Leadership Development Courses
Overview
Our interagency leadership development courses guide you through a career-spanning process of leadership development, from aspiring leader to senior executive. You’ll learn alongside peers from across government, networking and sharing best practices. Our courses are offered in Washington, DC, other locations around the country, and online.
Our curriculum is built upon OPM’s Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and competencies that represent guideposts on the path to career and organizational success. Learn more about our approach to leadership curriculum.
View our full course schedule or learn about specific courses and programs:
- Aspiring Leaders
- Team Leads
- Supervisors and Managers
- Senior Leaders and Executives
- LEAD Certificate Program
- Agency Training
About Us
The Center for Leadership Development's interagency leadership development courses are offered through our Eastern Management Development Center (EMDC). Contact us at 202-606-2005 or Register@opm.gov.
Download Information to Take With You
Aspiring Leaders
We offer a variety of skill-building and leadership courses for non-supervisors and those looking to progress to higher levels. View our full course schedule or learn about specific courses and programs below.
Skill-Building Courses
- Increasing Influence at Work
- Staying Positive in Difficult Times
- Foundations of Project Management
- Organization and Time Management
- Communicating Face to Face
- Setting and Reaching your Goals
Leadership Courses
Certificate Program
Our courses for Aspiring Leaders are also available as a certificate program. OPM’s LEAD Certificate Program at the Aspiring Leader level lets you take charge of your professional development. LEAD offers essential leadership skills that help you fulfill your Individual Development Plan (IDP), putting you squarely on the path to career development.
Learn more about OPM's LEAD Certificate Program.
Team Leads
Gain the fundamental skills to be an effective team leader and a team member. View our full course schedule or learn about specific courses and programs below.
Skill-Building Courses
- Increasing Influence at Work
- Build Personal Resilience
- Decision Making and Problem Solving
- Foundations of Project Management
Leadership Courses
- Team Development
- Leading Hybrid Teams
- Leadership Assessment Program Level 1
- Leadership Skills for Non-Supervisors
- Facilitation Skills for Leaders
- Engaging and Encouraging Employees
- Inclusive Leadership in Action: Addressing DEIA Systemically
Certificate Program
Our courses for Team Leads are also available as a certificate program. OPM’s LEAD Certificate Program at the Team Lead level lets you take charge of your professional development. LEAD offers essential leadership skills that help you fulfill your Individual Development Plan (IDP), putting you squarely on the path to career development.
Learn more about OPM's LEAD Certificate Program.
Supervisors & Managers
New or experienced supervisors or managers can take our assessment or immersion programs to further develop your capacity as a leader. View our full course schedule or learn about specific courses and programs below.
Leadership Assessment Program
Gain greater self-awareness and understanding of how your own strengths and areas for development can impact team collaboration and dynamics through OPM’s Leadership Assessment Program. Register based on your years of supervisory experience:
- Less than 1 year: Leadership Assessment Program Level 1
- More than 1 year: Leadership Assessment Program Level 2
Supervisory Development Courses
Gain valuable insights into workplace motivation and employee engagement that expands your fundamental knowledge into a foundation for great leadership:
- New front-line supervisors: Supervisory Development 1: Fundamentals
- Supervisors wanting to refine their leadership approach: Supervisory Development 2: Learning to Lead
Management Development Courses
Expand upon your unique position of ensuring mission success by building peer networks across federal agencies, learning new ways to develop and deploy your staff, and practicing collaborative management of work team cultures.
- First- or new second-line managers: Management Development 1: Leading from the Middle
- Second- and third-line managers: Management Development 2: Leading Organizations
Certificate Program
Our courses for supervisors and managers are also available as a certificate program. OPM’s LEAD Certificate Program at the Supervisor and Manager levels let you take charge of your professional development. LEAD offers essential leadership skills that help you fulfill your Individual Development Plan (IDP), putting you squarely on the path to career development.
Learn more about OPM's LEAD Certificate Program.
Senior Leaders & Executives
Whether you’re looking to further develop as a high-level leader, assess your leadership skills and competencies, or explore the dynamics of relationship building, we have the course for you. View our full course schedule or learn about specific courses and programs below.
Skill-Building Courses
- Building Coalitions: The Art of Successful Collaboration
- Conflict and Negotiations for Federal Executives
- Working with Congress for Federal Executives
Leadership Courses
Senior Executive Assessment Program
Assess your readiness to be an executive or member of the Senior Executive Service (SES). Take the next step in your career with a focused picture of your leadership strengths
Federal Executive Institute
OPM’s Federal Executive Institute offers additional leadership development programs for senior leaders in the grades of GS-15 and SES:
- GS-15s and above: Leadership for a Democratic Society
- Members of the Senior Executive Service: SES Leading EDGE
Learn more about the Federal Executive Institute.
LEAD Certificate Program
Overview
OPM established its leadership certificate program, Leadership Education and Development (LEAD), in 2008, with the first program launching in 2009. By training tomorrow's leaders today, the LEAD Certificate Program helps aspiring leaders, team and project leads, supervisors, and managers meet the challenge of succession management.
The LEAD Certificate Program empowers you to take charge of your professional development by providing a clear path to leadership education and development that’s right for you and your career. LEAD offers essential leadership skills that help individuals fulfill their Individual Development Plan (IDP), putting you squarely on the path to career development.
At each certificate level, you’ll assess your leadership effectiveness, gain core knowledge, and develop critical skills for leadership success. Through a combination of core classes and electives, LEAD helps you fulfil your Individual Development Plan (IDP), putting you squarely on the path to career development. You’ll focus on essential leadership competencies while personalizing your own growth journey. Each program culminates with a certificate signed by the Director of OPM, formally recognizing your achievement.
Certificate Levels
The LEAD Certificate Program is offered in four role-based levels:
Objective: Build your skills as a high performing, rising leader with fundamental leadership skills which will help build your confidence as a leader.
Audience: Emerging and aspiring leaders in non-supervisory and non-managerial roles.
Program Length: Five courses over a maximum of three years.
Estimated Cost: $6,200*
*Cost will vary based on selection of elective courses.
Required core courses: |
Choose three electives: |
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Objective: Build your skills as a high performer, rising leader with fundamental strategies and techniques for participating in and managing teams and projects.
Audience: Aspiring to be a team lead or are currently leading teams/projects and have not had team lead training.
Program Length: Five courses over a maximum of three years.
Estimated Cost: $11,600*
*Cost will vary based on selection of elective courses.
Required core courses: |
Choose two electives: |
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Objective: Learn and apply skills that emphasize exercising influence and authority, knowing when to lead and when to manage, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce that values and leverages differences.
Audience: New federal supervisors or supervisors in their first year (completes the new supervisor training requirement).
Program Length: Five courses over a maximum of three years.
Estimated Cost: $13,500*
*Cost will vary based on selection of elective courses.
Required core courses: |
Choose three electives: |
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Objective: Learn and apply strategies to align operations with organizational priorities, mobilize employees, and create innovative solutions to complex challenges.
Audience: Second-level leaders (duties include program management; direct work of an organizational unit; exercise influence, design and implement policy, and work in broad partnerships within and outside their agency; and/or supervisor of supervisors or accountable for success of specific line or staff functions)
Program Length: Five courses over a maximum of three years.
Estimated Cost: $18,500*
*Cost will vary based on selected elective courses.
How to Enroll
You must contact the LEAD Certificate Program manager at LEAD@opm.gov to complete registration and enrollment requirements. Registering for a LEAD-qualifying course does not automatically enroll you in the LEAD Certificate program.
Why a LEAD Certificate?
OPM created the LEAD Certificate Program with busy federal professionals in mind, giving learners a path to complete a certificate program within three years. By enrolling in the certificate’s cross-agency courses, you’ll learn alongside peers and build professional networks spanning diverse agencies. With courses offered online, LEAD Certificates are more accessible than ever before, bringing you closer to achieving your developmental goals. You also have the option to further develop your strengths and expand your impact in organizations with individualized coaching sessions.
In each LEAD Certificate level, rising and established federal leaders participate in content-rich modules that provide:
- Assessments of current leadership effectiveness and/or potential
- Overviews of key leadership competencies critical to success
- Intensive development of workplace relevant skills
Taking courses at your own pace gives you time to digest, reflect, and plan how to apply your learning. An optional job-related capstone presentation will demonstrate learning through reflection, planning, and action, validating your mastery and bringing measurable value to agencies:
- Clear progression to support succession management
- Networking and sharing of best practices among agencies
- Faculty with government expertise bring ideas, techniques, and subject matter content to an interagency collaborative learning environment
- Ease of government-to-government interagency agreements
Common Questions
Choose the program that is right for you based on your leadership experience level and where you want to take your career. Your specific program could be based on your current leadership role, or one you’re aspiring to. We recommend checking with your supervisor to get clarity on what’s best for you and your developmental goals.
The LEAD Certificate Program is a self-paced program, which means you register for each course individually as you progress. You’ll track your progress in our learning management system. Once all courses are completed, you’ll declare your completion and the LEAD Program manager will verify your status for graduation.
You must contact the LEAD Certificate Program manager to complete registration and enrollment requirements. Registering for a LEAD-qualifying course does not automatically enroll you in the LEAD Certificate program.
Enroll by contacting LEAD@opm.gov.
Good news - your course can be applied to a LEAD Certificate! Please contact the LEAD Certificate Program manager at LEAD@opm.gov for specific enrollment instructions.
You have three years to complete all required courses.
We don’t require prerequisites for enrolling at various LEAD certificate levels; however, we strongly recommend checking with your agency's training manager for specific requirements.
Only OPM training programs listed for a given level of leadership will count towards a LEAD Certificate at that level.
For the best possible learning experience, we recommend you complete core courses in sequential order before enrolling in electives. Electives can be taken in the order you choose.
Please contact our LEAD Certificate Program manager. We look forward to supporting your leadership development needs.
How to Enroll
You must contact the LEAD Certificate Program manager at LEAD@opm.gov to complete registration and enrollment requirements. Registering for a LEAD-qualifying course does not automatically enroll you in the LEAD Certificate program.
Agency Training
Group leadership training
Our off-the-shelf leadership courses can be delivered for groups within your agency.* Let us provide the leadership and professional development skills your employees need to excel at all levels of your organization.
Contact us at CLDConnect@opm.gov to learn more about off-the-shelf courses for agencies.
*Our Leadership for a Democratic Society program cannot be provided for single-agency groups.
Customized leadership programs
Our experts address your specific needs with customized leadership development solutions to support your workforce. We can design a program that meets the scope and size of your organization and provide subject-matter experts to help address your agency’s challenges.
Learn more about our custom leadership programs.