Carderock HR Advisor Graduates from Defense Civilian Emerging Leader Program Part 1: Shelley Saville

Carderock HR Advisor Graduates from Defense Civilian Emerging Leader Program Part 1: Shelley Saville

By Brittny Odoms, NSWC Carderock Public Affairs

Since her husband's military retirement, Human Resource Advisor, Shelley Saville, has focused on advancing her career, with a goal holding an upper-level HR position. To get there, she enrolled in the Defense Civilian Emerging Leader Program (DCELP) to gain valuable skills and stand out from other candidates.

"I'm usually on the lookout for ways to improve and develop myself, because that's just who I am," said Saville. "I also genuinely believe in our team's mission, so the better I am in hard and soft skills, the better my contributions."

DCELP is a DoD leadership development program for entry-level civilian employees in grades GS-7 to GS-12. The program is offered in two annual phases. The first phase, for acquisition, financial management, and human resources professionals, runs from March to June. The second phase, for all career fields, is from June to September.

The program follows a competency-based model focused on leading self, leading teams and projects, and leading people. Participants start with online coursework, followed by four in-person seminars over four months at the DoD Executive Management Training Center in Southbridge, Massachusetts.

Training includes classroom instruction, mentoring, group projects, and experiential learning. Core competencies include communication, decision-making, problem-solving, teamwork and resilience. The program's goal is to prepare emerging leaders to support the DoD mission and grow into future leadership roles across the federal workforce.

Saville's biggest challenge came during the first week. The program made her take a heavy look at herself as the first seminar is fittingly entitled, "Know Self."

"I remember by the last day of week one, I was so mentally and emotionally exhausted," said Saville. "It was my first [temporary duty], first time being away from my toddler, so much information being thrown at us, and by Thursday afternoon I'd just spent four days critically looking at myself - discovering and defining my values and receiving feedback from the team back home - and being vulnerable. Friday night's sleep was the longest I had in a long time, just recovering, but the knowledge and insight gained was invaluable and has already made a difference."

Saville said what stuck out throughout the program was courageous followership.

"Obviously, we're there because we want to be leaders, so covering this concept was surprising at the time but it really did come in use during our capstone." Saville said. "If you said early on that I wouldn't have tried to lead a team or rush to solve the problem, I wouldn't have believed it, as I am competitive. But I stepped back during the capstone, and my actions were positively noticed by several teammates in the debrief. As a leader, you can't do everything - it's a disservice to those you lead because they can't grow if you're handling it all. So, when we have the courage to step back and let others lead, even if it's 80% correct, it's such a positive impact to development and morale."

Saville credits DCELP with helping her gain confidence that has carried over into her work, including interactions with peers and leadership.

"I'm definitely more vocal and confident in presenting my ideas for improvement or change and absolutely have a new spark inside with what I do now and increasing my aspirations," she said.

Her biggest takeaway is to be open-minded.

"Be open to new ideas, change, failure, being uncomfortable, receiving compliments, and taking chances," Saville said. "People who were resistant, whether to lessons or participating, struggled more than others. You don't have to change but be open to it - you never know what will come of it if you aren't."