LEAD WHERE YOU LAND
curriculum includes team-building activi- ties, high-energy lectures and student-led discussions—“the trifecta of learning,” said Larson—which also added to the program’s impact. “I have always been extremely comfortable networking and reaching out to people from my DCELP cohort when I have a question and need a new perspective outside my command. It has been more than three years since grad- uation, and we still are in touch as a group.”
Larson has gained a great deal from the courses she has taken. “Te networking has proven to be invaluable,” she said. “I frequently reach out to colleagues I have met in these trainings when I’ve exhausted all other options, and other participants reach out to me. I have met people in all agencies that have helped in year-end time crunches, mainly Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and I have connections in all areas so when I have a question, I have a friend a phone call away. And, because I save all my mate- rial both electronically and in hard copy, I have a massive amount of resources at my disposal that I refer back to and share with others.”
Among those resources is a notebook that she brings to every training program. It includes important terms, reading recommendations from instructors and colleagues, and inspirational quotes.
“Tis notebook is pretty amazing, and I refer back to it more than I ever thought I would. And each time I refer back to it, I can almost hear the conversation I pulled the information from.”
To make sure the learning sticks beyond the classroom, Larson selects one idea or skill—influencing, conflict resolution or crucial conversations, for example—and works on it over several weeks. “Whatever I’m working on, I put a reminder in my Outlook calendar, and I practice it until it is habit,” she said. “If I feel like I may fall short, I can ask my team lead or branch chief to observe my progress to see if they note an improvement.”
As a result of what she has learned, her leadership “has strategically placed me in difficult situations, on demanding teams and arduous projects, and on challenging integrated product teams,” she said. “I have been able to take a neglected program and redesign it into a very successful part of our command. I have helped rewrite policy; influenced others to buy in; and made the program recognizable by becom- ing relatable, collaborating, creating a champion and facilitating continuous change.”
Tat program is her command’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Preven- tion Program. “My senior executive put
MAKING AN IMPACT
Larson’s cohort at DCELP, which she calls her most impactful training course. DCELP “was all about meeting people in the middle—adapting to them,” she said. (Photo courtesy of Amy Larson)
out a posting for a program manager- type assignment, and I jumped on it. Te personnel assigned to it previously were Soldiers who were ‘volun-told’ they’d be working on it. Te command decided to take a different approach, and see if anyone would want to do it,” Larson explained. She and a colleague, Rebecca Jessen, volunteered. “We are lucky enough to be completely different in skill sets but like-minded in accomplishing the mission, and we’ve taken the program to something quite amazing.”
Te pair determined that the program’s difficulties stemmed from the fact that the program lacked the passion and the sincer- ity for its care of the command and its people. “Tat was an easy fix, although it took time. We demonstrated that we genu- inely cared: When we trained, we shared personal stories—we didn’t just read the Army training slides. We had awareness days with swag items and baked goods that we bought or made ourselves—one person was inspired to hand-make more than 500 teal ribbons, one for each person on our command. As a result, we now have 550 people in our organization as passionate about the issue as we are.”
—SUSAN L. FOLLETT
166
Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2020
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