10 Steps To Create an Effective Leadership Development Plan

Benchmark your current leadership effectiveness by taking our research-driven, free leadership self-assessment. Our assessment measures key leadership competencies and will help you gain awareness of how your patterns of thought affect your behavior and performance.

Use our Self-Assessment Interpretation Guide to dive beneath the surface of your assessment results and discover which of your leadership competencies need the most attention.

Based on your self-assessment results, define your “One Big Thing.” This is a goal statement about your leadership that, if it were true, would profoundly impact your effectiveness as a leader. Be sure to use the present tense when crafting your “One Big Thing” statement to ensure a sense of ownership and commitment to the goal. 

Goal Prompts: 

• • • What leadership behavior or skill would make the most difference in my leadership effectiveness if strengthened?
    • What leadership qualities do I admire in others? 

Goal Examples: 

• • • I am an effective decision-maker.
    • I view things from an integrated perspective.
    • I lead in a manner that is consistent with my values.
    • I value and utilize input from the team.
    • I develop others to be leaders in their own right.

Just as important as identifying your primary leadership development goal is recognizing a significant behavior that may hinder your leadership effectiveness (your “One Big Liability”). This is the area of your leadership that offers the largest opportunity for growth and improvement.

Liability Prompts:

• • • What pattern of thought or behavior do I exhibit that, if let go, would free energy and resources to take my leadership to a new level? 
    • How does this tendency limit my effectiveness as a leader?

Liability Example:

• • • I tend to micromanage projects or tasks, which results in limiting my team members’ autonomy and stifling creativity.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could exercise just one time as a teenager and guarantee that your muscles would be healthy, flexible, and strong the rest of your life? Unfortunately, the body doesn’t work that way—and neither does leadership. Your leadership development journey should be guided by an overarching, multiyear vision of who you want to become and what you want to achieve as a leader.

Vision Statement Prompts:

• • • What would I do or create if I knew I would not fail?
    • Where will I be, who will I become, and what will I have accomplished in five years?

Vision Statement Example:

• • • I am a strategic leader who excels at navigating complex challenges by fostering a culture of trust and open communication.

What action steps are you willing to take to make your vision a reality? Determine one new behavior to start and another behavior to stop in support of accomplishing your “One Big Thing.” If you’re stuck on which behaviors to select, reflect on your “One Big Liability” and consider behaviors that may mitigate that tendency.

Start Behavior Example:

• • • I will take full accountability for my actions and the outcomes of my decision and treat each scenario as a growth opportunity.

Stop Behavior Example:

• • • I will stop blaming others when things don’t go well.

Leadership doesn’t exist in a bubble. You need feedback to make real progress on your leadership development journey. Select five to eight trusted individuals with whom you interact with on a regular basis. Close friends and current or former colleagues make great candidates. Share with them your “One Big Thing” and your “Start” and “Stop” behaviors, and ask them to provide frequent and candid feedback on your leadership development progress. 

Gaining significant ground toward your “One Big Thing” will take sustained effort and consistent practice. This requires being fully present and consciously focused on responding thoughtfully to situations, rather than reacting impulsively to them, and mindfully implementing your “Start” and “Stop” behaviors.

Part of being fully present in the midst of your leadership development journey is pausing periodically to reflect on your progress and being prepared to adjust your vision and goals to accommodate your growth and change. Research suggests that journaling can improve cognitive processing and self-awareness, making it a powerful strategy for reflecting on your leadership development.

Below is a sample journaling schedule with reflection prompts that will enable you to think critically about your leadership development, considering the gains you’ve made and the opportunities for improvement that remain.

Daily Reflection Prompts:

• • • What challenges did I face today and how did I handle them? 
    • What actions or decisions am I proud of today? 
    • What could I have done differently or better?

Weekly Reflection Prompts:

• • • What were my most significant accomplishments as a leader this week? 
    • What was my biggest challenge and how did I respond?

Monthly Reflection Prompts:

• • • How has my leadership evolved over the past month?
    • Did I exhibit the leadership behaviors I intended to?  
    • What areas do I still need to improve upon?

Quarterly Reflection Prompts:

• • • What are the most valuable lessons I’ve learned about my leadership in the past quarter? 
    • How well did I align my intentions with my leadership vision and values this quarter? 
    • In what areas do I still need to grow as a leader and how can I address these gaps in the coming quarter?

Annual Reflection Prompts:

• • • What leadership achievements or milestones did I accomplish this year? 
    • Are my future vision and “One Big Thing” still relevant or do they need to be adjusted? 
    • What leadership competency do I need to focus on the most to facilitate progress toward my current goals and vision?

As you make headway on your leadership development journey, there are several ways to measure your progress, such as:

Peer Feedback: Rely on feedback from those within your Accountability Circle to gauge your leadership effectiveness.

Leadership Assessment Retake: Assuming you began this journey by taking the free leadership self-assessment, retaking this assessment once you’ve implemented your leadership development plan can provide valuable insight into how your effectiveness as a leader has evolved and what areas still need improvement.

Journal Review: During your leadership development journey, reviewing early journal entries can be a valuable way to gauge how your leadership skills have matured.

Once you’ve reviewed the checklist above, download our free leadership development plan PDF template to get started with personalizing your own plan!

Remember, it’s the journey, not the destination. Leadership development is a process, and progress is incremental. With patience, dedication, and consistent practice, you will continually improve as a leader.