Recall how personality traits, cognitive abilities and skills, and emotional intelligence contribute to effective leadership.

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Leader Development Plan Instructional Aid

By Day 7 of Week 4, you will submit a personal Leader Development Plan based on a leadership role of interest to you. Listed below are the major components of the plan along with a detailed explanation of each. Assess your strengths and limitations. Keep in mind that even the best leaders have limitations and can benefit from leader development; therefore, finding that you also have some limitations is perfectly normal. With that said, good leader development plans include targeted activities to develop strengths and manage limitations. For example, a highly introverted leader might engage in activities to improve active listening, a skill that comes more naturally to introverts, with the end goal of forming stronger bonds with colleagues. This leader may also engage in development activities to overcome discomfort related to networking, a skill that comes more naturally to extroverts. Therefore, the chosen development activities are not intended to turn an introvert into an extravert, but rather to build on existing strengths and find ways to manage limitations. Create SMART Goals. SMART goals are those that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. An example of a SMART goal is: Apply active listening skills to interactions with the CFO, COO, and CIO during one-on-one meetings over the next 2 months. Conversely, an example of a poorly written goal is: Improve relationships with colleagues. Identify development activities. Use the 70-20-10 approach as a guideline for your Leader Development Plan.

• 70% of your development activities should be on-the-job learning (e.g., participating in challenging assignments that allow you to apply leadership knowledge and skills);

• 20% should be learning through coaching, mentoring, and feedback, and;

• 10% should be formal, classroom-based learning. Please note the above percentages are approximations only. You are not required to adhere to the exact percentages. Just be sure that most of your development activities occur on the job, some occur through mentoring, coaching, and feedback, and very few occur in a classroom setting. Identify action steps you will take to complete the development activities. Action steps may include contacting a supervisor or colleague about a project you think would help develop your leadership skills, scheduling a meeting to receive feedback on how well you applied specific leadership skills, or registering for a leadership workshop. Identify resources you will need to complete the development activities. Resources may include time, cost, and leadership resources. Identify the timeline for completing the development activities. Be sure to indicate a specific and realistic date by which you will complete the leader development activities.

 

 

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Identify methods and data to assess your achievement of SMART goals. To assess your achievement, focus on measuring how well you apply your knowledge and skills while on the job and/or the business results from doing so. Consider the following examples: You could ask your supervisor to observe you applying strategic thinking skills to determine whether you have mastered that skill. You could engage in 360- degree feedback where your colleagues and employees provide input about your improvement. You could keep track of the number of business deals you make as a result of your improved networking skills and the subsequent profit of those business deals.

 

 

 

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You are encouraged to use the following table and examples to guide your thinking as you develop your plan. It may be

useful to include similar tables depicting your Leader Development Plan in the appendix of your paper; however, the

tables will not count towards the total page count.

Goal #1 Suppose your assessment results indicate that you need further development in transformational leadership. According to Northouse (2018), an important aspect of transformational leadership is individualized consideration, that is, listening to followers’ needs and assisting followers with their growth and development. Therefore, a leader development goal could be: Apply coaching and mentoring skills to employees as they complete assigned tasks and projects to further their development.

On-the-Job Learning

What on-the-job learning activities will you complete to achieve your goal?

• Hold bi-weekly, one-on-one meetings with each employee to learn more about their needs and goals.

• Delegate tasks or projects to each employee based on their goals.

• Use coaching and mentoring skills to help employees successfully accomplish assigned tasks and projects.

 

Learning Through Coaching, Mentoring, and Feedback

What learning activities will you complete with the help of others?

• Ask a transformational leader who has strong coaching and mentoring skills if I can observe him or her coaching and mentoring employees.

• Invite the leader to attend three of my one-on-one meetings with employees and give me feedback on my coaching and mentoring skills.

Formal, Classroom-Based Learning

What formal, classroom-based activities will you complete to achieve your goal?

• Attend a workshop called, “Coaching Essentials,” developed by the Ken Blanchard Companies.

Action Planning

What action steps do you need to take to complete the activities?

• Schedule bi-weekly meetings with each employee.

• Identify upcoming tasks or projects to assign to employees.

• Identify a transformational leader within the company who has strong coaching and mentoring skills. Contact him or her to schedule observations.

 

 

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• Complete some pre-reading on coaching and mentoring.

• Register for coaching workshop.

Resources

What resources or help will you need to complete the activities?

• Two hours of employee time per month to participate in one-on-one meetings.

• Fourteen hours of my time per month to hold one-on-one meetings with each of the seven employees.

• Additional time, as needed, for coaching and mentoring outside of scheduled one-on-ones.

• Three hours of my time to observe the transformational leader and two additional hours to discuss his or her feedback after observing me.

• Ten hours to complete the following pre-reading about coaching and mentoring: o Emelo, R. (2015). Shift your focus with modern mentoring. Talent Development, 69(9), 36–41. o Grant, A. M., & Hartley, M. (2013). Developing the leader as coach: Insights, strategies and tips

for embedding coaching skills in the workplace. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 6(2), 102–115.

o Lancer, N., Clutterbuck, D., & Megginson, D. (2016). Techniques for coaching and mentoring. London: Routledge.

• Six hundred dollars and eight hours to attend coaching workshop.

Timeline

What is the timeline for completing the activities?

• Complete pre-reading and attend workshop by June 30th.

• Observe leader by July 15th. Ask the leader to observe me in three meetings on September 15th.

• Schedule to one-on-ones to begin on August 1st.

• Assign tasks and projects by August 15th.

Measurement

How will you measure whether you achieved your goal?

• Work with Human Resources to develop a survey that assesses employee perceptions of the degree to which they feel supported in their individual development and growth. Ask Human Resources to administer the survey before and after I complete the leader development activities.

• Obtain feedback from the leader who observed me in one-on-ones regarding how well I applied coaching and mentoring skills.

• Obtain a certificate of completion from the coaching workshop I attended.