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Life Cycle Logistics

New DoD Policy for Developing Civilian Leaders

By Bill Kobren/August 25, 2022

New DoD Policy for Developing Civilian Leaders

Bill Kobren

The Department of Defense this week issued a new DoD Instruction 1430.16 Growing Civilian Leaders, the first major update to this important instruction since 2009. The new instruction “...establishes policies, assigns responsibilities, and describes procedures for educating, training, and developing civilian leaders below the executive level in the DoD in accordance with applicable law”, and states that “…it is DoD policy to:

  • Develop and sustain a diverse cadre of highly capable, high-performing, and results oriented civilian personnel able to lead effectively in increasingly complex environments, provide for continuity of leadership, and maintain a learning organization that drives transformation and continuous improvement across the enterprise.
  • Periodically assess civilian workforce leader competencies and provide appropriate learning opportunities (including education, training, self-development, and assignments) to broaden employee experience and increase leader capability.
  • Plan, program, and budget for investments in civilian leader development programs at sufficient levels to provide for the deliberate development of civilian leaders, aligned with the DoD civilian leader development framework and continuum (CLDF&C) to maximize overall return on investment.”

The new policy goes on to outline six core competency areas along with a seventh fundamental competency area all successful and effective civilian leaders should possess and demonstrate:

  • DoD Civilian Leader Competency Description: Leading Change - Components: Innovation, Strategic Thinking, Vision
  • DoD Civilian Leader Competency Description: Leading People - Components: Managing Conflict, Developing Others, Team Building, Communication, Interpersonal Skills
  • DoD Civilian Leader Competency Description: Results Driven - Components: Accountability, Decisiveness, Problem Solving
  • DoD Civilian Leader Competency Description: Business Acumen - Components: Financial Management, Human Capital Management, Digital Fluency
  • DoD Civilian Leader Competency Description: Building Coalitions - Components: Political Savvy, Influencing, Partnering
  • DoD Civilian Leader Competency Description: Enterprise-Wide Perspective - Components: External Awareness, Systems Thinking
  • DoD Civilian Leader Competency Description: Fundamental Competencies - Components: Agility, Resilience, Ethical Behavior, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, Lifelong Learning, Service Motivated

These overarching core and fundamental civilian competencies are in turn undergirded by specific technical competencies, which for our military and civilian DoD life cycle logicians are contained in the August 2019 Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Service (DCPAS) "Technical Report for the Life Cycle Logistics (LCL) Tier 2 Technical Competency Model", Appendix A: LCL Tier 2 Technical Competency Model Table 9. LCL Tier 2 Competency Model used in Defense Competency Tool (DCAT) (as updated). For ease of access, a copy of the 12-life cycle logistics technical competencies and supporting task statements are available from the DAU iCatalog.

It should come as no surprise to anyone in our functional area that the 12-life cycle logistics technical competencies directly align to the 12 Integrated Product Support (IPS) Elements. It should also come as no surprise that our DAU life cycle logistics training courses and our growing portfolio of life cycle logistics defense acquisition credentials are directly aligned to these same 12 IPS Element-based competency areas. For additional information, extensive supporting references are readily available including:

Finally, for those who may not be aware, a quick reminder that a competency is defined as "an observable, measurable pattern of knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors, and other characteristics that an individual needs to perform work roles or occupational functions successfully."