LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE

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Leadership Excellence Overview

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Welcome to Leadership Excellence.

Since being a good leader is a journey, and not a destination, this web site is continuously evolving. We hope that this site will become a first stop for seeking out the leadership solutions you need.

Your passport to excellence awaits you. It's merely a question of where you want to go as a leader. The Leadership Excellence program is a vehicle for helping you get there.

For an overview of FSA's Leadership Excellence program, choose from the following:

The Case for Leadership Excellence

Defining Leadership Excellence :

FSA's Leadership Excellence is the set of qualities and behaviors that leaders are expected to demonstrate because they are critical to FSA's achieving outstanding performance results. Leadership Excellence is comprised of 3 sets of attributes:

All managers at FSA live up to the FSA Leadership Principles and Management Values.
All managers at FSA demonstrate competency in the following 5 areas:
Being results driven;
Leading people;
Building coalitions/communications - aka Collaborating for results;
Leading change; and
Maintaining business acumen.

These are the same competencies that the Office of Personnel Management has identified as required for becoming accepted into the Senior Executive Service, and that the Department of Education has adopted for its "learning track" for managers.
All managers at FSA abide by the FSA's four operating standards:
Being worthy of trust;
Being efficient;
Being courteous; and
Delivering great products and services.

Expected Results:

As a result of the FY'03 Leadership Excellence program, the FSA Management Council expects to see the following from their managers:

Increased knowledge of and ability to engage in collaborative problem-solving and decision-making in planning, budgeting, staff management, team effectiveness, and project management;
Increased skill in using EDPAS and performance awards to achieve performance accountability with their staff and align their work with FSA performance goals; and
Increased awareness and application of five or more FSA Leadership principles.

The FSA Leadership Excellence Program:

The FSA Leadership Excellence Program

"Leadership Excellence" is FSA's program for growing excellent leaders. It is an integral part of FSA's strategy for transforming to a performance-based organization (PBO). It represents FSA's investment in the development and support of its managers who are facing increasingly challenging and demanding performance objectives. It is also an acknowledgement that the excellence of its managers is critical to the overall success of the agency as a PBO. This program is sponsored by FSA University.

FSA's Leadership Excellence program is designed to ensure that FSA leaders are consistently living up to the FSA Leadership Principles and Values, demonstrating the five SES competencies, (Being results driven; Leading people; Building coalitions/communications; Leading change; and Maintaining business acumen), and abiding by FSA's four operational standards to achieve their objectives. The program is aligned with the President's Management Agenda and the Department of Education's Strategic Plan. Moreover, it is foundational to FSA's goals regarding human capital planning, succession planning and building bench strength.

FSA's Leadership Excellence program is guided by the following principles:

Be linked to ED and FSA priorities, such as One ED, EDPAS, performance and accountability;
Start with managers' real world performance results and challenges;
Make best use of scarce resources;
Make it worth managers' valuable time to participate;
Clarify accountability for "leadership excellence" - what and how;
Extend beyond awareness and understanding, beyond buy-in and commitment, to manager practice and proficiency;
Meet managers' varied learning needs;
Position senior leaders as models and coaches; and
Promote manager self-sufficiency.

In 2003, FSA's Leadership Excellence program is focused on two specific areas at the request of the FSA Management Council. A focus on collaborating for results aligns with the SES competency of building coalitions/communications and is deemed essential for building a culture of collaboration and fulfilling FSA's strategic objective of integrating systems. In addition, the introduction of new EDPAS and performance award systems and policies affords FSA managers the opportunity to focus on and practice using new tools for making performance matter.

A unique feature of FSA's Leadership Excellence program is its emphasis on performance support. The FY'03 Leadership Excellence program involves a kickoff classroom event (approximately one and a half days) plus performance support to reinforce and practice learnings. The FSA Management Council has asked that attendance at this session be mandatory for all FSA rating officials and that attending a performance support activity of their choosing following the event be strongly encouraged.


Program Objectives:

By the end of the Leadership Excellence offering's, FSA leaders will:

Understand what "leadership excellence" is and why it is important for FSA success;
Understand how knowing others and building trust are foundational to leading others and collaborating for results;
Understand what collaboration for results is and how to think, act and learn collaboratively;
Understand their accountability for setting clear expectations, providing developmental feedback, and making performance matter;
Improve skills for communicating and managing measurable EDPAS standards and appraisals to align with FSA performance results;
Understand types of awards available to FSA leaders and how to use them in connection with EDPAS standards and appraisals to make performance matter;
Improve skills for holding performance feedback conversations; and
Be aware of tools and other performance support resources available for FSA leaders through FSA University and the Career Zone.

Comparisons to Last Year's Program

In 2002, FSA University premiered its "Manager Excellence" program with a kickoff session entitled, "Managing and Leading for Performance Accountability." The focus in 2002 was on managers' competencies in the areas of being results driven and leading people. Performance Accountability was defined as "holding oneself and others responsible for achieving results that matter in the right way." Managers were trained to manage for results using the "ready, roll, review" continuous improvement cycle, and to lead people by setting clear expectations, providing developmental feedback, and making performance matter.

The kickoff sessions were accompanied by performance support opportunities to reinforce the concepts introduced during the kickoff and enable managers to apply and practice what they learned. Individual managers were interviewed to identify their specific developmental needs and desires following each session. Performance support included one-on-one Performance Coaching, "Holding Difficult Conversations" practice fields, and Action Learning Circles that were available to FSA managers in DC and Chicago.

In 2003, the program has been re-named "Leadership Excellence" and its scope has been expanded. It now incorporates a set of FSA Leadership Principles and Values and is built around the five SES competencies. The context of FSA's operating standards (being worthy of trust, being efficient, being courteous and delivering great products and services) has also been added. In 2003, the program builds on the performance accountability framework from 2002, but brings particular attention to two new areas at the specific request of the FSA Management Council. A focus on collaborating for results aligns with the SES competency of building coalitions/communications and is deemed essential for building a culture of collaboration and fulfilling FSA's strategic objective of integrating systems. In addition, the introduction of new EDPAS and performance award systems and policies affords FSA managers the opportunity to practice using new tools for making performance matter.

The IDR Center provides all employees and applicants with an informal process to resolve disputes, disagreements, or complaints on work-related matters. This service include Equal Opportunity Employment (EEO) counseling and mediation in an informal setting to assist employees in resolving issues in an expeditious and impartial manner.

To learn more

Leadership Excellence: Leading Change

Leaders need to excel at leading people and managing for results in a time of change. This involves several key activities known as the Four C's:

Communicate
It's essential that everyone gets the facts. People want to know everything that is possible to know about a given situation. Leaders must communicate the facts openly and across the board.

Clarify
Through dialogue and facilitation, clarify staff understanding for the benefit of all. It's critical during this phase to seek to understand others until they feel they have truly been understood by you.

Commit
Commitment implies several things. Among them is taking action. Committing suggests getting real about what is happening rather than taking a "wait and see" course of non-action..

Counsel
Provide the guidance people need as they step through change. Provide the resources they need to go through the chaos and come to a better place. Examples in the past of resources have included The Career Zone, The Learning Coupon, Coaching, and Action Learning Circles

Service Standards | Leading Change | Results Driven | Building Coalitions/Communications

Business Acumen | Leading People | Results