Resource Development Systems was recently pleasantly surprised to get an unexpected phone call from staff at the US Navy’s Center for Naval Leadership, thanking RDS for its ongoing support of leadership development programs at the CNL.  It had been 10 years earlier that RDS had received a similar call from the CNL about a model that RDS had recently developed and published, requesting the use of the model in the programs that the CNL was redesigning at the time. 

The Seven Elements of High Performance™ was a model that had been developed out of three years of intensive study on what the vast body of research revealed separated the best performing organizations from all of the others.  This model was published in a whitepaper, The Dynamics of High Performing Organizations, and placed on the RDS website.  It eventually came to the attention of the subject matter experts that were providing input into the course redesign at the CNL, and they insisted on its use. 

“We were quite honored that the US Navy would seek us out and that they also found the model of significance and wanted to use it,” said Gary Lear, President and CEO of RDS.  “It was a time when our military service members were involved in two major conflicts, and we wanted to do whatever we could to support them in their efforts.  As a result, we gave the US Navy the right to use the model in their programs as they saw fit, with no expectation of remuneration.”  

That was in 2006; fast forward to 2016 and the US Navy is again contacting RDS to thank them for its use, indicating that it had become a major component of its programs and that the model is always well received by its participants.  Primarily providing instruction to flag officers, commanders, captains, and admirals, Lt. Commander Ryan Murphy, an instructor at the CNL, had high praise for the Seven Elements model.  “Four years ago I was selected to facilitate the Department Head and Advanced Officer Leadership Courses for the U.S. Navy as my first tour in the Navy Reserves. One of the lessons highlighted The Seven Elements of High Performance™, and it was the one I always requested to be the lead facilitator for. I identified this model as one in which all other leadership topics seem to fit into nicely.  It is a perfectly structured model to teach all aspects of leadership.”  He further praised Gary Lear’s bestselling book, “Leadership Lessons from the Medicine Wheel: The Seven Elements of High Performance,” saying that it “is my go to guide when teaching anybody the foundations of leadership; my sailors, my employees and even my kids!”

In fact, that is exactly what Lt. Commander Murphey does in the small business that he owns.  As his business began to grow he needed to get everyone on the same page, so he broke out his training materials from the CNL and began teaching the Seven Elements to his staff, making it a central component to their employee orientation. 

Murphy further shared that the model “is so easy to embrace that this should be taught to every child in every school and then re-taught to every employee in every business. I wish you nothing but the best and can't wait for your next book!”

Staff at RDS are humbled by the impact that they have had on helping the best naval force in the world to be the best led naval force in the world.  The staff wish our sailors the best, and are proud that RDS has had, and continues to have, a small part in helping to keep them as safe as possible through better leadership by their noncommissioned and commissioned officers.  Fair winds and following seas!