JEFFERSON CITY – The Office of Administration announced today that The Missouri Way advanced management training program has surpassed its initial goal of training 1,000 supervisors, managers, and leaders across the state’s executive branch. The goal — which the State of Missouri aimed to reach by the end of this year — was exceeded with the seventh session of The Missouri Way, taking place June 3-5.
Surpassing the goal marks a major milestone for Missouri state government as leaders throughout many levels of the organization continue efforts toward management transformation. More than 140 supervisors, managers, and leaders from the state’s executive departments are participating in this month’s session. Four more sessions of The Missouri Way are planned for the remainder of the year.
“Being a good leader is not about being the best. It’s about making the people around you better,” said Gov. Mike Parson. “We are grateful to the more than 1,000 leaders throughout state government who have committed to just that through The Missouri Way. We enjoy this accomplishment and celebrate reaching this goal knowing that we will continue to make strides in our management and leadership development.”
“When we established The Missouri Way less than a year ago, we committed to a back-to-basics management agenda that aimed to improve government for our fellow citizens,” said Drew Erdmann, State of Missouri Chief Operating Officer. “Since then, The Missouri Way has become the new normal in state government — setting high expectations for our leaders to drive long-lasting and sustainable change. I’m proud that we’ve trained more than 1,000 leaders and I look forward to training 1,000 more.”
“Training more than 1,000 leaders — months ahead of schedule — shows the commitment of Gov. Parson and his administration to not only the state’s management transformation, but also our State of Missouri teams throughout state government,” said Office of Administration Commissioner Sarah Steelman. “The leaders participating in this program take what they’ve learned back to their teams to improve the way we work, resulting in better services for our citizens.”
Gov. Parson launched the first-ever The Missouri Way training in August, establishing it as an important component to the state’s management transformation. The program was created to develop leaders across the state’s 16 executive departments. It equips supervisors, managers, and department leadership with the necessary management skills to better lead change, boost their teams’ performance, and improve services for the citizens of Missouri.
The Missouri Way’s approach is practical and based upon proven principles from high-performing businesses and other government organizations. The curriculum will provide common approaches, tools, and vocabulary in areas ranging from how to manage change within an organization and redesigning business processes to customer experience and project management. The sessions involve a mix of classroom instruction with individual and group exercises.