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Personal Leadership Development Plan

My Personal

Leadership and Development Plan

Dan Grumbles

LDR-510

Dorothy Cucinelli

January 24, 2003

Personal Leadership Development Plan

Abstract

Executive Summary:

Personal Leadership and Development Plans have several factors involved in them. To

begin with, one needs to determine where the starting point is as well as all the various

aspects involved with current position, location and associated responsibilities. After

understanding and documenting these factors, a study of future plans is necessary.

Capturing these future plans in a written form allows a person the opportunity to make

comparative studies of both a positive and negative nature, which can be referred to as a

B verses C. These lists of positive and negative results can then be used to determine

future direction and the action plan developed and implemented to get you there. Once

the plan is developed and implemented a system for monitoring progress and

performance should be utilized to insure successful completion of the project or task.

Pre-Planning:

An example of this activity would be my decision to return to school for my Masters

Degree. I am fortunate enough to work for an employer who reimburses the costs

associated with tuition, books, supplies and fees related to a degree in a field of study

which applies to my current work assignment. While this is a very positive motivation by

itself, there are many factors that must first be considered.

 Time available to complete coursework and attend classes

Personal Leadership Development Plan

 Learning ability

 Travel percentage and availability of computer use

 Family obligations

 Work schedule changes

 Costs associated with class work

Lack of consideration of any of these factors can lead to a failure to reach the goal, which

is to obtain my Masters Degree with an acceptable GPA.

Based on this process I was able to do a comparative analysis and determined the time

was right to pursue a degree program if it were based totally online. A residence program

was out of the question based on my time and travel constraints. At this point in the

process I then started a search for a program that would meet all of my specific

requirements.

My Leadership Development Plan:

Personal growth is perhaps the most important aspect of my development plan, at my

age the opportunities for my professional growth within my existing manufacturing

organization is somewhat limited. Unless I can locate another organization that is in need

of extensive experience within the manufacturing community, I am somewhat limited to

my current or perhaps one more additional level of responsibility. Even though a Masters

Degree will never hurt my professional opportunities, it is the growth in self-realization

that will allow me to contribute more to the process of positive change and continued

growth of industry; either as a leader within an organization, a teacher of future leaders or

as a consultant to existing or new organizations.

Personal Leadership Development Plan

The following format is the method I use to base my decisions on; it allows me the

opportunity to look at various options, inputs and outcomes prior to implementation and

the resultant mistakes associated with implementing without understanding all the

variation that will impact the actions. While I will never be able to capture all the sources

of variation, by understanding the major sources, I can develop contingency plans to

address those variables that were missed in the initial process, thus reducing the extent of

any mistakes and failures based on the initial analysis.

Plan Format:

Current

Status

Associated

Conditions

Desired Results or

Outcome

Associated

Variables

Action Plan

Personal Leadership Development Plan

Corporate

Manager

Corporate

Manager

 Change

Agent

 Lack of

Authority

 Extensive

Travel

 Lack of

positive

leadership

from

superiors

 Lack of

resources

 Lack of

resources

 Remain

Change

Agent

 Receive

backing

from

Directors

 Reduce

travel by

50%

 Set

example

and model

positive

leadership

for

superiors

 Obtain

budget

and staff

to assist

remote

facilities

 Company

may want

to restrict

change

 Directors

involvement

is related to

personal

knowledge

and drive

 Travel is

related to

needs of the

organization

and number

of business

units

assigned

 Travel is

related to

Plant

Manager

performance

 Modeling of

a positive

Leadership

style may

conflict with

directional

style of CEC

 Budget is

closely

controlled

by CEC

level.

 Continue to drive positive

change based on successful

outcomes. Document

improvements and present to

CEC

 Challenge Director level to think

outside box and embrace positive

change as a method to future

success. Present data to show

improved metrics based on

positive changes implemented

within each business

 Organize travel to address

highest level of need within each

business. Extend time within

business units to allow

completion of implementation

 Continue to Model Learning

Organization Leadership Style

regardless of external and

internal pressures

 Solicit independent budget for

necessary items and

resources to allow for

ongoing

 Implementation of needed

positive change

Maintain tight budget

controls and

demonstrated physical

responsibility

Current

Status

Associated Conditions Desired Results or

Outcome

Associated

Variables

Action Plan

Undergraduate

Degree

 Limited

opportunity for

internal

advancement

 Limited

Marketability

external to

current

employer

 Earn

Masters

Degree

 Available

time

 Available

resources

 Travel

locations

 Computer

access

 Personal

 Collect needed

data to determine

feasibility of

starting Masters

Program

 Find online

Degree Program

 Seek approval

from family and

Personal Leadership Development Plan

 Limited

personal growth

capability

 Family

Obligatio

 Support

from

current

employer

employer to

provide support

 Complete

registration

process

 Develop and

maintain schedule

for participation

Future Status Sought-after

Criteria

Desired Results or

Outcome

Associated

Variables

Action Plan

Director / Vice

President of

Lean

Manufacturing

and Quality

Director / Vice

President of

Lean

Manufacturing

and Quality

 Learning

Organization

 Stable

Business

Model

 Growth

Potential

 High

employee

morale

 Long-term

planning

 Embrace

positive

change

 Suppo

rt structure

for

employee

growth

 Integri

ty based

leadership

 Benefi

ts Package

 Salary

 Long term

employment in a

growth oriented

Learning

Organization

 Continued

potential for

advancement

based on

performance

 Personal

satisfaction based

on realization of

implementing

belief structure

 Personal

satisfaction based

on realization of

implementing

belief structure

 Organizational

leadership in

process of

replacement

 Location

 Product

 Manufacturing

processes and

facilities

 Business Plan

 Reputation

 Employee

turnover rate

 Future growth

plans

 Personal

qualifications

 Interest in my

employment

 Applicable

knowledge and

experience

 Collect data on

organization to

consider for future

employment

 Network with trusted

associates

 Develop related

questions to

determine fit into the

new organization

 Provide detailed list

of personal

expectations

 Consider physical

location of facilities

 Collect internal data

to review current

employee relations

such as turnover rates,

EHS scores etc

Timeline:

Present

Masters

Seek New

Employment

Find New

Employment

. Qtr. 2003

Continued

Growth

. Qtr. 2004

3rd. Qtr. 2003 Ongoing

Personal Leadership Development Plan

Training, Education & Experience:

Training for continued growth needs to include any external seminars relating to both

formal professional as well as personal aspects leading to a complete understanding of

Learning Organizations and their impact on professional growth within the

manufacturing community. In addition continued growth within specific disciplines

dealing with Quality and Lean Manufacturing would enhance career opportunities within

and without the resident organization.

Education would take the form of certified class work both internal and external and

completion of my Masters Degree with perhaps continuation into a Doctorate level at

some point (Which would hopefully lead to a teaching position after my legs give out).

My work experiences should continue along the same lines. I currently have exposure to

and interface with all aspects and levels of the organization. I am currently responsible

for several different plants which are all involved in manufacturing different products in

different locations throughout the world. I work closely with Vice Presidents, Directors,

Peers, Plant Managers, Business Unit Managers, Supervisors and the Shop Floor

Workforce. The most beneficial part of this current situation is that I’m able to learn from

every one of them on a daily basis.

Skills:

As I am continually exposed to the various aspects of manufacturing as well as formal

education and training, I find my skill set has never stopped growing. The primary

purpose for this is my tendency to make mistakes and learn from them. While at times I

am capable of continued or repetitive mistakes, I do try to keep the re-occurrences to a

Personal Leadership Development Plan

minimum. An example of this occurred to me as a young boy. My father always told me

to look deeply within the worst things and take away something good. One day I was in a

horse pasture with a stick poking around in a pile of horse manure. My father saw me and

asked me what I was doing. I told him “ I’m looking for the pony”. This skill has

developed over the years and now mixed with experience I know there are no ponies in

the manure, however I also know you can grow good corn with it and feed ponies.

Monitoring Success and Failure:

Success is based on the completion of a task or goal with a positive outcome. While I

intend to earn my Masters Degree with a high GPA, it’s the actual earning of the degree

that counts the most to me and will determine success. Ego and pride, at times, can

interfere with completion of task. If a lower grade is awarded, it should in fact motivate

me to greater effort rather than causing me to give up and drop out. While, in the past I

have taken a career path based on opportunity instead of plan, I can now say I have made

many choices during the past several years based on a solid plan with considerations of

all the various aspects and variables placed before me. This has allowed me to grow both

as a professional and as a person.

One of the tools I use to track and monitor my progress is Microsoft Project. This

software is specifically designed to identify tasks and goals, provide a timeline and show

progress of the task associated with each timeline. It allows for continued edits and

additions to the list and is an easy method to track efforts. While this allows the tracking

of a project or task it is also important to evaluate the progress of the project or task. A

simple tool I use for this is shown below:

Personal Leadership Development Plan

As you can see this provides an easy to understand visual of what needs to happen. The

green area reflects acceptable grades, the yellow area indicates additional work needs to

be done and the red area indicates a lack of effort on my part. Anything below red

indicates a failure on my part to meet my goals and objectives. Using this type of tool

helps me keep up with my progress in an easy manner. It also provides me a quick

motivational kick if and when I drop to unacceptable levels of performance.

Summary:

As a senior member of the workforce, I can rely on my years of experience to get me

through the workday. As a life long Change Agent and student of continuous

improvement I want to do more than that. In order to achieve this level of growth I must

actively pursue training, education and professional work experiences that push me

beyond my current capabilities. While this pursuit is ongoing and changes over time, I

have found that I can use many of the tools I’ve learned in earlier years to develop and

100

Score

Min. Acceptable Score 92.5

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7

This Model Is a Sample Only.

It does not reflect actual weeks

or scores.

Personal Leadership Development Plan

track an action plan. Understanding variation, inputs and outputs allows me to make

decisions I would otherwise be un-prepared for. This ability allows for a higher success

rate and task completion at an acceptable level. To be successful you must:

 Know who you are

 Know where you’re at

 Know where you want to go

 Know how to get there

 Know when you’ve arrived

 Know where you want to go next

In the end it doesn’t matter how you plan it, do it and track it. As long as you plan it, do it

and track it.