"A trained leader is knowledgeable and more confident in the role being performed. Trained leaders exhibit a knowledge and confidence that is picked up by people around them." This bit matter-of-fact justification for continued leadership education comes not from some Army doctrine, not from some Ivy League MBA doctoral dissertation.
This doctrine comes from the leadership manual of the Boy Scouts of America.
But the sentiment is not just the BSA's alone. The Army Individual Leader Development Program is dedicated to the same philosophy: "it is critical that the Army focus on the strategic end of developing military and civilian leaders to meet the challenges of the 21st Century," according to the ILDP training document.
The ILDP is a two-year TRADOC program that admits five people each year for the purpose of developing Army civilian leaders. Vanessa Calloway, chief of beneficiary services at Eisenhower Army Medical Center, has been selected to participate in this year's program.
Calloway first came to EAMC as a Licensed Practical Nurse in 1994 and has worked her way in various capacities, including contracting, to the position of leadership she holds today … and she's not standing still.
"Eisenhower is home," she said. "As a nurse, I've grown through good leaders and supervisors who motivated me to learn and grow and I want to give back what has been given to me."
Through this program, she will shadow other leaders throughout the hospital to see and experience firsthand the administrative and financial side of the mission, including budgeting, human resources, business planning and policy. There is also a temporary-duty assignment but those details have yet to be determined.
"I believe [the ILDP] will enhance my leadership skills," she said. "I want to know how all of health care administration runs. I've experienced the hands-on medical side and the contracting side, now I want to learn the daily operations side so I can better assist the managed care to meet [EAMC's] mission.
Through this program, Calloway will be better prepared to serve the people at EAMC who serve its patients and beneficiaries.
As stated in the ILDP manual: "Leader development is achieved through the lifelong synthesis of the knowledge, skills and abilities gained through education, training and experience."
In other words: "Be prepared" … just like the Boy Scouts.
Social Sharing