Leadership Development Program:  Communication and Leadership at Northrop Grumman  

By Tom Quirk, Manager of Executive and Employee Communications, Northrop Grumman Corporation

   

               Tom Quirk                                       James G. Roche

“If you not getting smarter, you’re just getting older.”  Accepting these words as both personal motto and organizational imperative, Dr. James G. Roche, president of Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Sensors and Systems, has created a far-reaching and innovative leadership development program for his $3 billion sector, known as ES³.  Current and potential leaders study the Civil and Revolutionary wars, read Shakespearean plays, and take courses taught by company vice-presidents and tailored specifically to their industry needs.  

Visiting Civil War and Revolutionary War battle sites and assuming the roles of the key participants, managers and staff study decision making under severe stress.  They also evaluate the often catastrophic impact of those decisions on the subordinates required to implement them.  Bad business decisions may not destroy lives, but they can destroy livelihoods. 

Much the same purpose is served by managers using the Bard’s plays as business case studies to explore issues in ethics, risk, and leadership.  From Gettysburg’s Robert E. Lee to Shakespeare’s Henry V, the disciplines may change but the lessons and their relevance to 21^st century business concerns are strikingly similar.  

The latest ES³ leadership program exposes the sector’s top 70 managers to seminars and hand-on training in “best practices” in communication.  The Executive Communications Forum is a year long, multi-module program built on the premise that excellence in communications directly contributes to leadership and success in business.   

These leadership programs are targeted not just for top management but also for those not yet in  executive roles, and they are part of a long-standing commitment to identify and accelerate the personal growth of high potential candidates for leadership positions.  A central element here is the obligation of each of the sector’s top 250 executives to select and mentor an employee with executive potential who does not report to them.   

Electronic Sensors and Systems also annually identifies ten of the best and brightest non-managerial employees in the organization to join the Chowder Society, a select group that receives special mentoring from the sector’s top executive team.  It meets quarterly with James Roche and his executive team to share ideas and challenge the status quo, and one member is  chosen to serve as the president’s personal assistant, providing exposure to issues that might otherwise take years to come by.  

Pickett’s Charge.  Henry V’s St. Crispin’s Day speech.  Mentoring and teaching.  Learning and leading. Success and winning:  All are part of leadership development program at Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Sensors and Systems. 

Note: Tom Quirk can be contacted at thomas_g_quirk@mail.northgrum.com.  Additional information on Northrop Grumman’s leadership programs is available from donna_m_szuba@mail.northgrum.com.