Leadership Development Plan: MGT601, University Name, Semester 2

This report presents a comprehensive personal leadership development plan, crafted by a student for the MGT601 Dynamic Leadership course. The plan addresses the need for enhanced leadership skills, specifically focusing on conflict management and diversity management within a marketing context in a multinational FMCG company. The report details the context of the plan, highlighting challenges faced by the marketing team, the need for improved leadership, and the goals of the development plan. It employs the Whiteman GROW model and the Boyatzis International Change Model to structure the self-development process, outlining goals, reality, options, and the way forward. The plan emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, reflective practice, and continuous learning, with the aim of improving leadership effectiveness and the ability to influence, motivate, and inspire others. The report also includes a justification for the time taken for the development plan, reflecting on the need for dedicated time to develop the relevant skills. The student also aims to strengthen IT, product knowledge, and legal knowledge alongside leadership skill development.

Running head: LEADERSHIP
Leadership
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................1
The context of the personal development plan:...............................................................................2
Time taken and justification:...........................................................................................................3
About leadership:.............................................................................................................................4
Leadership aspects I want to develop/improve:...............................................................................4
Whiteman GROW model:...............................................................................................................5
Goal:................................................................................................................................................5
Reality:.........................................................................................................................................5
Options:........................................................................................................................................6
Way forward:...............................................................................................................................6
Boyatzis International Change Model:............................................................................................7
Discovering ideal self:.................................................................................................................7
Discovering real self:...................................................................................................................7
Creating own agenda:..................................................................................................................7
Experimenting with new habits:..................................................................................................8
Getting support:...........................................................................................................................8
Personal development plan of mine as per the two models:............................................................8
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................10
References:....................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction:
Leadership is one the most important managerial qualities which managers leading
corporate teams require to have. Kumar and Pasumarthi (2019) mention that, ‘Change is
inevitable in organizations whether small or big.’ They also mention that, ‘Any change in an
organization be it small or big, can only happen through efficient management.’ An analysis
of these two statements brings into the light that fact that all business organizations are
undergoing changes and that the managers need to manage these changes efficiently in order to
benefit from them. Vukasović (2019) strengthens the discussion by mentioning that, ‘Every
manager has their own management style, own views of leadership, and own habits which
they try to pass on to their employees.’ The excepts from these two articles the essence of
leadership qualities which managers have to have in order to be able to lead the organizations or
corporate teams they lead to successful embracement of the changes. The macroeconomic
conditions like the political conditions and economic conditions have immense impacts on the
operations of the business organizations (Paulienė 2017). The entry of new competitors and
introduction of new products by the existing competitors make it all the more difficult for the
business organizations to achieve their marketing targets and retain customers, both of which
contribute towards attaining the strong market positions of the companies concerned. Marketing
departments of every business organizations are under continuous pressure to achieve high
targets. The employees in the marketing departments are thus under intense pressure to over
achieve their individual targets. This intense pressure has detrimental impacts on the
motivational levels of the employees. Moreover, the management bodies of the companies often
implement changes within the organizations which in turn add to the already existing
professional pressure and stress the employees experience. The outcome of this intense pressure

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to deliver high targets and adapt to changes often result in conflicts between employees and the
managers, both at the departmental levels as well as the top levels. The departmental managers
today are facing intense challenges to drive their subordinate employees towards achievement of
business targets and embrace the changes implemented by the apex management. This requires
them to show superior leadership skills. However, there is no fixed style of leadership which is
appropriate for all challenging situations. Thus, the managers have to develop and improve their
leadership styles from time to time in order to be able to lead their subordinate employees
towards achievement of high targets as well as embrace the organizational changes willingly.
They in order to develop their leadership style should set a personal development plan. I, in the
report would form a personal development plan which I aim to pursue in order to develop my
leadership skills as an marketing manager employed with a reputed multinational FMCG
company.
The context of the personal development plan:
I can reflect upon the context of my personal development plan to point out that a series
of incidences are responsible for me taking the decision of a personal development plan to
improve my leadership capabilities. I am employed with a reputed FMCG company having
operations in more than 10 nations in the world and facing immense competition in the market
both from multinational companies and local firms. The management as a result assigns
extremely high business targets to be achieved. I, being responsible for achieving the targets
through the members of the marketing team I head, am compelled to put pressure on the
members to achieve the targets. I set the targets for the individual members based on their
experiences and capabilities. However, some members feel that the targets assigned to them
individually are beyond their capabilities to achieve. I generally hold meetings with the team

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members to communicate the targets and ask for their suggestions or inputs. The senior and
employees participate in the meetings by putting forward suggestions and strategies. The new
members however do not participate proactively and feel prejudiced. They as a result are not able
to able develop proper knowledge about the strategies which have to be adopted to achieve the
targets. They are not able to achieve the targets and some of them have developed resentment
towards the team as well as the management as a whole. The senior manager upon reviewed their
low performances recently and held a meeting to gain justifications from them. The senior
manager learnt about their grievances. He also pointed it out to me that I am not responsible
directly for this conflicting attitude of the new members. However, he advised me to pursue a
personal development plan to develop my leadership skills further. He pointed out that I should
concentrate on development of two areas of leadership as the outcome of the personal
development plan namely, conflict management and diversity management. I considered this
advice of the senior manager earnestly because I felt that the development of these skills would
have a big impact on their leadership qualities as well as on the professional development of
mine as the marketing manager. It also realized that it would enable me to understand my team
members, both senior members as well as the members inducted newly.
Time taken and justification:
I upon reflecting on the personal development plan I have decided to pursue, I have
realized it would take 2 years. I can justify the time span because development of conflict
management skills and diversity management skills would require me to dedicate sufficient time.
I have to attend leadership sessions which emphasise on all the leadership skills like decision
making skills in general. Then I would have to attend sessions centered on conflict management
and diversity management skills. I also plan to undergo product training session, ICT training

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session and a legal training session. I would also keep on working as the marketing manager so
that I am actually able to implement the newly developed skills. The personal development
process would also require me to study secondary sources of knowledge like books, articles and
magazines. Hence, upon reflecting on the activities, I can justify that the personal development
plan would span over 2 years.
About leadership:
Leadership is the ability to lead groups of subordinates towards achievement of
predetermined goals. Paulienė (2017) mentions in this respect that, ‘Rapid changes in business,
technology, political and social factors have called for the development of effective leadership
skills and competencies.’ The leaders today have to lead their subordinates towards achievement
of goals by adapting to these macroeconomic changes to the feasible extent. As far as business
organizations are concerned, I can point out that the top executives forming the apex
management boards of the organizations concerned, the departmental heads leading specific
department and the team leaders leading teams of employees within departmental setting are the
leaders. They have to lead the subordinates under their command towards attainment of business
goals. These personnel holding leadership positions have to be innovative while leading the
subordinates under different situations (Ready 2016). This is because there is no strategy fit for
all situations. The managers as a result have to undergo development programmes in order to
improve their leadership skills according to different situations.
Leadership aspects I want to develop/improve:
The leadership aspects which I want to develop through the leadership development plan
would be conflict management and diversity management. I can reflect upon my leadership

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experience that leaders today not only have to be good decision makers but also should be
capable of managing the conflicts which may take place in between their subordinates. I can also
point out that leaders today should be able to exhibit diversity management in order to gain
participation from both senior and experienced employees as well as inexperienced employees.
Whiteman GROW model:
The first model which I selected to steer the self development plan of mine would be the
Whiteman GROW model. The following are the main components of the model:
Goal:
The term goal in the model refers to the aim which the person(s) concerned would aim to
achieve. The leaders in order to ensure that they are able to achieve their goals should ensure that
the goals which they aim to achieve should be specific and well defined. This enables them to
recognise the path they should take to achieve the goals. For example, the goals which I seek to
achieve through the performance development plan are development of diversity management
skills and conflict management skills. The supporting goals which I aim to achieve are
strengthening my IT skills, product knowledge and legal knowledge. Thus, I can establish on the
basis on the discussion that the goals which I want to achieve are specific and well defined.
Reality:
The term ‘reality’ in terms of the model refers to the actual prevailing situation which has
necessitated leaders pursuing the self development model. Paulienė (2017) can be iterated in this
situation to point out that the changes in the business environment necessitate leaders to expand
their knowledge and skills of leadership. For example, entry of new firms with more innovative

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products makes it more difficult for the marketing teams of the existing firms to achieve their
targets. Thus, the marketing managers have to put more pressure on their marketing team to
achieve targets. Thus method of putting more pressure on subordinate employees instead of
motivating them, is resulting in conflicts. Thus, the reality is that the existing leaderships skills of
assigning targets and pushing subordinates to achieve them are not effective in the current
situations. Thus, the leaders have to adopt optional methods to deal with the situations.
Options:
The options refer to the strategies which the managers can consider to deal with situation.
For example, in my case there were several options I could have adopted to deal with the newly
hired marketing employees who were not delivering their targets. The options which I could
have adopted were issuing them warning emails asking for justification for their low
performances, having them relocated or going through the conflict management as well as
diversity management training.
Way forward:
The way forward refers to the actual strategy adopted to deal with the particular situation.
For example, in my case, the way forward which I adopted was deciding to pursue a self
development plan which would lead to development of my diversity management and conflict
management skills. The option I selected is justified because the strategies of sending warning
emails to the lowly performing employees would only create a feeling of intimidation and
insecurity among the employees. They would have become even more resistant which would
have intensified the conflict which ultimately would have jeopardised the very productivity of
the department as a whole. The development of diversity management and conflict management
skills would enable me to deal with employee conflicts and communication gap issues more

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efficiently. This would enable me to reduce these issues in the long run which would ultimately
ensure better productivity.
Boyatzis International Change Model:
The following are the five steps of Boyatzis International Change Model which I would
adopt to form my personal development plan:
Discovering ideal self:
The first step of the Boyatzis International Change Model would be discovering one’s
ideal self. This would consist of identifying the actual goals which the leaders want to achieve.
This stage of Boyatzis international change model would correspond to the goal stage of
Whiteman GROW model. As far as I am concerned, the ideal self which I aim to achieve would
be a leader who is capable of managing both diversity and conflicts among the subordinate
employees. As per my ideal self, I should be able to lead my team of subordinates towards
achievement of business goals.
Discovering real self:
The discovering of real self of the Boyatzis International Change Model correspond to
the reality stage of the GROW model. The leaders under study in this stage recognise their real
self. They confront their shortcomings and weaknesses within themselves which in turn would
necessitate them to do through self development plans. For example, in my case, the real self is
that I lack conflict management skills and diversity management skills.
Creating own agenda:
Leaders in this stage create their own agenda to achieve personal development plan. The
agenda may consist of strategies like taking sessions and seminars reading books and taking

9LEADERSHIP
online training sessions. For example, the agenda which I have chosen for myself to attain
personal development consist of going through general management sessions followed by going
through sessions specifically on diversity management and conflict management. I would also
study books, journals and articles to develop my knowledge on diversity management as well as
conflict management. I would also carry out executing my professional responsibilities of a
marketing manager and implement these newly gained skills to further sharpen them.
Experimenting with new habits:
The next step which the leaders could take to develop their skills would consist of
experimenting with new habits. For example, as far as I am concerned, I can hold brainstorming
sessions with the newly joined members of the team. I could encourage them to express new
ideas which would create a sense of belongingness to the organisation.
Getting support:
The final step of the Boyatzis International Change Model is getting support. As far as I
am concerned, I would seek support from my colleagues, friends and by attending the sessions.
Personal development plan of mine as per the two models:
The personal development plan of mine would span across two years. It would be divided
into two four main parts. The first part would consist of attending general management sessions.
The second part would consist of attending sessions of diversity management and conflict
management. The third part would consist of attending IT training sessions. The final part would
consist of attending legal training sessions. The four parts would be accompanied by studying of
books, articles, journals and magazines. I would also continue carrying out my duty as the
marketing manager even while the training sessions would commence.

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Activity description Months
Self development plan 24
I decide the goals (development of conflict magament and diversity
management)after taking advice from senior manager(Goal) 0.5
I ask feedback from my colleagues to identify my weaknesses (Reality) 0.5
I consider several options like warning the low performing employees and
ultimately decide the take the self development plan(Options) 1
Way forward 22
Attend general management sessions 0.5
Attend comflict management session 1
Attend diversity management session 2
Attend legal training session 3
Attend IT training session 3
Monitor the level of development 10
Further actions 2.5

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Self development
plan
I decide the goals
(development of conflict
magament and diversity
management)after taking
advice from senior
manager(Goal)
I ask feedback from my
colleagues to identify my
weaknesses (Reality)
I consider several options
like warning the low
performing employees
and ultimately decide the
take the self development
plan(Options)
Way forward
Attend general
management sessions
Attend comflict
management session
Attend diversity
management session
Attend legal training
session
Attend IT training session
Monitor the level of
development
Further actions
Conclusion:
I can conclude that the self development plan I have chosen would lead to strengthen my
leadership skills. I can reflect upon my plan to point out that development of my conflict
management skills would enable me to handle conflicts within my team more efficiently. It
would also enable me lead my team more smoothly towards attainment of the goals. The
diversity management skills would enable me to communicate more freely with both the senior
employees and the junior employees. This would enable me to gain more proactive participation
from both the groups of employees. I can also point out that I would be able to project the team
more strongly as a highly performing team before the management. This would enable my team