Bllead 05 A08 005 Bs Enus

Skillsoft Blended Learning Resource

Sustaining Your Leadership Development Plan – Assessment Activity

Tools and Techniques for Sustaining the Plan

A leadership development plan is a living document. You must tend to it every day, as you would any other project plan.

To help you do this, you can use a number of techniques and tools to sustain your development plan:

· Daily reminders – One easy and effective way to stay focused on your plan is to write daily reminders on sticky notes and put the notes where you'll see them.

· Symbols – Symbols also make good reminders. If you imagine yourself as an eagle in your leadership journey, find an eagle figurine for your desk or use an image of an eagle as a screen saver on your computer. Each time you look at the eagle, your subconscious mind will reinforce your vision.

· Activities that help you reflect – A third way to stay focused is with activities that you do every day. Running, exercising, yoga, or meditation provide an excellent opportunity for reflecting on your journey, your plan, and yourself.

· Back-up plans, support, and reinforcement – Another important way to sustain your plan is to have back-up plans, support, and reinforcement at the ready for when you encounter dead-ends and obstacles that you didn't anticipate.

· Rewards – It's important to build in rewards for celebrating your interim achievements, to keep you motivated and moving forward. Every achievement, no matter how small, deserves a reward.

· Self-reflection – Remind yourself of your key objectives every day. Repeat them to yourself until they become part of you.

Self-assessment Activity

This self-assessment exercise will help you to assess your ability to sustain a leadership development plan, and to identify ways in which you can improve.

First of all, briefly outline the goals, objectives, and actions you have set to achieve your vision. Next, for each tool or technique, use the questions listed to identify how you currently use each particular tool or technique to sustain your plan. Then try to identify new or better ways you could use the tools or techniques.

Leadership development plan

Goals:
Objectives:
Actions:

Tools and techniques for sustaining the plan

Tool/Technique / Current methods / Ways to improve
Daily reminders
Do you use daily reminders to keep yourself focused on your plan?
Symbols
Do you have any symbols which are representative of your vision for yourself?
Reflective activities
Do you participate in any activities which help you to relax and reflect on your plan?
Back-up plans and support
Do you have any back-up plans, support, or reinforcement in place if you encounter any obstacles?
How will you deal with set-backs? Who will you approach for help? And how will you get their help and support?
Rewards
Have you built in rewards to help keep you motivated? Are the rewards in proprtion to the effort required to earn them?
Self-reflection
Do you remind yourself of your key objectives every day?