IntroductionIPA’s Women’s Leadership Development Program (WLDP) provides opportunities for women in public service to improve and develop their leadership skills so they can become more effective in the various roles in which they are involved.
The program focuses on individual development and is based on the belief that individuals can expand their leadership capacities; they can learn, grow, and change.
“Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not ‘making friends and influencing people’—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of personality beyond its normal limitations.”
—Peter F. Drucker
The program is offered in three phases, each one building upon the other, each in increasing depth that provides greater opportunity for growth.
Phase I focuses on the conceptual foundation of leadership, the similarities and differences in male and female leadership, leadership and social capital, and, most important, the seed that causes leadership to flourish—creativity.
Phase II sheds light on individual personality, behavior, and character using tools such as Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality inventory. This phase focuses on skills and techniques that enable participants to interact cohesively in a social network.
Phase III provides time to work on practical leadership development needs in a small-group setting. The topics covered and the skill sets practiced help individuals enhance their leadership abilities. Participants are self-selected and funded by their agencies. An advisory group comprising women from various state government, local government, and nonprofit agencies assist with the distribution of program registration material. WLDP also works closely with the training divisions of various agency departments to make information available to their female personnel.
