The process of self-discovery involves five discoveries. The goal is “to use each discovery as a tool for making the changes needed to become an emotionally-intelligent leader” (p. 109). Each discovery is identified below along with questions, adapted from the Primal Leadership book to help you address each discovery in your personal development plan, the EI capstone project.
The First Discovery: My Ideal Self — Who Do I Want to Be?
- What is the vision I have of myself as a leader, the vision that evokes my “passion and hope, the vision that becomes the fuel that maintains the drive I need to change?
- How is this vision related to the values and commitments that guide my life?
- What do I want in my life and my work? “Think about where you would be sitting and reading this book it if were fifteen years from now and you were living your ideal life.” Read on see YOU, FIFTEEN YEARS FROM NOW, page 116.
The Second Discovery: My Real Self — Who Am I? What Are my Strengths and Gaps?
- What are my strengths, where my ideal and real self overlap? What are my gaps, where my ideal and real self differ?
- How do I act? How do others view me?
- What comprises my deep beliefs? See MY GUIDING PRINCIPLES, page 121, to help you answer this question.
- Apply the Logan test. Are you a “boiling frog” or a Logan? (Read pages 126-129.)
The Third Discovery: My Learning Agenda How Can I Build on my Strengths while Reducing my Gaps?
- My learning agenda is a “Plan of Action” and is a detailed guide of what new things I will try each day to build on my strengths and move me towards my ideal self. I will know that the plan is right for me if it feels intrinsically satisfying, fits my learning preferences as well as the realities of my life and work.
The Fourth Discovery: Experimenting with and Practicing New Behaviors, Thoughts, and Feelings to the Point of Mastery
- The fourth discovery involves trying out new behavior, thoughts, and feelings, and practicing these to build new neural pathways (i.e., make these a habit) and mastery.
The Fifth Discovery: Developing Supportive and Trusting Relationships that Make Change Possible
- Who can help me with each step of the self-directed learning process? Who can help me see what is missing, affirm whatever progress I have made, test my perceptions, and let me know how I am doing?
- How can I create, develop, and maintain relationships that help, support, and encourage me in each step in the process?
The Personal Development Plan must have an Introduction and a Conclusion section, a real beginning and end. The body of your paper will include five sections, each devoted to one of the five discoveries. Use main headings, that is, a level one heading for each discovery. Also, transition statements should be used to connect sections and enhance the flow of the paper.
Although no outside sources are required for this paper, concepts and specific material incorporated from the Primal Leadership book should be cited in APA style, and the book should be listed in your final section, the References section. Any other source incorporated into the plan should also be listed in the References section. The paper should be typed and double spaced. Your plan should be 10-12 pages long in order to cover everything that is required.
This paper is about you and your interpretation of the results. Use I statements own the results. It is all about you. Do not use research voice (third person) for this assignment.
Reference – Primal Leadership book, Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2004)
