Aspiring Leaders Program Builds Leadership Capabilities and High-Performing Teams

In March, DAS re-launched the Aspiring Leaders Development Program for in-scope Executive Branch state managers after having the program on hiatus since March 2020.

The Aspiring Leaders Development Program is part of the State of Connecticut’s commitment to workforce development and empowerment. Since 2007, the program has provided leadership development training to over 200 managers from across State of Connecticut agencies. Managers are nominated by their agency commissioner to participate in the program.

The program is designed to develop managers to lead successful teams by teaching essential and contemporary leader skillsets such as emotional intelligence, innovation, curiosity, empathy, and agility.

The framework of the Aspiring Leaders Development Program is based on three core areas of focus: Leader, Agency, and the State of Connecticut.

• Leader: A focus on developing insights around self-awareness and relationships to effectively lead others. This core focus enhances managers’ capabilities to lead, influence, facilitate, strategize, and also champion change.
  
  
• Agency: How managers can positively foster the right mindset in their teams and agency to influence process improvement, project management, and performance accountability capabilities from a macro, or leader view.
  
  
• State of Connecticut: A focus on understanding policies and regulations, so managers can be informed and effective in leading initiatives.

At the conclusion of the program, the cohort completes a group project to solve a business challenge related to state government while applying content from their learning courses.

There are 20 selected participants in the 2023 cohort which consists of 10 full-day sessions between March and July.