On Tuesday, December 16, 2014, sixty coworkers, managers and executives all came together for a certificate ceremony at Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) in Rancho Bernardo to congratulate thirty of their colleagues who earned the Elevate Strategic Leader Certificate. The Rady Center for Executive Education (CED) offers this certificate series in conjunction with their partner, Spectrum Knowledge, to provide professionals with the necessary leadership, influence and strategic-thinking skills to advance and elevate their careers in today’s globally diverse work environment. Courses offered within this series emphasize these three core areas that prove necessary for successful talent development and organizational development, yet place them within a global context.
Dr. Vu Pham, Managing Partner at Spectrum Knowledge described the Elevate series as “a movement in leadership training.” Pham brings in guest speakers such as Dennis Will, Northrop Grumman Director of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) Capture Team. Mr. Will was “hooked” when he attended the Elevate Strategic Leadership Certificate series the first time it was offered at NGC and is now one of the program’s biggest supporters.
Enthusiastic recent graduates in the room made it clear that they all agreed in support. Graduate Diana Wall said taking the courses “gave me more confidence,” while Ashley Coulson said “the program strengthened my leadership and strategic thinking skills, which in turn strengthens Northrop Grumman.”
Ping Gordo described himself as a guy who “used to just sit back and let others lead.” But, as a result of the Elevate Strategic Leadership series, Gordo decided to take the initiative to run for President of the Northrop Grumman Recreational Council (NGRC) and won. Gordo said one takeaway that really stayed with him from the series is that “force multipliers really work; I’m applying it now and will expand it into other areas [and use it to] guide me as the new President of the NGRC.”
Another participant, Jose Aspe expressed his support of the series stating “regardless of age, title, position, or skillset, we all need to strive to become strategic leaders by self-branding, networking, learning the tools, and selling our story along the way,” enthusiastically adding the Elevate slogan, “Don’t wait!! Elevate!!”
Director of Engineering in the Northrop Grumman Communications Division Larry Stullich summed up the program’s success stating, “I think this is a great program and I am very interested in keeping the momentum going.”
The next Elevate certificate series, the Innovative Leader, will kick off in Spring 2015 at Northrop Grumman Rancho Bernardo and is open to the public. For more information, please visit the Rady Executive Education page:http://rady.ucsd.edu/exec/or contact Nancy Peritz, the Elevate Program Manager atnperitz@ucsd.edu.
Do Not Wait. ELEVATE! was last modified: August 30th, 2017 by Nancy Peritz