FLEET READINESS CENTER SOUTHEAST, JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Career development programs aren’t just another bullet on a resume.

Tony Masi, a telecommunications specialist who recently graduated from NAVAIR’s Journey Leadership Development Program (JLDP), said the program has not only developed his career but also improved his everyday life.

“My networking ability and interpersonal skills were fine-tuned through my JLDP training; I even lost 40 pounds directly because of the two-day health and wellness seminar JLDP requirement,” he said. “It still takes personal drive and determination, along with a supportive supervisor, to reach these goals; however, JLDP refined some of the skills I already had and taught me some new ones along the way.”

The JLDP, established in April 2010, helps develop future civilian and military NAVAIR leaders through training and exposure to leadership responsibilities. Participants enhance their interpersonal communication and productivity skills, gain a stronger working knowledge of command operations and develop a more robust personal network.

This year, the program comprises more than 600 NAVAIR employees nationwide and includes leadership, mentoring, and wellness classes, formal mentoring and other developmental activities, such as writing an individual development plan to identify career goals and strategies to achieve them.

According to Stephanie Peppler, program manager for NAVAIR leadership development, wellness is a key tenet of leadership training.

“NAVAIR recognizes the important role that wellness plays in building a long-range workforce strategy and creating supportive environments for healthier and more productive employees,” Peppler said. “JLDP participants are required to take a course to raise their awareness about wellness, which gives participants like Tony the chance to refocus on the importance of wellness and the role it plays in leadership.”

In addition to the wellness class, Masi said his favorite part of the program was shadowing senior NAVAIR leaders, because he learned the inner workings of NAVAIR and gained insight into the command’s decision-making process.

“In all three assignments, it was evident that they all appreciated the people who work for them and what they mean to sustain the continued success of our organization,” he said. “It really reinforced a sense of ‘they do care about us,’ and ‘they are listening to those of us who work on the deck plates.’”

The lessons Masi learned from the program paid off when, in June 2011, he was selected as the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) telecommunications specialist work lead, which also meant a promotion. In his new role, he helps lead, guide and mentor other telecommunication specialists in the overall day-to-day operation of 5,000 telephone, DSL, and fax lines, as well as all voice messaging systems and internetworking cable infrastructures. He also leads teams to install, maintain and upgrade software and hardware for telephone and related systems, among other duties.

“JLDP is a program that provides developing leaders with the building blocks not only to succeed at their chosen profession, but in everyday life as well,” he said. “This is another NAVAIR tool for the highly motivated person with leadership potential to get some real exposure, and most importantly, the confidence and that little push they may need to pursue a leadership role within the NAVAIR community.”

Although not a program requirement, the JLDP gave Masi the confidence to tackle another career goal: obtain a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, part of a business management strategy to improve the quality of process outputs.

To earn the certificate, he helped lead several continuous process improvement (CPI) projects to improve the maximum production, stability, safety and efficiency of machines and processes at FRCSE and reduce costs for each. One such project improved the process for welding large pieces of industrial plant equipment, allowing the shop to potentially increase its production by 50 percent. Now, Masi serves as a mentor for CPI project teams and is part of the CPI project approval board.

“In this time of budget cuts and lean times, it is nice to see that I work for an organization that is investing in its most important piece of the puzzle: its people,” he said. “I am convinced that the JLDP course of instruction has made me a better worker, a better leader, and most importantly, a better person.”

For more information about eligibility criteria or the application process for JLDP, NAVAIR civilian and military employees can call the NAVAIR National Help Desk at 301-342-3104, 888-292-5919 or DSN 342-3104, and press option 4, then 2, for training and Career Development Office support.