If I join LDP, what level can I expect to get promoted to (VP?) and how long does it take? What if I say, “No?” Am I permanently off the promotable list?
I have friends who were on LDP, but never made it higher than Manager. Why is that?
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IT has (had?) a similar program called ITLP, mostly for LL6 to LL5 transition. It was lukewarm at best. I recall a peer of mine that was in the ITLP program. Because of Smart Redesign, we had to transfer people to one LL6 to give them enough direct reports and make others individual contributors. When it came time to do mid-year reviews, I sent her the information on her direct reports. She then told me she'd never done a direct report performance review before. How can someone be considered for ITLP LL5 having never done a PR??????? She ended up leaving before the SIRP in June 2022.
If you are wondering what happens if you turn it down, then you are apparently not interested. I wouldn't worry about being out of the running in the future. If you don't want it now, you likely never will. Likely a smart move anyway. Bigger salary gets you a bigger target on your back in most cases. The amount of brown nosing and politics will make you sick.
"OH it'll be great for your career..." might be. But don't listen to people anywhere that want you to get all romantic about opportunities anywhere. If you don't want it don't take it becausenif you feel that way and you do, you'll be going against your gut...and you'll resent your decision most likely.
LDP used to be an 'attaboy' for years. Some people weren't even aware that they were being recommended for LDP until hearing from the coordinator. It was more about who you knew - and who liked you - than it was about your actual skill set or potential.
That lead to a large number of LL6s who had very little real world experience. Case in point, Team Edison. It was primarily made up of LDP graduates who were placed in LL6 roles that did not include direct reports.
That is am example of why you see many LDPs who reach LL6 or maybe LL5 but don't proceed further. They weren't necessarily the 'best' candidates for the program, they were the most connected / networked. Eventually those connections move or leave and at a certain point, their actual abilities were not enough to move them upward.
In a lot of those cases, these LDP grads are glorifies GSR8s with a company car lease and a better bonus. They are decent worker bees, but can't really think independently - and most would never stray too far from the leader's opinion anyway, since being aligned to some leader is their biggest strength.
In about 2019ish, after the Smart Redesign, the LDP program was changed to become much more competitive. At that time, each organization - like the overall organization, not small sub groups within - were allowed to recommend one person for LDP. I don't know if this has been successful, I imagine it is still all about campaigning, but hopefully the most qualified versions of the Friends and Family are the ones selected this time.
If you are selected to participate in this program, I would strongly recommend that you do it. Don't decline or defer. Of course, if you are truly unhappy in your org - or in Ford - then you should be looking to make your exit to where the grass is greener. But in the 'new' version of LDP, many will apply but few will be selected. If you are selected, and complete the program - a series of rotations - you will be placed into an LL6 role upon completion. And while there is no formal rule about age, I do believe that there is an age factor. The people I knew that had completed LDPs tended to have started the program in their late 20s or early 30s. So if you are thinking of applying - or if you were already selected - I'd say jump on it as soon as possible.
The people I knew who had completed LDP were all LL6s. Years or decades long LL6s. I knew between 10 and 20 LDP grads. Of that number, I knew two that were promoted to LL5s. One of them was a free thinker who never had a team of his own but was an absolute work horse who could do anything. The other was the most liked guy by upper management who never strayed away from their exact thoughts or directives - he had no free thoughts of his own, but could execute theirs better than anybody else and never complained, which I suppose has value.
I recall two real F&F (friends & family) LDP grads talking about how high they expected to go within the company. This was back in 2019 and they were LL6s. They're both still LL6s. And these two worded it more like 'how far are they expecting us to go' - as though they were carrying the weight of FoMoCo on their shoulders. It was laughable. Neither had a team then and neither has a team now. I think they are the perfect examples of what the LDP program used to be. F&F just scratching each other's backs without ever really adding much value. People like that are the reason the Leadership Development Program was finally changed in ~2019.
The technical answer to how far you can go is 'the sky is the limit, however far your ambition takes you, blah blah.' But I think the reality is that an LDP grad who plays their cards right could move from LL6 to LL5 and maybe even LL4 on a long enough timeline and in the right org with the right connections. To get to LL4 and beyond, the LDP would be a nice bullet point on a resume, but not enough to swing a decision over other skilled candidates with proven track records.
And for context, I am no longer at Ford as of the SIRP. I was on a GSR8 'lifer' path, at best. Now I am at another OEM and have been promoted twice. This never would have happened for me at Ford. I didn't resent the people who were LDP'd into their LL6 roles and the Ln coasted the rest of their careers. I just resented the way the game was played. I was a great engineer who tended to be on the quiet side but could deliver and was willing to propose outside the box ideas or point out issues that were detrimental to the team/project/etc. At my new company, these things have made be an asset. At Ford they just seemed to push me farther from the F&F guidelines...
Good luck, OP, whatever you decide to do.
This is a layoff forum, do t expect an answer here.