A Peek Inside The Aspiring Leaders Program

At most companies, there’s not always a clear path for career development and growth. It can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of your current role and lose sight of professional goals. Even worse, you may not know where to turn to make those goals an achievable reality. At Rocket Companies®, we’re lucky to have numerous programs that solve for these exact issues.

One program in particular was established to assist team members to prepare and transition into leadership roles – the Aspiring Leaders Program (ALP). If a team member is passionate about what they do and has dreams of leading a team, then ALP is a great program to get involved in.

ALP is a 3-month leadership development program designed to build and develop the leadership of team members throughout Rocket Companies®.

During the program, team members participate in online trainings, instructor-led courses, guided mentoring, group exercises and experiential education. The ultimate goal is for participants to learn how to positively impact themselves and fellow team members by developing their individual leadership skills early on. A designated Talent Development team, along with team members from across the organization, assist with enhancing each participant’s leadership skills throughout the program. Here’s a closer look at the program:

The program includes two college courses provided by Capella University. The courses are designed to teach the ins and outs of what makes a strong leader in today’s world. Through Capella’s training, team members are given the opportunity to strengthen their own core abilities and expand their understanding of leadership.

The ALP also includes four courses created by our Talent Development team and offered through The Journey – the organization’s internal online platform dedicated to revolutionizing the growth and development of our team members. These courses are specifically tailored to future leaders within Rocket Companies®.

Along with regular classes and training sessions, participants also attend three off-sites. These off-sites include mock leadership situations for participants to practice applying their learnings in different settings. Through these simulated issues, they’ll have a better understanding of what it means to be a leader within Rocket Companies®, all while getting real-time feedback from a Talent Development facilitator.

Finally, participants will have the opportunity to be paired with a leader mentor from Rocket Companies®. Mentors and mentees work together to align with the content covered in the Capella University courses and trainings. This portion of the program aims to maximize the potential of participants as future leaders and give them real-life leadership experience.

Don’t just take our word for it, though. Hear from some of our ALP alums!

“I found the most impactful things about ALP are the opportunities for practical learning through the off-sites. They provide potential leaders with firsthand experience working through the topics we discuss in class. Allowing them to truly understand what leadership is like.”

Charles Rider, Training Team Leader, Servicing

“ALP was simply amazing! Being able to brainstorm and learn from fellow goal-driven individuals across the company was such a great opportunity. They say iron sharpens iron, and this course was a prime example of everyone making each other better. I left this course more self-aware of myself and others.”

Jarod Wallace, Account Executive 

“ALP was a program that helped set the tone of the type of leader I would be for years to come. This program brings mentorship, self-reflection and growth rolled into one nonstop interactive experience for all team members. The most useful takeaway was all of the relationships I built through this experience. Through this program, I was able to jumpstart my career.”

Mariah Manuel-Berry, Training Team Leader, Capital Markets