Personal Development Plan Personal development is one of the areas of leadership activity that is highly important but almost never urgent (unless your career is in crisis and in that case you would not likely be in this program!). As a consequence, lots of other issues can arise that are urgent and consequently derail your personal leadership development agenda. This is why those leaders who are most effective at developing themselves are also those who anticipate rather than just react to opportunities. They are the ones who take extra steps to ensure that their good intentions regarding self-development translate into action and reality.

In this sense, the best leaders are like top athletes who aspire to world-class levels of performance. No world record or gold medal winning athlete ever just ran, swam, jumped, shot, or played his or her way to top-level performance. Top-level performance requires deliberate and focused development. This is also why you can hardly name a world-class athlete that did not have a coach. Top-level performance takes both deliberate development effort on their own and solicit input and feedback from others.

The following tool is designed to help you translate your good intentions and your desire to improve into concrete actions and real results. To this end, think about all the sources of input that might point to one area (or at most two) on which you ought to focus your leadership development. These need NOT be weaknesses. Often greater results come from leveraging strengths, not bolstering weaknesses. With these inputs (e.g., 360 results, feedback from others, personal reflections, etc.) in mind, answer three basic questions: What, Why, How.

WHAT?

What one or two leadership areas should you work on in the coming weeks and months?

WHY?

Why is this an important area of development for you? For example, are there changes in your companys strategy or your units objectives that require or could benefit from this targeted improvement? Are there future challenges or responsibilities that will require a higher level of capability in the chosen area of development? Is it an area of weakness sufficient that it is holding you back?

HOW?

How are you going to make progress? How are you going to measure and monitor your progress? Who do you need to involve in this effort? What resources, tools, etc. might you need to hit your development goal?

With these questions in mind, the following tool is designed to help you crystallize your thoughts.

Personal Development Plan

Name: Date:

1. WHAT: Priority Area Of Focus What do I want to change or develop? What development priorities give me the greatest leverage?
Development Goal		Timing		Support required
2. WHY: Rationale
What changes (now or anticipated) make this area of focus a good idea? Why should this be your top leadership development priority?
3. HOW: Implementing Something Every Day
What situations and with which people will development opportunities likely arise? Every time I see the following situation(s) ...	What new behaviour will I try? Where will I push my comfort zone? ... I will take the following development action:
Situation	Action Commitments		Timing		Support Needed	Review Dates

Personal Development Plan: SAMPLE

Name: I. M. Determined Date: 14 January 2019

1. WHAT: Priority Area Of Focus What do I want to change or develop? What development priorities give me the greatest leverage?
Development Goal		Timing		Support required
Be more effective in influencing peers and superiors, especially around department priorities, strategic direction, and major decisions.		Next 6 months		Boss, HR, departmental managers
2. WHY: Rationale
What changes (now or anticipated) make this area of focus a good idea? Why should this be your top leadership development priority?
The companys new strategy and structure call for more integration across units (geographic, product, etc.), which means things increasingly will get done through influence rather than through command and controlpeople will do things because you influenced them effective not because you have authority over them.
3. HOW: Implementing something every day
What situations and with which people will development opportunities likely arise? Every time I see the following situation(s) ...	What new behaviour will I try? Where will I push my comfort zone? ... I will take the following development action:
Situation	Action Commitments		Timing		Support Needed	Review Dates
1. Every meeting with peers and superiors where I make a comment or suggestion and then someone else raises a new topic.	Speak up and persist with my idea; ask what others think about my suggestions.		Mthly		Feedback from peers	31.2.19 & weekly
2. Every time I feel frustrated or find myself squelching my own opinions in meetings and conversations with peers.	State my position at least one more time and ask for a response or for more information from people rather than staying quiet or backing down.		Every meeting		Practice with external coach	With coach per plan
3. When I find out that an important decision is about to be made.	Within 48 hours, find out who the important players are and discuss my views with at least two key decision-makers.		As reqd		Key players, External coach	With coach per plan
4. Before important meetings with my manager or peers.	Talk to at least two of the significant players beforehand so that I know their concerns and can lobby for my position.		Mthly		Boss	Each month w/boss