Leadership in Business: Professional Development Plan

This article discusses the importance of leadership abilities and how to assess and improve them through a professional development plan. It includes self-assessment quizzes, strengths and weaknesses, and feedback from peers. It also provides an action plan for enhancing interpersonal skills, communication skills, decision-making and analytical abilities, subject knowledge, and stress management.

Leadership in Business
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Executive Summary
A professional development plan is a tool of self-directed learning which helps a person in
assessing needs and actions to increase abilities. Leadership abilities are required by a
manager to succeed in his job of leading his team to attain organisational goals. Through the
following work I have tried to undertake a self-assessment of my own abilities to be an able
leader.
At the onset I have tries to assess my leadership abilities through self-assessment quizzes.
Self-assessment quizzes have been summarized in this work. Further, I have tries to assess
my strengths and weaknesses. Further I tried to procure feedback from my peers regarding
their perception of my abilities.
In continuation I tried to create a clear vision and objectives for a development plan and
proceeded to creat an action plan to achieve these objectives. Further, I decided the resources
required for the plan and made a mechanism for evaluation.
Lastly, I made strategies to review the plan and got feedback and recommendations from
supervisor for improvement.
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Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................2
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Outcome of self-assessment quizzes and key strengths and weaknesses..................................4
Assessment of more information on behaviour.........................................................................6
Leadership Vision......................................................................................................................7
Development Objectives............................................................................................................7
Action plan for professional development................................................................................8
Resources required to implement the plan...............................................................................10
Mechanism of evaluation and feedback...................................................................................11
9 Strategy to review and revise the professional development plan........................................12
10 Discussion of the plan with supervisor. Mentor recommendations and changes...............13
Conclusion................................................................................................................................15
References................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
Leadership is an ability through which a person is able to direct and influence his followers to
achieve pre-decided goals (Daft, 2014). A good leader is able to lead his people to
accomplish their work with cooperation and belongingness. A successful leader is able to
motivate his followers to wok under pressure and is able to solve their conflicts amicably
(Daft, 2014). For a manager in a leadership position in a business organisation, it is very
important to inculcate leadership abilities. For this purpose, professional development plan
needs to be made with objectives, vision and action plan. Following is my professional
development plan to increase my leadership abilities.
Outcome of self-assessment quizzes and key strengths and weaknesses
Through the self-assessment quizzes, I was able to understand importance of leadership skills
and my own ability to lead in complex situations. A leader is a person who can influence his
followers or subordinates into following his vision, advice, guidelines or way of work (Daft,
2014). For an able leader it is important that he assigns roles and tasks as per ability to his
subordinates and holds each person accountable for his performance (Campbell, 2018).As per
the results of my self-assessment of leadership abilities, if I was in a leadership situation I
would assess abilities of all my subordinates and assign tasks as per ability. This would help
me in attaining the goals of the organisation through a combined and coordinated effort.
Additionally, it is important for a leader to motivate his followers or team members to work
harder (Campbell, 2018). I would find ways to encourage them to work harder and I will keep
watch of their efforts. This will help in goal-oriented work in today’s modern complex
business situations (Daft, 2014).
It has been propounded in leadership theories that a friendly and participative leader is more
successful (Lussier, 2009). I have realised through my self-assessment that I would try to be
friendly with the members and try to make the working conditions pleasing. However, being
friendly and pleasant does not mean that members would be allowed to do whatever they
want. They would need to abide by the rules and working criteria of the organisation. This
would help in reducing chaos. However, I would try to show a democratic leadership style
and be helpful and considerate of their feelings.
Business world today is very complicated (Miner, 2015) . Situations facing a leader may be
diverse. Certain situations like cultural issues require patience and acceptance while certain
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other situations like discrimination require action (Daft, 2014). Therefore, I would assess
each situation separately and use psychological cues to assess various emotions. As a leader I
still need improving in areas like conflict resolution and understanding my own anger.
In a leadership position I have the ability to understand when people are distressed and can
provide motivation in a tense situation to work unhindered for the goals. As a leader I believe
in participative leadership style and try to build a consensus while taking difficult decisions
This helps in inculcating a sense of belongingness in members so that they work together to
achieve common goals (Mayo, 2009). According to my self-assessment, I try to be good and
kind. However, I need to work more to stay calm in a distressing situation.
During a dispute or a situation of disagreement I try not to stay fixed on my position and try
to hear out other opinions as well. This helps in creating a friendly atmosphere to remove the
tension (Palestini, 2009). I strongly state my opinion but try to hear other’s opinion as well. I
do not avoid a person who wants to discuss a disagreement but encourage discussion on the
matter. I do not believe in keeping my opinion to myself as that can lead to no discussion on
the matter (Schein, 2010). I try to reach an agreement and in doing so I can give in on a few
points if others are willing to do the same. I try not to hurt people and appreciate a good point
made by the other party. Therefore, I possess abilities to encourage discussion among people
during a situation of conflict which is an important leadership skill (Swanwick, 2011).
According to my self-assessment I believe in taking initiative. However. I am not aggressive
and have qualities of being kind and compassionate. I feel one must try to create consensus
and focus on goals and career building of the members.
As per my self-assessment I have always tried to express my opinion in a critical situation so
that I get perceived as honest and interested in all aspects of a situation. I have tried to
suggest ways of improvement to all concerned so that goals can be achieved in a better way.
Thus, I have been interactive. Therefore, I possess abilities of becoming a leader which
require polishing.
Leadership is an ability through which a leader can convince the members to follow his
guidance (Zhang & Bartol, 2010). There are various personality skills which are required for
a leader like charisma, friendliness, compassion, empathy, listening skills etc (Daft, 2014) .
Following is an assessment of my strengths and weaknesses which can help me in inculcating
key leadership skills.
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I believe in participative style of leadership and in order to be a participative leader I harbour
the strength of being interactive and able to involve people in discussion. I have a friendly
and helpful nature which can inculcate empathy and compassion as a leader. I have a sense of
judgement which helps me in assessing a situation and the impact it has on others. In a
situation of an argument or conflict I try to listen to all parties and try to bring forth the
important issues so that a consensus can emerge. Therefore, I have listening skills which can
help me in motivating members to generate new ideas and work towards common goals
(Daft, 2014). If I augment these strengths I can become a better leader.
My major weakness is that I tend to get angry and have difficulty in staying calm in a
stressing situation. However, with practice and experience this nature can be controlled and I
can evolve ways to remain calm (Daft, 2014). I have an innate compassionate nature of which
some people can take advantage. Therefore, I need to improve my skill of judgement of
people and situations to become a better leader. Additionally, inexperience with conflict
management and communication skills is another weakness. If I augment my strengths and
find ways to improve them while working on removal of weaknesses, I can become a better
leader.
Assessment of more information on behaviour
Peer review and feedback helps in assessing own abilities and knowing the perception of
others regarding own skills. (Aspin, 2012). In order to assess my own strength, skills and
weaknesses in a better way I conducted a peer evaluation through casual conversation and
interview of five of my colleagues.
In this respect I came to know that I am perceived as a friendly and a helpful person. They
also thought me to be honest and interactive. Additionally, I was perceived by my colleagues
as a person who was team oriented and believed in involving other in all activities. In this
sense their perception was similar with mine in terms of strengths. In terms of weaknesses
they thought I was slightly indecisive because of my nature to be compassionate and
empathetic. In this sense also, their view matched with mine. I felt that in a situation of
conflict I tend to voice my opinion strongly. Conversely, my colleagues thought that I did not
voice it strongly enough and trusted other’s views too easily. In this respect their opinion was
dissimilar with my personal perception of my self
My colleagues also felt that I should try to improve my communication skills further and
enhance my conflict management skills. They believed that I get stressed easily and must
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increase ability to calm myself in a distressing situation. For a leader it is important to be in a
position to observe a situation on its merit (Daft, 2014). Therefore, they felt that I should
improve my analytical skills. Hence, their perception of me was similar with my own
perception on skills like friendliness, honesty and team work. However, they felt that I should
enhance my judgement, conflict management and analytical skills to be more effective.
Leadership Vision
As a participative leader I intend to carry my organisation towards desired goals through team
work, collaboration and cooperation of my members. I would motivate members to work
together and help each other to attain common goals. I intend to steer my team towards goals
achievement via performance orientation, cooperation and sense of belongingness.
Development Objectives
Following are my leadership development objectives which will give a direction to my
leadership vision
Objective Measurement criteria
To improve my interpersonal skills so that I
can work with people in an effective manner
Taking practical tests with the help of
supervisor or colleagues to ascertain
improvements
To increase my communication skills so that
I can articulate my thoughts in a better way
to be effective in whatever work I am doing.
Taking mock exams on written and verbal
communication to ascertain improvement
To enhance my decision making and
analytical abilities so that I can analysis
situations which may arise in my job as a
leader or a team member
Taking reasoning and analytical skills tests
online
To increase my subject knowledge so that I
can give advice to team members and solve
their queries effectively
To qualify subject related exams with 70%
narks.
To improve my ability to work under stress
and short deadlines so that my efficiency
Use of simulation techniques and online
tests to assess improvement in stress taking
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increases and I can be an effective leader
and team person.
abilities
Table 1: Source: Made by Author based on (Campbell, 2018)
Action plan for professional development
Action Plan
Following action plan will help in enhancing my leadership abilities. This action plan is for
six months duration.
Objectives Actions to be taken
To improve my
interpersonal skills so that I
can work with people in an
effective manner
 Increase my people interactions through
discussion on organisational, management or
Current affairs issue with a friend twice a
week for six months
 Read two books on team work and problem
solving
 Interact with mentors and supervisors to seek
advise on improvement of inter personal
skills.
 Try to involve myself in college contests like
declamation and debates so that I get
maximum opportunities to improve inter
personal interactions
 Take a short-term course in interpersonal skill
improvement
To increase my
communication skills so that
I can articulate my thoughts
in a better way to be
effective in whatever work I
 Reading two articles each week from a
reputed management journal or magazine
each
 Taking six-month course for communication
skills
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am doing.  Take online mock evaluation of
communication skills
 Meeting mentors and seeking guidance for
improvement in communication skills.
To enhance my decision
making and analytical
abilities so that I can
analysis situations which
may arise in my job as a
leader or a team member
 Reading about five major business leaders
and their style of solving problems and taking
critical decisions with in next six months
 Reading at least two cases a month on
leadership decisions and skills
 Take admission in a short-term course which
can improve my leadership and decision-
making skills
 Solving at least 15 reasoning problems daily
 Solving one case on leadership and analytical
skills in every 15 days
To increase my subject
knowledge and current
affairs so that I can give
advice to team members and
solve their queries
effectively
 Reading class notes every day
 Reading extra books from the library to
enhance knowledge further
 Taking extra training about the course
material
 Reading online material on the subject matter
 Attending seminars related to subject matter
 Reading one newspaper every day
 Listening to daily business and current affairs
news and making notes
To improve my ability to
work under stress and short
deadlines so that my
efficiency increases and I
can be an effective leader
and team person.
 Using time management techniques like
setting small goals so that work can be
distributed and deadlines can be met
 Attending at least three seminars which can
help in boosting self-control and self-belief
 Improving my planning skills and becoming
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more organised in handling tasks and
subtasks
 Improving the ability of starting a work early
 Maintaining a dairy of work schedule and
evaluating if all the work is going by schedule
Table 1]2: Source: Made by Author based on (Campbell, 2018)
Resources required to implement the plan
Stating the objectives and making action plan is the first step towards realising the goals
(Boonstra, 2012). However, to realise my vision and my objective I need to pinpoint the
resources I need. Following is a resource allocation plan to realise my objectives.
Resource Place Time Frame Method of
resource use
Budget
Books on
reasoning,
leadership styles,
conflict
management,
stress
management and
communication
skills
Can be obtained
from college
library or an
online book
store
Must read two
books per
subject with in 1
month
Reading and
making notes
$100
Online reading
material
Internet Two hours per
day for one
month
Reading online $50 for
purchase of
online reading
material.
Conferences and
seminars
Workshop and
seminar
arranging
institutes
At least one
every month for
leadership skills
and
communication
skills
Attending the
seminars and
making notes
$250
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Reading case
studies which
can be helpful in
enhancing
various skills for
the purpose of
achievement and
polishing of
leadership
abilities
Library or
internet
Two cases a
month
Solving
leadership cases
$50 for
purchase of
online reading
material.
Short term
courses on
communication
skills, analytical
skills, conflict
and stress
management
Finding
relevant courses
through internet
search
1 or 2 courses in
six months
Attending course $500
Access to college
and state library
College library One month Subscription $100
Internet
connection
Home or
college
One month Subscription $50
Computer Home or
college
One month Use of my
personal
computer
No charges
Table 3: Source: Made by Author based on (Campbell, 2018)
By utilising these resources, I can achieve my objectives as per the made action plan.
Mechanism of evaluation and feedback.
Objectives Evaluation and feedback mechanism
To improve my interpersonal skills so that I
can work with people in an effective manner
 Making notes of discussion and
repeating the points discussed again
once a month
 Writing a book review and sharing
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with supervisor for feedback
To increase my communication skills so that
I can articulate my thoughts in a better way
to be effective in whatever work I am doing.
 Summarising the articles, I have read
in oral and written format. Sharing
the summary with supervisor for
feedback
 Test results of the course
To enhance my decision making and
analytical abilities so that I can analysis
situations which may arise in my job as a
leader or a team member
 Taking mock test
 Asking peers to evaluate change in
decision making abilities
To increase my subject knowledge and
current affairs knowledge so that I can give
to advice team members and solve their
queries effectively
 Taking online tests on subject and
current affairs.
To improve my ability to work under stress
and short deadlines so that my efficiency
increases and I can be an effective leader
and team person.
 Evaluation of small goals and taking
account whether they have been met
or not
 Making notes of the main points
understood in seminars and sharing
with supervisor for feedback
Table 4: Source: Made by Author based on (Campbell, 2018)
9 Strategy to review and revise the professional development plan
It is very important to review a professional development plan (Collin & Hammond, 2013). It
helps in assessing the short comings and amending the plan based on the review. Aa the plan
made is for a period of six month, a six-monthly review can be carried out to evaluate the
impact of the plan on further development of my abilities (Collin & Hammond, 2013). I had
undertaken various activities to achieve my objectives. These can be reviewed through the
flowing strategies
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Taking a mock test designed through an online source or the supervisor to assess whether
there has been any improvement in communication skills, stress management, decision
making skills, interpersonal skills and analytical skills. Learning can only be enhanced by
proper evaluation hence I will take the feedback provided seriously and inculcate it in any
future plan. (Aspin, 2012)
Observing own behaviour to assess changes in approach to situations or conduct during any
situation is helpful in arriving at a conclusion on enhancement of abilities (Aspin, 2012).
Therefore, another strategy is to conduct own assessment or peer review of conduct. This will
help me in finding shortcomings in my plan and making a plan for next three years
10 Discussion of the plan with supervisor. Mentor recommendations and changes.
After a discussion of the plan with my supervisor, he made following recommendations for
change
According to him there is also a need to improve assertiveness as most of my peers think I am
soft due to an overly compassionate nature.
He also felt that to be an able leader I need to evolve conflict management skills. He also
suggested actions like reading further material on conflict management and attending classes
in order to improve these skills.
Based on these recommendations I made the following additions to my professional
development plan
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Development Plan Revised
Objectives Actions Time period
Improvement in
conflict
management skills
and assertiveness
Improvement in
confidence over
decisions taken
 Learning to be
polite but firm
through self-
practice and
reading articles
on polite but
firm behaviour
 Reading abbot
crisis situation
which leaders
have handled
and evaluating
how I would
have handled it
against the
way the leader
handled it
 Reading on
confidence
building and
attending two
seminars on
confidence
enhancing
skills
6 months
Table 5: Source: Made by Author based on (Campbell, 2018)
Therefore, by inculcating these changes I can improve my development plan and aim to be a
better leader.
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Conclusion
A professional development plan can help to understand the needs for improvement in order
to attain leadership abilities. Through this plan I have been able to create a vision for
becoming a successful leader. Through this plan I have also been able to assess my own
strengths and weaknesses. Leadership objectives formulation has also been made possible
through this plan. Various actions required for enhancement of leaderships abilities have also
been formulated. Therefore, this plan has helped me to put my needs in perspective and take
actions for improvement in order to become an able leader.
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References
Aspin, D. N. (2012). Second International Handbook of Lifelong Learning:. Hamburg:
Springer Science & Business Media.
Boonstra, J. (2012). Cultural Change and Leadership in Organizations: A Practical Guide to
Successful Organizational Change. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Campbell, A. (2018). Global Leadership Initiatives for Conflict Resolution and
Peacebuilding. Hershey: IGI Globa.
Collin, & Hammond. (2013). Self-directed Learning: Critical Practice. New York:
Routledge.
Daft, R. (2014). The Leadership Experience. New York: Cengage Learning.
Lussier, R. (2009). Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development. New York:
Cengage Learning.
Mayo, A. J. (2009). Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders: What the Airline Industry Can
Teach Us About Leadership. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Miner, J. B. (2015). Organizational Behavior: Essential theories of motivation and
leadership. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Palestini, R. (2009). From Leadership Theory to Practice: A Game Plan for Success as a
Leader. Plymouth: R&L Education.
Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational Culture and Leadership. Melbourne: John Wiley &
Sons.
Swanwick, T. (2011). ABC of Clinical Leadership. Melbourne: John Wiley & Sons.
Zhang, X., & Bartol, K. (2010). Linking empowering leadership and employee creativity:
The influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative
process engagemen. Academy of management journal, 53(1), 107-128.
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