More than 100 petty officers from eight different regional commands gathered at Training Support Center (TSC) Great Lakes for the Great Lakes Area Petty Officer Association (GLAPOA) Leadership Symposium, June 20-21.

"The GLAPOA organized this symposium to bring in leaders in the enlisted community who can pass on their knowledge and experience to help us succeed," said Navy Military Training Instructor Navy Counselor 1st Class Keri L. Childs, Command Career Counselor at TSC Great Lakes and GLAPOA president.

The event featured topics which included Characteristics of Effective Leaders, Evaluation Writing, Fostering Mentorship and building trust and communication.

"This symposium helps us, as leaders, realize the things we are doing right and things we could be doing better," Childs said. "I was proud to be part of the committee organizing the symposium because it allowed me to help my fellow petty officers gain valuable knowledge. I hope our numbers will continue to grow and our voice becomes even louder at the next symposium."

Symposium speakers included Command Master Chiefs Samuel Robinson from Naval Station Great Lakes, Jimmy Hailey from Naval Service Training Command, Deshawn Carter from Navy Recruiting District Chicago, David Twiford from Recruit Training Command, and retired Command Master Chief Leon Walker.

Keynote speaker, Force Master Chief Mamudu Cole, Naval Education and Training Command, talked about how innovative, meaningful command-developed training, such as Sailor 360, can create and environment for growing competence and improving character while instilling integrity, accountability, initiative, and toughness in every Sailor.

"My message today is that we need to develop every Sailor from E-1 all the way up," Cole said. "We must make the most of every opportunity for formal leadership development and we must also look within each command for additional competency and character development beyond the classroom setting including the additional dimension of career planning and mentoring. It is very important to mentor enlisted leaders to set aspirational goals, seek additional duties to expand their breadth of knowledge and experience, and to strive for duty stations to promote their leadership development."


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