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    You are here Home » IDPs

    28 Leadership Development Recommendations for your Individual Development Plan

    Last updated on Sep 3, 2013 by Dan McCarthy · This post may contain affiliate links


    Welcome to the September edition of the Leadership
    Development Carnival
    !

    For this month’s edition, I asked an all-star cadre of leadership
    development bloggers, authors, and consultants to submit an answer to the
    following question:

    “We all know that individual
    development plans
    (IDPs) need to be tailored for each leader.
    However - if you had to recommend ONE THING that every leader should have in
    their in IDP, what would it be?

    Here are their responses:

    1. S. Chris Edmonds, from Driving Results Through Culture,
    says that every leader needs to have "Serve
    my
    employees" as their #1
    target in their individual development plan. Here’s why:

    “Most organizations see leaders'
    as drivers of results - exceeding sales quotas, deepening market share,
    boosting profits, etc. This is an important facet of what leaders do but it's
    not the only thing leaders need to do. They also need to serve employees,
    creating a safe, inspiring work environment that helps each unique employee
    thrive, every day.

    Just as performance metrics are
    closely scrutinized, leaders must gather data from employees to gather
    perceptions of the leader's service to employees. Do employees believe their
    leader acts with integrity, doing what they say they will do? Do employees feel
    that their boss honors their career aspirations, building needed skills that
    serve their organization now and in the future? Do employees speak up,
    challenging the leader's plans, decisions, and actions if they see a gap?

    I raise these and other questions
    in my blog post,
    Get
    Your Reality Checked
    .”

    2. John Hunter,
    from
    Curious Cat Management
    Improvement Blog
    , says “One item I
    think every leader should have in their IDP is to continue to improve
    coaching their staff
    . Everyone can improve their coaching, exactly what
    form "improve coaching" takes could vary for every individual: be
    more encouraging, be more challenging, focus on building an understanding of
    the organization as a system, spend more time coaching - less time reading and
    writing reports, etc..

    One book, I would
    have anyone who worked for me read is the Leader's Handbook. I recommend it for
    others but whether it belongs in an IDP would depend on if the organization committing
    to the type of Leadership presented in the book. Unfortunately many
    organizations don't practice those ideas so it wouldn't make sense to include
    it in employee's IDP; it would just frustrate them when they are blocked from
    improving systems in the organization.”

    3. Mary Jo Asmus,
    from
    Mary Jo Asmus, says “It’s rare for
    me to work with a leader who listens deeply; even the best have room for
    improvement. If I could recommend ONE THING for every leader to have in their
    IDP, it would be to learn to listen
    better
    . Listening for understanding, context, new ideas, etc. is
    foundational to great leadership, yet many leaders miss opportunities because
    they don’t listen well enough to hear those things.

    Beyond those benefits, great listening has some other
    advantages that aren’t immediately apparent for a leader. I describe some of
    those in a post called
    “Three Surprising Benefits from Better Listening”.”

    4. Joel Garfinkle,
    from
    Career
    Advancement Blog
    , says “Improve Your Perception: A reputation that
    took decades to build can be threatened by a single event. Improving your
    perception is a key skill to work and include in your IDP. Read more at this
    blog post
    How Your Shoddy Reputation Could Destroy Your Budding Career.

    5. Frank Sonnenberg,
    from
    FrankSonnenbergOnline,
    says “All great leaders need work on how
    to
    reinforce the beliefs and values
    of an organization
    . They know that once internalized, these beliefs and values
    affect the norms that influence day-to-day actions, determine what’s important,
    reinforce appropriate behavior, and change attitudes. Here's a post that
    explains more why this is so important:
    Promoting
    Beliefs and Values
    ”.

    6. Jim Taggart,
    from
    Changing Winds, says “Every leader, whether in a management
    or staff role, entrepreneur or small business owner, should incorporate in
    their individual development plan (or learning plan as it’s often called) a clear statement on what they are
    passionate about
    , and what they see as their central purpose in life. A
    recent trip through New England illustrated for me what happens when passion
    meets purpose. My latest post
    Do it Right…and They Will Come:
    Where Passion Meets Purpose
     draws on some
    personal experiences in the hospitality industry.

    People who
    truly love what they do and who excel in doing it exceptionally well separate
    themselves from their competitors. In an organizational setting this applies
    equally, where people empower themselves through creativity, innovation and
    superior customer service.”

    7. Jennifer V. Miller
    of
    The People Equation offers this
    advice for an IDP: “I would recommend that leaders build in one action item
    that relates to learning an aspect
    related to the organization’s
    operations
    that is outside of the team member’s area of expertise.
    Examples: an
    accounting manager could shadow HR for a day or an person in operations could
    learn more about the sales process. The more “opposite” the functions are, the
    better because not only will it increase business literacy, but it will also
    reduce the “us/them” tensions that sometimes naturally occur within different
    business functions.”

    8. Dana Theus,
    from
    InPower Consulting, says “We talk a lot about
    "integrity," but most of us don't understand the true power of it in
    it's simplest form. If every leader made
    the effort to
    do what they said they would do, and only say what they
    commit to doing
    , every time, every company would be better run
    overnight. It requires a level of personal awareness, humility and courage to
    actually practice integrity in the microcosm of our daily actions, but great
    leaders are masters of this simple skill. Practicing this level of integrity
    will begin to reshape your life - at work and at home. It will change the
    relationship you have with your employees, subordinates, colleagues, spouse and
    family. This kind of integrity, I believe, not only shapes a powerful leader, but
    can
    cure a toxic corporate culture as well.”

    9. Mary Faulkner,
    from
    Surviving Leadership,
    says “All leaders should undergo a 360
    feedback survey
    .  The higher one
    ascends in a company, the less likely it is he/she will get honest
    feedback...to his/her face.  A 360 might
    enable the leader to gain some much needed self-awareness about how actions are
    perceived by others.  Note: This can
    backfire in a culture of fear - worst case scenario, everyone is so scared that
    they give the leader GLOWING reviews, and now the leader has "proof"
    he/she doesn't have to change.”

    10. Julie Winkle
    Giulioni
    , from
    juliewinklegiulioni.com,
    says “Today's most critical leadership competency is talent development. Given the pace of change, complexity of
    business, ever-shifting markets, and escalating expectations (just to name a
    few), the only sustainable advantage an organization has is its people.
    Helping
    them to constantly grow
    directly affects engagement, retention and
    performance.

    11. Tanveer Naseer,
    from
    Tanveer Naseer Leadership,
    says “In the current climate of prevailing uncertainties and continual change,
    one competency today's leaders need to develop is how to deal with failure and
    in particular, how to help their employees to use them as teachable moments to
    gain a better understanding of the current realities. To learn more on this,
    check out my article
    How Can We Learn
    To Value Failure?
    .”

    12. Karin Hurt,
    from
    Let's Grow Leaders, says “I
    would recommend every leader include a deliberate plan to build deeper connection with their teams.  This is particularly important as leaders
    grow in scope and scale of responsibility. 
    I share a bit of my journey in
    Leadership
    Development Made Easy
    .”

    13. Linda Fisher
    Thornton
    , from
    Leading in
    Context
    , says “Every leader should have proactive steps for learning and improving ethics -
    including
    their
    moral compass
    , their interpersonal behavior, their global thinking, their
    community impact and their environmental sustainability.”

    14. Dr. Anne Perschel,
    from
    Germane Insights,
    says “Leaders who aspire to achieve a broad vision for change that extends
    beyond their own needs and desires, should be concerned with the development of their own ego.  People can sense when someone is a leader
    in title only, who is more focused on advancing their personal agenda than on
    leading for a more universal purpose. A recent post,
    Transformational
    Leadership's Dirty Little Secret
    , addresses becoming such a
    transformational leader by way of achieving advanced stages of adult ego
    development.”

    15. David Burkus,
    from
    LDRLB, says “Creativity. We give a lot of lip service to creativity and
    innovation, in particular how leaders can "unleash" creativity in
    their organization. But before you can roll it out in an organization, you have
    to learn (or rather re-learn) it yourself. Leaders face big problems and need
    BIGGER thinking to solve them.”

    16. Tom Walter,
    from
    The Serial Entrepreneur, says “You can’t get
    “there” on your own
    .  Leaders can
    reach self-actualization faster through engaging
    outside influencers
    .  These can be
    advisors, peers or coaches.  Most
    importantly, they must be people who have achieved success beyond the current
    level of the leader.”

    17. Tacy Byham, Ph.D.
    and Linda Miller
    , from
    Talent
    Management intelligence
    , say
    “
    Traditionally IDPs focus on skills, knowledge or experiences. Yet, one
    of the most overlooked and fatal areas of developmental focus for leaders is personality. News stories continually
    scream with executive derailment due to negative personality characteristics,
    hurting not only themselves but the people they lead as well.

    As leaders progress in their careers, the complexity,
    ambiguity and pressure results in rising stress levels creating a perfect storm
    for leaders to capsize. For example, it’s easy to cross the line from
    confidence to arrogance and from passionate to volatile. The most effective
    leaders make a conscious effort to control their susceptibility towards the
    triggers that can derail them. Gaining control requires self-insight, active
    monitoring and a willingness to change.

    Since personality is often the ’make or break,’ DDI wonders
    why more IDPs don’t include personality. Why not help your leaders avoid being
    part of tomorrow’s leadership derailment headlines?”

    18. Art Petty,
    from
    Management Excellence
    Blog
    , says “One of the consistent gaps I see in many leaders is a lack of
    experience with and understanding of the
    concepts and tools of project management
    . While the mention of project
    management conjures images of schedules, charts, documents and process, my
    encouragement is to consider it from a slightly loftier altitude. Strategy is
    executed in projects; much of our world of work is a world of projects, and
    effective prosecution of projects requires focus on team development,
    decision-making, risk management, ideation and innovation and learning. The
    definition of organizational health put forth by Keller and Price is: the
    ability of a firm to align resources and renew itself faster than competitors.
    This is all about project work, yet many leaders aren't experienced in leading
    projects, have no clear template for serving as an executive sponsor and aren't
    accustomed to coaching project teams to success. In too many cases, the
    discipline is viewed by a firm's senior leaders as an administrative process
    and one that generates costs in terms of people, process and time. Thorough
    exploration of and some immersion in the discipline will open any leader's eyes
    to the remarkable potential for learning, growth and development of competitive
    advantage that comes from the proper and rigorous pursuit of projects. “

    19. Anna Farmery,
    from
    The Engaging Brand, says “My
    dad always taught me that the best tool for a leader to keep in their top
    drawer was a ....mirror. He said that you could tell a bad leader as they
    looked into it out of vanity, a great leader looked into it to 'reflect' on
    themselves. Self development is about being honest about what you have done
    well and what you need to improve upon....it is not always about courses,
    learning is as much about listening and watching to how people are reacting to
    you. So my development tip is this....keep
    looking in that mirror
    ...not or vanity but to see the leader you really
    are! Here are some more principles that my wonderful Dad taught me about
    leadership:
    My 6 Leadership Principles. “

    20. Neal Burgis, Ph.D.,
    from
    Practical Solutions,
    says “In tailoring an Individual Development Plan for Leaders, the one item I
    recommend every leader should have within their plan is that of understanding their self-awareness & strengths.  They both go together, so I combine them as I
    look at self-awareness as a strength a leader must have in their role.”


    21. Tim Milburn,
    from
    Developing Lifelong Leaders , says “I
    believe every leader benefits from intentional
    mentoring
    . Mentoring widens our perspective. It allows someone else to
    speak into our lives. It helps us to develop humility. If I could only
    recommend one thing it would be for every leader to walk through their
    leadership journey with the assistance of trusted mentors.”


    22. Lisa Kohn,
    from
    The Thoughtful Leaders Blog, says “ONE THING every leader
    should have in their IDP – an understanding
    of Chris Argyris' Ladder of Inference
    . The Ladder of Inference helps us
    understand the stories we're making up, about ourselves and others, that get in
    the way of communicating and working together effectively. Without realizing
    it, we often make assumptions about others, based on what we've observed and
    the reasons we've attributed to others' actions, and without realizing it, we
    only see evidence that supports our
    beliefs. By becoming aware of when we "walk up the
    ladder," we can lead more effectively.”


    23. Mary Ila Ward,
    from
    The Point: Sound Advice
    for Career and Leadership Development
    , says “Every leader in their
    Individual Development Plan should have "Developing Others" in their plan.  Our view at Horizon Point Consulting is that
    the primary responsibility of leaders is to make more leaders.  Developing others is the key competency that
    distinguishes "leaders" from "managers".   IDPs should challenge each leader to set
    goals and action items related to developing others and leaders should consistently
    be seeking feedback from others on the progress they are making in this area.”


    24. Lolly Daskal,
    from
    Lead from Within, says “Every
    leader should cultivate the foundations of how
    to LEAD FROM WITHIN
    . If we want to be better leaders, do better work, enjoy
    better relationships and make our mark wherever we go, we must start with the
    basics. We begin with ourselves, with trusting the heart enough to regain
    control of the mind and quieting the mind to make room for the heart. In my Huffington
    post I ask
    IS
    YOUR HEART IN THE RIGHT PLACE
    .”


    25. Wally Bock,
    from Three Star Leadership,
    says “Every IDP should include lots of
    review
    . Regular review and after-action review. Review with/by another
    person and your own assessment and review. For a bit more see my tip on Making
    Reflection a Habit
    ."

     
     

    26. Mike Henry Sr.,
    from Lead Change Group, says “The one
    skill you should have is the ability to
    let the
    other person win. No one
    will ever trust you if you can't let them win first.  Check out Give Win First over on
    Lead Change Group.”
     

    27. Chery Gegelman,
    from Simply Understanding, says “For an uncommonly effective vision and tools
    for leadership success every IDP should include:  Reading
    the books First
    Break All The Rules
    and Now
    Discover Your Strengths 
     These two books lay a powerful foundation that
    can be greatly enhanced by studying individual learning styles and Situational
    Leadership. “

       


    Thanks to all of the authors for submitting such outstanding
    recommendations! As you can see by the diversity of the responses, there really
    is no “one right answer”.  A development
    plan needs to be tailored for the unique needs of each individual leader.

    However,
    if I had to pick ONE thing to include in any development plan, I’d have to go
    with the advice offered by many of our experts:

    28. Get
    some feedback on your strengths
    and weaknesses
    . We are generally clueless
    when it comes to how we come across to others, so increasing our self-awareness
    is a safe bet for any aspiring leader. As Anna's Dad used to say, "keep looking in that mirror!".

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