The Leader’s Challenge program in Arlington County government was created in 2008 to address succession planning concerns at senior levels of the organization. At that time it was determined that a significant percentage of senior managers were going to be retiring, and the county was concerned where the next level of leaders was going to come from. It was from this concern that Leader’s Challenge was developed. The program was created as a fast-track program to train high-potential employees to take on senior management level jobs. 

In addition to the primary goal of increasing the number of leaders ready to compete for promotional positions in the next three to five years due to retirements, the county is seeking to develop leaders who can work effectively in cross-functional teams on complex problems that require cross-departmental solutions and cooperation. The teams are sponsored by senior leaders of the organization, where they are exposed to the leadership of the organization and vice versa.  The third goal is to develop self-aware, resilient leaders who understand that a critical aspect of leadership is a journey of self-discovery, managing energy, and personal engagement. 

The overriding intention of Leader’s Challenge is to fast-forward the development of high-potential staff at all levels of the organization, providing them with the opportunity to grow and develop as leaders in Arlington County. 

Leader’s Challenge was wholly developed by Arlington County’s Training and Organizational Development staff, making it a unique and innovative program among other leadership development programs. This “custom built” solution allowed the county to design a program that addressed its unique needs. 

County staff knew that there will always be a place for the “expert culture” —the particular knowledge of different departments—but increasingly the solutions of today involve collaboration across domains of expertise. An effective leader needs to be able to understand where these new frontiers are and work to influence and communicate with people across departments and areas of skill. Leaders will interact and collaborate with many different people throughout their day and need to be willing to listen to others in order to drive innovation in the products and services that will build this community into the future.  An important aspect of this program is teaching leaders to think and produce products across the organization as a whole.

There are four main capability-building components to the program:

• Classroom-Based Instruction – “Self as Leader ,” “Team Development,” and “Change Management”
• Participation in an Action Learning Project, as established by the County Manager’s  Office and Executive Leadership Team  
• Individual Executive Coaching
• Commitment to healthy work-life balance practices.

Combining the classroom-based development with individual coaching is often the norm in leadership development programs today. However, the action learning teams, composed of individuals working on problems outside of their normal domains, is innovative and has proven effective in driving new solutions to critical problems. This approach also hones participants’ listening, communication, and problem-solving skills—making them even more effective leaders.

The first thing that potential leaders do in the program is to gain understanding of what they are there to accomplish. The group will work through “Self as Leader” exercises that help participants understand what they are there to do, connect into their purpose and passion for their work, determine the impact they want to have, and discover what their “offer” is to the community. This helps employees remember why they do what they do and supports a renewed energy for their work in local government. 

Action learning is one of the processes used in this program. It is a problem-solving process where teams and the problem owner create a solution together.  Through the power of questions, different viewpoints come together and create a well-rounded perspective of the problem, which helps the group reach a more holistic solution. Action learning also values that different backgrounds and thought processes come together to create better solutions for the organization.  During these sessions, participants are also practicing leadership skills and gaining feedback from their peers.   

Investing the time and energy to help leaders grow and develop is a core value in Arlington and there is a strong commitment to providing opportunities for potential leaders to thrive. This program has been fully supported by senior management, which has greatly contributed to the overall success of the initiative. 

Leader’s Challenge is innovative because of the type of program it is—one fully developed by county staff that contains components not usually found in local government leadership development programs, e.g., individual executive coaches, action learning on current county issues, and focus on self-awareness and healthy work-life practices, all supported by senior leadership. Each year small groups of people in this program have worked on such critical issues within the county as civic engagement, telecommuting, and storm water management, and created innovative solutions in a real work setting. The work has continued past the program and evolved into actual work product that is going to be used across the county. 

The best measure of Leader's Challenge’s success is in the outcomes it has achieved. After each cohort a number of participants have successfully competed for promotions in the more senior levels of the organization, with 45% of participants having been promoted in the first year after the program.

Arlington County is very proud of the success of this program. The county is committed to innovation, and Leader's Challenge embraces this by developing and coaching employees so that they grow and develop to their potential.

Learn more about Arlington County at http://www.arlingtonva.us/. For more information about Leader's Challenge, contact Emma Kiendl, manager, Training and Organizational Development, at ekiendl@arlingtonva.us or 703-228-3469.