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You are at: NWS Home » SRH Home » BLAST Program
Building Leaders for a Solid Tomorrow
 The National Weather Service is at a crossroads. Technology is changing at a rate unequaled in the history of the organization, and customer/partner needs are evolving at a rate commensurate with the rapid technological advances. Within the NWS, local offices are at the forefront of using the latest technology and science to better serve the American people. Accordingly, the rapidly changing world of today and tomorrow will directly link the future health of the agency with the ability of local office leaders (both official and unofficial) to use change to better serve local customers and partners.
Progressive field leaders are essential to a viable NWS of the future. Good leaders do many things well, but in particular, they plan for the future by preparing and nurturing potential leaders. Like today's good leaders, future leaders also must be aggressive in meeting external challenges (science, technology, customer/partner needs), while at the same time, recognize and respect the contributions and abilities of others.
The development of effective leaders is not easy and is not necessarily the same as producing excellent managers. Leadership and management require different blends of knowledge, skills, and abilities, but good leadership skills frequently translate into good management. Managers follow established rules and guidelines to produce beyond the vitally important day-to-day management of a mission delivery, to ensure predictability, order, efficiency, and quality. Leaders are excellent managers that take people and organizations through significant change by...
- Establishing a vision,
- Communicating the vision,
- Motivating and inspiring others to accomplish the vision, and
- Leading by example.
Those organizations that have earned reputations for attracting and keeping the best talent and for developing a cadre of strong leaders all share something in common-the existence of a strong culture with shared norms and values concerning the importance of effective leadership. Winning companies win because they nurture the development of leaders at all levels of the organization. These future leaders are...
- Developed through personal example, i.e., training through sharing,
- Developed through significant relationships and effective coaching, and
- Developed through varied professional experiences.
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| Future Leadership Challenges to Southern Region |
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Many Southern Region senior leaders, both official and unofficial, will be eligible to retire from federal service within the next few years. The southern United States is the most weather active region of our nation, and this loss of leadership at a critical time of rapid change could place a burden on achieving the mission goals of the region. The loss of unofficial leaders, many from the dedicated rank and file, is especially important since these individuals steer the way in both operations and support.
A large pool of talented people presently exists in the Southern Region
to meet future leadership demands. However, a designed mechanism is
needed to ensure all such talented individuals have the opportunities
to further develop their leadership skills for a solid tomorrow. How
to ensure the next generation of leaders evolve to the most productive
level possible is one of the vital challenges facing the region and
the NWS. Existing leaders have an opportunity to share public service
values and their leadership skills with future leaders, who in turn,
will help train and grow their potential successors. |
| BLAST - Building Leaders for A Solid Tomorrow |
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 The
Southern Region has established a program to invest in, and
develop a pool of potential leaders. This program is formulated around
the interest of Southern Region employees on improving their leadership
talents. The foundation of BLAST is built around current field and
regional leaders sharing their progressive leadership knowledge and
concepts with BLAST participants. Through continued investment in
the leadership qualities of Southern Region people, the local office,
region, and agency will evolve towards progressive leadership concepts
in the future. Additionally, BLAST will be a harmonic complement to
the NOAA/NWS Diversity and EEO and its goals. Local Southern
Region field leaders are critical to BLAST, being in a good position
to identify and nurture local leadership talents and mentor on a day-to-day
basis.
The goal of BLAST is to develop as many future leaders as possible.
Some of these future leaders may advance to become office leaders,
but BLAST is designed to grow future leaders at all levels
of the organization. Any individual, whether a focal point, team or
official office leader would benefit from participation in BLAST.
Current supervisors are not eligible for SR BLAST, and participation
in SR BLAST does not in any way provide participants priority consideration
in future recruitment actions.
The objectives of BLAST are for participants to develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities to...
- Foster growth and entrepreneurial mentality in meeting the NWS mission,
- Meet the challenge of change,
- Think outside the box,
- Lead by serving,
- Translate NWS Core Values into day-to-day reality, and
- Plan for the future.
This program is built around two independent components-one at the local
office level (which already exists in some offices), and another more
formal version at the regional level. This is Southern Region's approach
to Building Leaders for A Solid Tomorrow-Project
BLAST. |
| Local Office Component of BLAST (Local BLAST) |
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The purpose of the local office component of BLAST is to provide a mechanism whereby any staff member with leadership interest and talent will have the opportunity to explore and expand those capabilities for the good of the NWS. Local BLAST is available to any office staff member and is applicable to all Southern Region field offices and regional divisions. Each office (or regional division) leader will be required to establish a Local BLAST Program.
Local office leaders can direct their programs in a manner they feel most comfortable. In fact, a number of Southern Region field leaders have already established similar programs to nurture local leadership talent, and those programs meet the Local BLAST requirements. All Local BLAST Programs will contain the following general structure...
- A formal format that will convey the message to the participant that he/she is participating in a leadership program.
- Local projects in consonance with the office mission and of varied disciplines (e.g., outreach with partners, diversity, operations, responding to customer needs, etc.) for the participants. Length, scope, and frequency of local projects would be determined by the local manager and BLAST participant.
Sharing of leadership experiences and lessons learned by immediate supervisor.
- Local training (vendor training through one-day courses, on-line training via Internet, video tapes from the Southern Region Leadership Library, or formal courses from academia or U.S. Government). This training will be provided based on availability of local funding and level of interest and related past accomplishments exhibited by the participant.
- Method(s) to convey progress to program participant, either subjective or objective. Routine documented evaluation sessions, at least every 6 months, are required between the local leader and participant.
SRH will assist local managers in developing local training and development plans if needed, as well as providing materials from the Southern Region Leadership Library, which consists of audio tapes, video tapes, books, and workbooks. Each field office and SRH Division will be required to report every six months to the Regional Director on the progress of their Local BLAST programs.
Participation by local staff members is voluntary, and individuals should notify their supervisor of their interest to participate in the local office component of BLAST. Much of the training and development would be accomplished during supernumerary or off duty hours.
All Southern Region WFOs, RFCs, CWSUs, the SMG, the NWS/FAA Academy, as well as SRH, were to have a Local BLAST in place as of April 2001. |
| Southern Region Component of BLAST (SR BLAST) |
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SR BLAST will provide a formal training, and coaching program
that will allow participants to be better, pro-active, and sensitive
leaders. The goal of SR BLAST is to provide the participants with
the foundation and tools to further enhance their leadership capabilities.
SR BLAST is not the end, but rather the launching pad for additional
reading, study, and learning on progressive leadership concepts.
Current supervisors are not eligible for SR BLAST, and participation
in SR BLAST does not in any way provide participants priority consideration
in future recruitment actions.
Since some personal development time will be devoted to studying leadership principles, SR BLAST candidates should be technically and scientifically comfortable when they apply for the program. SR BLAST applicants should have also demonstrated initiative with respect to leadership sensitivities. This includes aggressively meeting customer/partner needs, thinking strategically, exercising team leadership concepts, being sensitive to others, embracing change for operational improvement, supporting diversity, and exercising business acumen.
Upon completion of the program, each participant in SR BLAST will be able to...
- Use the challenges in the workplace to develop and exercise leadership.
- Analyze required change and the participant's leadership style to emphasize positive change.
- Learn how to build on the leadership training from the classroom to apply in real world settings.
- Use leadership concepts to serve others.
- Initiate a sustained leadership plan.
- Use and build on the knowledge and experiences of other leaders.
SR BLAST is a two-year program with the first year directed toward formal
off-site training (5 working days) and participating in on-site training
opportunities. The second year primarily will consist of on-site training
and 10 days working with a SRH Program Manager. A new SR BLAST class
of up to 14 participants will be started each year. Specific information
regarding SR BLAST is contained in the training
schedule. |
| Eligibility |
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SR BLAST will be competitively open to GS-12, GS-13,
or GS-14 level Meteorologist, Hydrologists, Information Technology
staff and Electronic staff in the NWS Southern Region and the
Storm Prediction Center. MICs, HICs, and Southern Regon Headquarters
Division Cheifs are not eligible for this program. To be considered
for SR BLAST, applicants are encouraged to coordinate and gain the
support of their office supervisor. Support by the supervisor indicates
he/she will provide local guidance to the participant as well as assigning
and evaluating short-term local assignments.
Every effort will be made to consider mission operations as top priority and time away from office will be reasonably minimized. As part of the acceptance process, each SR BLAST candidate must have completed, or has managed a local project or program that has demonstrated leadership potential and teamwork capabilities. |
| Selection Process |
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| Applicants' packages will be screened initially by a team designated by the Regional Director. This team will be made up of four field leaders and one SRH Division Chief. A Human Resource Adviser from the Mountain Administrative Support Center (MASC) will be a consultant for the team. The initial selection team will narrow the list of candidates and forward the list of semifinalists to the four Senior Management Advisory Regional Team (SMART) Facilitators. The SMART facilitators will conduct interviews and advise the Regional Director on the final selection of up to 12 participants. |
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