New Leader Program
The shift from doing the work to getting it done through other people.
About the NLP
The New Leader Program is a six-month program designed to prepare employees at GS 7-11 for management and leadership positions. The theme is Leading Self. The objective is to give motivated people the confidence and the training to set and meet personal and professional goals, expand their network, and broaden their experience beyond one desk.
The published curriculum addresses 22 of the 28 competencies in the Executive Core Qualifications framework as it stood before OPM’s October 1, 2025 revision. Against the current framework the same content sits mostly in Leading People and Merit and Competence. Training runs as three one-week sessions covering team building, communication, conflict management, decision making and problem solving.
What the program sets out to do
- Build the confidence to set and meet personal and professional goals
- Expand a network beyond the immediate team
- Broaden experience through structured developmental work
- Practise the leadership competencies before the promotion, not after it
Cohorts and dates
Six months end to end, of which 3 weeks are in session. The rest is the assignment work below, done inside your own agency.
- Week 1August 10 - 14, 2026
- Week 2November 16 - 20, 2026
- Week 3February 22 - 26, 2027
- Week 1January 25 - 29, 2027
- Week 2April 12 - 16, 2027
- Week 3July 20 - 22, 2027
Dates are as published for the current intakes and can move. Ask us to confirm the next one, or ask about running the program as a private cohort for a single agency.
Who it is for
Employees at GS 7-11 or equivalent. The grade range is guidance rather than a gate, and readiness for the next level of responsibility matters more than the number. The program is for you if:
- You would like to create your own Personal Development Action Plan
- You want the tools and knowledge to enhance your leadership capabilities
- You want to become more visible to the leadership in your organization
- You would benefit from building and enhancing a personal career network
- You want to connect with leaders who will share how they built their own competencies
- You want to get better at effective team building
What participants actually do
These are completion requirements, not suggestions. Most of them happen between the training weeks, which is why a supervisor has to be on board before an application goes in.
Personal Development Action Plan
Built from the results of Graduate School USA’s Leadership Effectiveness Inventory, a 360 assessment. The plan is a series of required assignments and independent study, mostly inside the participant’s own organization, approved by the first-line supervisor, the agency program coordinator and NLP staff.
Developmental assignment
One four-week assignment giving exposure to different leadership and managerial experiences. Participants secure their own.
Shadowing assignment
Three days shadowing a federal manager or executive at least two grades above the participant. Decision-making styles and problem-solving techniques observed in a real situation, not a case study.
Management interviews
Interviews with career federal employees at least two grades above the participant, to gather what actually matters for long-term career planning.
Leadership book reviews
Reading and reviewing books tied to the competencies being developed, to sharpen sensitivity to management issues and trends.
Team project
Teams build on their study of the ECQs and deliver a final presentation to classmates during graduation week.
Team leader report
Every member serves as team leader at least once, sending a team update and raising issues for the group to address.
Organization perspective overview
An analysis of the participant’s own agency: what it does, how it works, and how their role aligns to it.
Program impact paper
A reflection on the six months: achievements, lessons learned, benefit to the organization, and what comes next.
How the program is built
Assessments
The Leadership Effectiveness Inventory 360 sets the baseline that the Personal Development Action Plan is written against.
Experiential learning
Team work, conflict practice and a team project rather than lecture time.
Individual development
Assignments carried out inside the participant’s own organization, between the training weeks.
What comes out of it
For the participant
- A personal development action plan grounded in a real 360° feedback report
- Cultivated skill in the key leadership competencies
- Practised conflict management, not just the theory of it
- Greater exposure within the organization
- Exposure to leadership styles wide enough to develop your own
- Perspective from seasoned managers and executives
- Communication and leadership skill built through team work
For the organization
- New leaders developed for management and leadership positions
- Exposure to new ideas brought back from other organizations
- A visible bench at the grades where most agencies have none
How to apply
Tuition is $4,175 and covers all materials. Most participants are funded by their agency on an SF-182.
Check the requirements
Read the program requirements above and confirm the grade range fits. The grade is guidance, but the requirements are not.
Get your agency’s approval
Your supervisor, and your training coordinator if you have one. Check whether your agency runs its own internal competitive process for these seats, because many do.
Register for the session
Choose the cohort you want and start the application. You will be asked for an email address first, then the application itself.
Complete the application
As thoroughly as you can. It is read by a person.
Attach the funding document
A completed SF-182 or equivalent. If your agency is paying by government purchase card, give the name, email and phone number of the person responsible for payment instead. The application cannot be submitted without one or the other.
Confirmation, then approval
You get a confirmation on submission. Once we approve the application you are asked to accept the approval, and our finance team invoices your agency against the funding document you supplied.
Before you commit someone: withdrawals and substitutions more than 14 days before the start are free, a cancellation inside 14 days carries a $1,000 processing fee, and once orientation begins the tuition is non-refundable. Full enrollment and refund policy.
Stuck on any of it, call (202) 314-3580 or send us a note. Graduate School USA holds GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract 47QRAA24D004K, so a contracting office can order under FAR Subpart 8.4 without an open-market procurement.
Interested in the New Leader Program?
Tell us who you are putting forward and roughly when. We will come back with the next intake, what the application needs, and whether a private cohort makes more sense.