First-class opportunity
Boeing's leadership program meets in OKC for seminars, volunteering
For the first time in the program's history, Boeing's Leadership Next program kicked off in Oklahoma City, bringing 400 of the company's top talent for a week of seminars and volunteer opportunities.
There are 11 employees from Boeing OKC selected for the Leadership Next ( LX) program, including Moore native Stormy Jones.
The two-year LX program combines earlier development programs into one, with a new class selected each year. Jones said it brings together people from different sites, specialties and different points in their career.
"It's a great opportunity for us all just to come together and share what we've learned and talk about new leadership tools, things we can be doing, and share more about the company ," said Jones, who serves as chief of staff to Nancy Anderson, vice president of aircraft modernization and modification.
The 400 members of this year' sLX program didn' t spend all their time in the Cox Convention Center listening to seminars. They also ventured out into the community as volunteers. Jones and others spent time Thursday at Infant Crisis Services.
"We get a lot out of what we're getting with Leadership Next. This is our opportunity to give back," she said.
The class includes employees from Boeing's commercial, defense and global services organizations.
Boeing OKC' s portfolio is focused on defense contracts, including a $14.3 billion contract with the U.S. Air Force for research and evaluation of its bomber aircraft.
With LX, Boeing can bring its employees together for targeted growth and leadership development in a short amount of time. It's an investment, Jones said.
"The program really is what you make it," she said. "You get the opportunity to define who you want to engage with, how you want to engage, where your career takes you.
Leadership Next gives you the ability to have that visibility across the company."
Because the company has a broad range of disciplines and projects across the world, LX allows employees to learn about other parts of the diverse company.
For Jones, it' s been the experience with inter national business and foreign nationals.
"I was exposed to both international aspects on the business side for my job, as well as global ways of thinking I hadn't really considered before ," she said. "It gave me the opportunity to start looking broadly at cultural differences, ways that we can have common ground."
The Boeing OK C employees currently in th eL X class are Christopher Thompson, Dalena Reed, Jim Morgan, Ryder Walton, Stephen Hudson, Eric Martinez, Stone Dodson, Stormy Jones, Wendy Stotler and Kristi Windels.
One person declined to have his or her name released externally.