Leadership Development Plan (75 points)
Leadership makes a significant difference in levels of engagement and commitment. Reflect on the following to begin work on your Leadership Development Plan. This is your culminating work for the class and SHOULD reflect what you have learned about yourself, how you have grown as a leader, and plans for your future leadership development.
The following rubric will be used to grade this assignment. Each section of the 5 sections is worth 15 points and will be graded as follows. You may use this template and section should be around one page in length (double-spaced). There is a 2,000 word minimum not counting template language. Note that meeting the minimum requirement does not guarantee a perfect score.
| Good (15 points)
-Responses are detailed and well-developed. – Uses critical thinking and shows depth in application of course content. |
Satisfactory (11 points)
– Responses show some detail and a somewhat developed.
– Demonstrates surface-level understanding. |
Unsatisfactory (0-7 points) – Responses are incomplete or very brief. – Demonstrates little insight into application of course content. |
Part One: Making a Difference (15 pts)
- What difference do I want to make as a leader? This can be any setting: work, family, community, etc.
- Are my current actions making the difference I want to make?
- Do my actions help bring out the best in myself and others?
Review your thoughts on previous items, and then consider the following questions:
- How aligned are your answers with your aspirations?
- What do you need to be doing differently?
Part two: Your Leadership Strengths & Leadership Philosophy (15 pts)
- Identify your leadership strengths. Use your SLPI to help you with this. Be specific. Your responses should be different from your original SLPI because you have improved, or because you are more aware of your leadership strengths.
- How have you grown as a leader this semester? Be specific.
- What is your personal leadership philosophy?
- Have you revised it since you submitted it earlier in the semester? If so, how? If not, why? Remember, this should be a personal statement, rather than a general statement about leadership by reflecting your experiences, values, and passions.
- Who should you share your personal leadership philosophy with that will make you a more effective and trusted leader?
Part three: expanding your leadership capacity action plan (15 pts)
You already have the capacity to lead. There is leadership potential in everyone.
- Identify three aspects of your leadership in which you would like to become better. This may be something you now do well and would like to further strengthen or an area you feel is important to improve. How does this fit into the Kouzes and Posner 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership framework?
- Develop an Action Plan by identifying specific actions that you want to hone to expand your capacity to lead. This could be by improving weaknesses or by leveraging strengths. Set a time frame for getting the step completed. Some of the Action Steps may involve improving a skill, building on a strength, or improving in an area you are not as strong. Place a P if the action step should be a top priority for you.
| P | Action Steps | By When? |
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Part four: Feedback & Mentors (15 pts)
If you are going to grow and develop your leadership skills, you will have to rely on people around you to let you know about the impact of your behaviors and actions. Their feedback is the only way you can learn how you make others feel.
- Whose feedback do you need to get in order to be more effective in your leadership?
- What questions do you need to ask each of these people in order to get valuable feedback to help you grow as a leader?
Watch a TEDTalk of Shawn Blanchard about the role that mentors have played in his life and how he now mentors others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh46lVSKWHc. After watching that video, review the different types of mentors we can have. Mr. Blanchard recommended having different types of mentors in your life.
- Look over the different types of mentors below, and identify 5 types of mentors you would like to include in your mentoring circle. Record your ideas on what these different mentors could provide and who could serve in that role in the table listed after the types of different mentors.
- World View Mentor: person who has sat or sits way above my perspective – they can help you navigate because they are viewing where you are from a different perspective
- Street View Mentor: person who stands with you in the same perspective
- Reverse Mentor: person who is below you in the organizational chart or in age, but has a skill/quality you want to learn or a perspective you want to understand
- Time Machine Mentor: person who is in your past – Abraham Lincoln, Dale Carnegie, Jesus, etc.
- Stealth Mentor: person you can gain from without them not knowing they are doing so
- Categorical Mentor: person who has lots of skills/talents/knowledge, and I want to learn from them
- Anti-Mentor: person who exhibits characteristics/behaviors I do not want to be
- Teammate Mentor: person who understands you and where you are in your career and who can provide guidance on day to day and stated goals
- Connection Mentor: person who is connected and can help you make the connections needed to grow or succeed
- Path Blazer Mentor: expert in industry or your chosen path and can dramatically shorten the learning curve for you
- Sounding Board Mentor: person who allows you to bounce off ideas, provides feedback, and helps you get to better ideas
- Success Magnet Mentor: person who has been very successful in their own industry – offers new perspective on “success” generally. Helps uncover real world, how to overcome obstacles of all types
- Sponsor: person who believes in you, is your advocate, will speak on your behalf
- Mirror Mentor: person who tells you like it is, brutal honesty that you respect, they know your strengths/weaknesses, background, challenges you
- Complete the Mentoring Worksheet
Review the many different types of mentors. Of those different categories, select at least FIVE types of mentors you need to be part of your personal mentoring circle.
Then get more specific about WHAT this mentor could do for you and WHO could fill this role.
| Type of Mentor | What this mentor could do for me | Who to Approach |
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Part five: Commitment & Concluding Thoughts (15 pts)
Leadership is hard work. It is challenging work. Once you’ve made the choice to lead, you can commit yourself further by telling someone else about what you decided to do and ask that person to hold you accountable to your plan.
- Choose one (or more) classmate you can trust to keep you honest in executing your Leadership Development Plan. Tell that person what you plan to do, set aside a regular time to touch base on your progress, and ask her or him to just ask, “Did you do what you said you would do?”
Name How Can They Help You? Follow Up Date/Time
- Share any concluding thoughts about the class and your leadership development journey this semester. For example, what assignments were most beneficial to your growth as a leader? What assignments were not helpful and what suggestions do you have for improving the course? Note: There will be no point deduction for offering constructive criticism.
