Certified Public Manager® - Recommendations

Organizational Benefits of the CPM

How can the Certified Public Manager program meet your organization's needs or goals?

• Acknowledge dedicated and motivated team members or colleagues
• Support succession planning
• Encourage connections between your and other agencies across Washington
• Build a cadre of managers who are not only good at their core job functions, but can thoughtfully engage with their employees and the communities they serve

Ideal CPM^® Candidate Qualities

An ideal CPM candidate is

• Reflective: True leadership requires the ability to look deeply at your own experiences, values, abilities, and relationships.
   
• Self-Motivated and Self-Directed: The WA CPM^® is a blended or hybrid program, which means not all of the learning happens in the classroom. Participants will need to be able to keep up with these independent portions of the program and complete major projects on time and to standard.
   
• Committed to Growth: Change, systems thinking, and a growth mindset are key to the CPM^® program, so participants should have already demonstrated a commitment to their own growth and that of others. This can take the form of pursuing formal training, seeking out stretch assignments or opportunities, and/or encouraging others wo do the same.
   
• Passion for Public Service: The CPM® is a leadership and management program for those who want to grow their skills not just for their own sake, but so they can improve their organization(s) and better serve the public.

Recommendation Process

Leaders and supervisors can use the below form to recommend a candidate for the Certified Public Manager^® program. The candidate does not need to be the recommender's direct report, but the recommender should be familiar with the candidate's work in a concrete way. We will accept recommendations from leaders in other agencies than the candidate's current one and in other mentoring relationships, but not supervisees / direct reports of the candidate.

In your statement, please make sure to describe why your nominee is a good candidate for the program, how they reflect the CPM Candidate Qualities, and how you see the program fitting into their leadership journey and/or service to the public. This is not a statement of financial support or time release. Referrals should be one to two pages.

After recommendation, the Professional Development Center will contact the candidate to notify them and collect the remaining application materials (if necessary).