Personal Development Plan
The purpose of this assignment is to write yourself a comprehensive personal development plan that references the relevant academic literature and the work you have done in this course.
This assignment, that is to be uploaded as a pdf, has a 1500-2000 word limit and is to include six parts as follows:
Part One: Introduction (Approx. 100 words)
An introduction provides the reader with some insight into the topic (of leadership development) and an overview of the assignment. Let the reader know what to expect and which aspects of development are relevant to you.
In a second paragraph provide a plan of your assignment to guide the reader’s expectation of what follows. Often this is written last and will constitute about 5% of the total word count of the assignment.
Part Two: My current reality (Approx. 800 words)
In this section, you will provide a snapshot of your current work role and non-work commitments. Then report on your analysis and reflection upon your current reality that you have drawn from the 10 self-assessment instruments used in this course.
You should also use your personal career experience and can also include any other additional assessment tools you may have completed in recent years at workplace/s or otherwise. Leadership 360 tools are common in workplace annual assessments, for example. Briefly identify the key points from each instrument (do NOT describe the instrument, just your key results), that were either new learning for you or reminders of elements that you may have forgotten or overlooked. You can reference literature that supports the value of the instruments or the way that they may contribute to leadership development. Identify the major themes that emerge from your overall perspective of these results. When possible, insert examples from your experience to provide evidence for your claims. By themes, we mean personal traits or characteristics that seem to be linked or indicated across multiple instruments. Consider the implications of these themes, particularly in terms of your work experience and career aspirations that may heighten your wish for development in a particular area to achieve your future reality. The detail will be explored in the next section.
Part Three: Working towards my future reality (Approx. 600 words)
In this section, find a picture that sums up where you are in your life at the moment and another which shows where you want to be in the future. Include these in your assignment at the front of this section. Begin with a brief description and meaning associated with the picture you selected to illustrate your future reality and how it differs from the present. How does the future picture portray your vision for your future and your leadership? Identify the key areas that you need to develop in order to achieve your vision. Examples may include emotional intelligence, change management, self-esteem and confidence, negotiation and conflict management, strategic thinking etc. Demonstrate your understanding of the key themes from relevant and contemporary academic literature that supports your focus on the selected areas.
Part Four: My action plan (Approx. 400 Words)
In this section you will draw up a table with 4 columns.
In column A: List the key actions that you will focus on. The specific actions will link directly to issues discussed in depth in Part Three Working towards my future reality. Remember that SMART (Specific, Measurable, Action oriented, Realistic, Timed) goals are most effective.
In column B: For each key action, identify the “balloons” or enabling factors in your life that will support you to achieve your goal. For example, these may be resources or people.
In column C: For each key action, identify the “anchors” or potential barriers that that could compromise your ability to develop as desired.
In column D: For each potential barrier, identify ways that you anticipate to counter it. It is important to be specific.
Part Five: Conclusion (Approx. 100 Words)
In this section you will conclude your assignment with a summary of the purpose of the plan and the key points from all previous sections.
Part Six: Referencing (not included in the assignment word count)
You must use the appropriate referencing A link to the APA 6th Style Guide was included in the Peer Assessment Instructions section.
