraged the group to never shy away from a challenge, as taking on roles and responsibilities that are beyond those listed in job descriptions will only aid in strengthening leadership abilities.

"I didn't get here because of all the things I did," said Johnson. "I got here because people saw things in me and put me in positions to gain experience to get to the next level. If someone asks you to do something and you know it's outside of your comfort zone, they may see something in you that you do not see and they wouldn't be asking you to do it if they think you will fail."

Johnson and Carr discussed the paths they took to get to the SES level. Her work history has been purely civilian and located solely at Rock Island, while he has an extensive military background with worldwide assignments. One thing they do have in common is neither planned on becoming an SES.

"I didn't apply to become an SES because I wanted to become an SES," said Carr. "I liked the job. I knew about the job and I had seen other people work it for a long time and it just happened to be that if you wanted the job, you had to apply for the SES."

Though neither anticipated rising to the SES rank, Johnson said it gives them a unique opportunity to make a difference in the organization, affect future planning and support the Soldier.

Johnson, herself a JTL grad, said the program helped her network with other leaders and likely led to her selection as the executive officer to Maj. Gen. Robert Radin, the then-ASC commanding general. In this role, she learned about the logistics spectrum and the importance and interplay of each of the parts of that spectrum.

"To me, that journey to leadership was a springboard," said Johnson. "In this class, soak everything up like a sponge, do diverse interviews with your executive leaders, and tap into some mentors in regards to your goals."

Related Links:

Army Contracting Command-Rock Island website

Army Contracting Command-Rock Island Facebook