Training Requirement

Leading Others meets the supervisory and management training requirements outlined in Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 357-34-055 through 357-34-090.

As outlined by WAC 357-34-065, it covers:

Leading Others Part 1: Prerequisites

Registration for Leading Others Part 1 is now open. The eleven e-learning prerequisites are:

• WA State Preventing Workplace Violence for Supervisors (30 min)
• WA State Reasonable Accommodations for Supervisors (30 min)
• WA State Recognizing & Mitigating Bias in Hiring
• WA State Recruitment and Interviewing Preparation
• WA State Family Medical Leave Act for Supervisors (20 min)
• WA State Civil Service Rules & Labor Relations (20 min)
• WA State Pay, Leave & Time (20 min)
• WA State Resolving Performance Issues (20 min)
• WA State Performance Plans & Reviews (25 min)
• WA State Unlawful Employment Discrimination (20 min)
• WA State Paid Family and Medical Leave (30 min)

Leading Others Part 2

Six three-hour instructor-led modules totaling 18 hours and an additional 1.30 hours of pre-work.

Whether you're new to supervising or have been leading for years, managing people can be challenging. Every day, you're balancing the needs of your team, your organization, and each individual you support—all while trying to grow in your own role. Leading Others Part 2 is designed to help you navigate those challenges with practical tools, useful skills, and the support to lead more effectively and create a positive, inclusive team environment.

This six-part course builds the skills and mindsets that help leaders succeed in Washington State government. You’ll learn how to adjust your leadership approach based on the needs of your team and organization, apply key leadership competencies, set performance standards, and support employees through coaching and feedback. You’ll also strengthen your self-awareness, improve how you communicate and collaborate, and learn how to shape a team culture where everyone can do their best work. Each module is interactive and focused on real workplace situations, giving you tools you can apply right away.

Module 1 – Exploring Leadership: Balancing Organizational, Team, and Individual Needs

Leaders juggle multiple responsibilities, often facing the challenge of deciding where to focus—organizational outcomes, team dynamics, or individual needs. This module explores the principles of the human-centered leadership approach, highlighting both its advantages and potential challenges. You’ll gain insight into three key leadership focus areas and learn how to shift your focus to create balance in workplace decision-making.

After this session, you will be able to:

• Analyze the benefits and potential pitfalls of three leadership approaches (explain conceptual knowledge).
• Explain three leadership focus areas within the human-centered approach (summarize factual knowledge).
• Apply the human-centered leadership focuses to typical workplace challenges and recognize how the leader’s focus can change the result (demonstrate and implement conceptual and procedural knowledge).

Module 2 – Leading Effectively: Skills, Abilities, and Behaviors

This module covers Washington State's 11 leadership competencies. You'll learn what these skills, abilities, and behaviors are and how they help supervisors handle challenges and lead teams. You'll think about how these skills show up in everyday situations and settings, review your own strengths, and identify areas where you want to improve.

After this session, you will be able to:

• Recognize the leadership competencies and how they show up in the workplace (remember factual and conceptual knowledge).
• Apply the leadership competencies to real-world workplace scenarios (apply conceptual and procedural knowledge).
• Assess your strengths and areas for growth and begin an action plan to further develop in one or more competency areas (evaluate conceptual and procedural knowledge).

Module 3 – Measuring Success: Criteria, Standards, and Competencies

Clear guidelines help organizations succeed and grow. This module shows leaders how to create simple and effective ways to measure employee performance. You will learn to set criteria and standards that guide performance and develop job-specific competencies. This training focuses on having more objective ways to measure and support employee performance.

After this session, you will be able to:

• Describe the leadership concepts of criteria, standards, and competency.
• Explain how criteria create the workplace standard.
• Apply criteria and standards to determine competencies and opportunities for development.

Module 4 – Cultivating Self-Awareness: Using Agility and Influence for Meaningful Change

Great leaders start by leading themselves. This module explores how you can enhance your leadership effectiveness through self-awareness by understanding your own emotions and behaviors and recognizing how others perceive you. This class will empower you to pivot when needed and use your agility and influence to lead yourself and others through meaningful change.

After this session, you will be able to:

• Understand self-leadership and two types of self-awareness.
• Describe leadership agility and why it matters in different situations.
• Explain how leaders influence others while handling change.

Module 5 – Creating Inclusive Culture: Care, Communication, and Collaboration

This module addresses how you can use leadership skills and behaviors (covered in previous modules), to create a team climate that empowers and inspires your staff members to support the organization’s values and goals. We will explore what organizational culture is and why an inclusive culture matters for employee well-being and performance. You will learn practical ways to care, communicate, and collaborate with your team to create an inclusive culture.

After this session, you will be able to:

• Describe the typical government workplace culture.
• Explain how leadership approach influences team culture.
• Apply concepts and tools for enhancing care, communication, and collaboration on your team.

Module 6 – Driving Performance: Expectations, Feedback and Coaching

As a supervisor, one of your most important jobs is to help your employees grow and succeed. When performance isn’t supported well, it can lead to stress, low morale, and people leaving the organization. This course will give you practical, everyday strategies to set clear expectations, give helpful feedback, coach employees through challenges, and support their long-term development.
You’ll get tools you can use at every stage of the employee journey—from the day they start to their day-to-day work and beyond—to keep employees engaged, motivated, and accountable.

After this session, you will be able to:

• Describe how performance support helps employees at different points of their journey.
• Explain how setting expectations and building relationships during onboarding supports individual performance.
• Apply feedback and coaching strategies to keep employees engaged, supported, and accountable.

Accommodations

Agency training managers may request accommodations from the Learning Center helpdesk at DESITSupport4U@des.wa.gov.

Registration

Each agency has their own requirements and expectations around requesting training. Learners should begin by speaking to their direct supervisor. Once they have received approval, they will begin by completing Leading Others Part 1. Once they have completed part 1, they can register for Leading Others Part 2.

Note on eligibility: These courses are only free to executive state agencies that contribute to the Personnel Service Fund (PSF). If you are unsure if your agency contributes to the PSF please email us at TrainingInfo@des.wa.gov to confirm your agency’s status.

More information

State employees should direct questions about this training or other required training to their supervisor or agency training manager. Training managers with questions should contact DESEEDDivision@des.wa.gov.