Leadership Development Plan
Length: Three to four pages (not including title page), double spaced, Times New Roman 12-point type, one-inch margins.
Objective: In this project, you will have the opportunity to strengthen your leadership capacity in two key areas:
1) building trust as a leader
2) developing another leadership skill of your choice. Through reflection, goal setting, and practice, you will create and execute a personal leadership development plan. This is the first of two papers for this project.
Instructions:
Watch the LinkedIn Learning course “Building Trust” – click the hyperlink. You will be asked to sign in with your Suffolk credentials.
Choose one additional leadership skill from page 2 of this document that you would like to work on this semester. Watch the videos associated with your chosen skill on Blackboard.
As you take notes on the videos, think about how this content relates to your own leadership experiences and future goals, as well as where you are currently strong and where you have room to improve.
Develop four steps you can take to develop these two leadership skills – this is your action plan.
Two action steps should be related to developing trust. Describe one action step you can practice this semester, and one action step that is longer term (that you could work on over the next year).
Two action steps should be related to the additional skill you chose. Again, create one short-term action step you can work on now and one longer-term action step for later.
Recommended structure for the paper:
SECTION ONE: (approximately 1 page) Evaluate your current leadership experiences. Where in your life have you demonstrated leadership? Consider both formal and informal leadership experiences you have had at school, work, and/or in your personal life. Also, describe a leader that has made a significant positive impact on your life. This could be someone you have personally interacted with or someone you don’t know but who has influenced you. What is it about this person that makes them someone you look up to as a role model?
SECTION TWO: (approximately ½ to 1 page) Discuss what you have learned from the LinkedIn Learning videos about developing trust. Why is trust such a critical issue in leadership? Provide a summary of the key points that you feel are the most important and how they relate to your own leadership development. Based on what you have learned, what are your current strengths and areas to improve in developing trust?
SECTION THREE: (approximately 1 page) Describe the additional skill you chose for this project and what you have learned about it from the Linked In Learning videos. Provide a summary of the key points that you feel are the most important and how they relate to your own leadership development. Based on what you have learned, what are your current strengths and areas to improve in this skill?
SECTION FOUR: (use the template provided on page 4 of this document) Finally, describe your four-step action plan. We will use the concept of SMART goals this semester: you are more likely to meet your goals when they are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-bounded. You are welcome to use recommendations from the LinkedIn Learning videos as a starting point for your action plan but be sure to customize with detail that is relevant to you.
Other details:
Include a cover sheet with the title “Leadership Development Plan, Part I” along with your name, date, and class section. Do not repeat this information in the body of the paper.
Upload your paper to the assignment link on Blackboard on the due date.
Have fun with this project and take advantage of this opportunity to get course credit for developing your skills and interests!