Photo By Brian Wulfekotte | Pat Schuett, director of Air Wing Integration and Interoperability, addresses...... read more read more
Ask Rear Adm. Keith Hash, commander of Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, about "soft skills," and he'll set you straight.
"In leadership, everyone calls them soft skills. I don't call them very soft," Hash said. "They're some of the hardest things I've ever learned in my career."
Leadership EDGE (Engagement, Direction, Growth and Empowerment) equips leaders with the skills to engage teams, set direction, drive growth, and empower others to achieve their full potential.
The first three cohorts celebrated their achievement at capstone events Aug. 5 at Point Mugu and Aug. 6 at China Lake. The 82 graduates completed a journey of 18 months that transformed how they lead themselves, their teams, and the organization.
Leadership EDGE replaced the Professional at All Levels program (PaaL) in 2023. That program lasted three years, and the new one compresses three separate yearlong steps into a focused development experience.
So what does it take to complete this intensive program?
Two hundred ten hours across two fiscal years while maintaining their full workload. At least 24 hours of coaching sessions. And more than 20 hours dedicated to capstone projects on top of everything else.
They carved out 19 days for concentrated courses, starting with "Building a Learning Organization," progressing through team dynamics and talent management. The journey culminated with "Communicating for Lasting Impact."
For Lori Miller, Leadership EDGE content program manager and Organizational Development Cohort 2 lead, the classes were only the beginning.
"We couldn't run these programs without the coaches. It would not be effective," Miller said. "We've had a lot of people say the classes were really good, but the thing that really did it for me was the coaching component."
Beyond the classroom
Ask any graduate what made the difference, and they will point to the monthly coaching sessions built into the program. While classes happened every other month, coaching filled the gaps, two hours at a time, where participants tackled real workplace challenges with their peers.
Robyn Newcomb, officer in charge of construction and integrated master schedule lead at China Lake, brings years of coaching experience to Leadership EDGE.
Newcomb said coaching future leaders is an investment in NAWCWD's success over the long term.
But for her, it is also personal.
"The opportunity to coach is what keeps me coming to work. Seeing the difference it can make in people's lives is phenomenal," she said.
Lindsay Randall, branch head for Mission Planning and Readiness for Electronic Warfare at Point Mugu, credits coaching with shaping her own career.
"This work really helped me to the path I am on today," Randall explained.
Now she watches participants discover that same power.
"Coaching sessions are special because they allow for a group of peers to learn and grow through the program together," Randall said. "Finding meaning and benefit in coaching allows them to take that new skill back to their teams."
Building tomorrow's leaders today
Pat Schuett, director of Air Wing Integration and Interoperability, remembers the faces from December 2023.
Doubts filled them as they wondered what they had gotten themselves into. When he returned at program completion, he saw transformation.
They had found their leadership voice.
"I'm looking at a bunch of leadership Jedi in here," Schuett said. "You're going to keep evolving because we as leaders continue to evolve."
That evolution meant finding their own leadership voice, not copying the leader before them or mimicking someone they admired, but discovering what worked specifically for them.
Each graduate had to learn their own way to lead.
Finding their way
Leadership EDGE attracts surprising candidates.
Miller says each cohort typically includes three or four participants who don't see themselves as leaders, with likely more who aren't yet comfortable admitting it.
Miller remembers December 2023 clearly.
Several participants stood up during orientation and admitted they did not see themselves as leaders.
"All those people who said 'I don't see myself as a leader' started to shine," Miller said. "They've become good leaders in the process."
Isaac Espinoza was one of them. A human resources specialist at Point Mugu, he entered the program as someone who had "always been reluctant to take supervisory or lead roles."
The experience changed everything.
"I'm no longer avoiding conflict. I'm now looking to improve my difficult conversation skills," Espinoza said. "The coaching aspect was extremely important because I learned how to help colleagues come to their own conclusions. I learned how to ask the right questions to ignite critical thinking."
For Gabrielle Burkhart, confidence was not the issue.
As a resource specialist at China Lake who completed Step 1 of PaaL in 2019, she entered Leadership EDGE already confident in her communication and coaching abilities.
Then came FranklinCovey's "Leading at the Speed of Trust" workshop, a session that immersed participants for three days in building trust through transparency, clarity, and accountability.
Burkhart's transformation went beyond difficult conversations. The Belbin assessment taught her to see team dynamics differently. She stopped looking for people like herself and started building teams with complementary strengths. Her coaching style shifted from giving advice to asking questions.
"By utilizing coaching questions, you allow the other person to talk through their problem and find their own solution," Burkhart said.
The bigger picture
As threats rise and response time shrinks, NAWCWD must equip leaders to deliver for the fleet. The command's dual bottom line demands leaders who can achieve mission success while ensuring workforce well-being.
These 82 graduates understand both imperatives.
"Our whole organization gets stronger when our leaders get stronger," Hash said. "This is an opportunity for you all to help the entire organization get better at what we do, so we can deliver the outcomes that our warfighters need."
These 82 graduates got better by getting real about their strengths, their weaknesses, and their potential to lead.
"You've been given some skills here to lead this organization," Schuett said. "And we need you. We need people to get people innovating."
The program attracts employees at the journey level, team leads, supervisors, and managers. But titles do not define leadership at NAWCWD. What matters is stepping up, influencing change, and guiding others.
"I have all the confidence in the world that you are positioning this organization to continue," Schuett said. "And I really look forward to continuing to partner with you."
| Date Taken: | 08.11.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.11.2025 12:46 |
| Story ID: | 545340 |
| Location: | POINT MUGU NAWC, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 141 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NAWCWD celebrates first 82 Leadership EDGE graduates, by Tim Gantner, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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