Overview of Assignment 2
The focus for this assignment is to prepare a Personal & Professional Development Plan (PPDP) for your continued leadership development, drawing on your reflections and insights from the first assessment task (including feedback from your reflective partner(s), other sources and your learning from this course).
You should ensure that the PPDP is aligned with personal desires and aspirations, aimed to further enhance strengths, address critical gaps and explore opportunities to apply learned leadership principles.
A PPDP outlining goals and strategies will help you to take advantage of opportunities for self-improvement you may otherwise overlook. It will also help you prioritise the importance of different goals, so that the effort can be put into areas with the greatest payoffs (benefits)
If you are working in an organisational context it would be good to also consider the company’s plans and objectives and where you sit in terms of these, particularly if some of your leadership goals are set in terms of your current organisation. Taking this into consideration, could be relevant for setting your action steps and use of organisational resources in your development plan.
Length / Format
- 2,000 word paper in a report/ journal style – not academic essay style
Assignment Tasks
Insights and understanding obtained in Assessment 1 will suggest themes that you can develop further in this work.
o Use the Summary of ‘My Leadership Profile’, from Assignment 1 (should appear at the end of your report for assessment 1) which summarises the outcomes/ results of each of the areas/ self assessment exercise areas you looked at – this will be highlighting your leadership elements/ gaps/ strengths. Remember to also use the feedback from your reflective dialogue partner(s) where appropriate in your considerations.
o Note: The Summary Profile will not be included in word count for Assignment 2.
o This Profile can be used in the Introduction to your Personal & Professional Development Plan, as you will now look forward (i.e. future plans) in developing your self- improvement goals and strategies or you can use sections from it to shorten it if it is long and place the summary from assignment 1 in the Appendix.
- Write a Personal Vision Statement for your PPDP – the ability to develop and articulate a vision is a critical task for leaders. It is also important that a leader has ownership to a personal commitment. Many people set goals but few have a clear vision of what they would like their life to be like – here you have an opportunity to set this out for your leadership journey. When writing a Personal Vision Statement – be clear about the changes you want to see in your life.
Tips and Suggestions
- Try and keep it succinct ( brief) – aim for 150 to 250 words
- To help you write a Personal Vision Statement in terms of your leadership journey,
consider the following questions –
o What do you want to be in x months / year’s time -this could be in traits, influence, career, position
o What do you want to create for yourself and those around you?
o What is your motivating you?
o What do you see as the desirable leadership characteristics and behaviours you want to achieve?
o What type of leader would you like to be in x years time?
o What do you want to achieve or contribute to as a leader?
o What will your life look like?
o What are the values that you need to live by and the goals you need to set to achieve this life?
- Aim to link it with the period that you set for your PPDP. The period will depend on your current life stage and career. It should cover a minimum of 2 years but could also be for 5 or 10 years.
- After you have drafted your Personal Vision Statement, ask yourself the following
questions-
o Is this an accurate portrait of who I want to be?
o Are direction, purpose and motivation signalled in the statement?
o Does this inspire me
If the statement doesn’t answer these questions, refine it until you can say yes to all
3.
- The period of the PPDP will depend on your current life stage and career. It should cover a minimum of 2 years but could also be for 5 or 10 years.
o Select a time frame that makes sense to you and briefly explain why - Continue writing in the ‘reflective writing style’ used in Assignment 1 – using ‘I’ and not a third person perspective. Also keep a focus on bringing in self- awareness of areas of development, showing insight, describing personal approach, feelings etc. Also note points of feedback from others where appropriate.
- One of the areas/ capabilities that you must include in your PPD Plan is ‘knowledge of and sensitivity to cultural diversity & the implications for effective leadership’, so definitely include your ‘Cultural Intelligence’ findings from Assessment 1 as one of the areas of development, points to consider.
o Core elements of leadership important in your own and other cultures
o Identifying your cultural biases and articulate insights/ analyse these
o Demonstrate evidence in your plans how you will work to adjust attitudes / beliefs in a culturally diverse community/ organisation & describe implications for your own development for positive change. - Another area that should be included is Emotional Intelligence (note that in the Learning Rubric – ‘Enhanced Self Awareness’ reference is made to ‘ takes effective measures to enhance EQ’ – that is tucked into the last column of the section – so suggest that include this)
- Set clear achievable ‘stretch’ (i.e. challenging) goals and time frames for your plan.
o Use the SMART model approach for setting your goals (refer to Module 4 Reading ‘Ethics, Values, Principles & Goals’ for an outline of this approach and example.
o Look at Module 5 for the Module 5 Action Plan Template & also a copy at the end of this brief. - Describe the strategies and steps (realistic & creative actions) you will use.
o Aim to demonstrate your understanding of your current capabilities, the gap between the current ‘reality’, what you wish to achieve and describe how you will bridge that gap. - o Remember to incorporate theories and models of leadership to bring insights into your experiences, strategies and actions and what you wish to achieve in terms of your leadership growth.
o Dealing with ‘overcoming barriers’ – many people encounter barriers when working towards a goal. It is important to identify the barriers you think you might encounter along the way and have a plan for addressing them. - Conclusion
- Integrate the outcome of your peer feedback / your reflection (Weeks 11 and 12) on your plan in the conclusion. Refer to Peer Feedback Activity section below.
- Integrate the concepts & reflections from the course. Let the following questions guide you
o What surprised you the most about your journey this trimester in this course?
o Was there anything you were fearful of while preparing your PPDP?
o What excited you the most about your PPDP?
o What barriers came up for you this trimester and how did you address them
o What were the most important things you learned about yourself?
o What were the most important things you learned about leadership
o How will you continue striving for your goals when the course is over?
Peer Feedback Activity
In Weeks 11 and 12 you will have the opportunity to once again work with reflective partner(s) – the same or we can organise alternative for you. In these 2 weeks you will be going through the drafts of your PPDP to get feedback and give feedback on each other’s PPDP’s. Depending on how well organised you are, by this stage of the trimester you should have working drafts for at least half of your goals to share for reflection and peer feedback
- You may think that a plan you develop is thorough and clearly presented, but when you show that plan to someone else, do they clearly understand what you plan to do and how you plan to do it?
- Getting feedback from others often helps you see if your plan is solid and well-articulated and as free from bias as possible.
Maybe you overlooked a potential obstacle, or the way you stated an objective does not convey what you really want to accomplish. Your peers can often offer insight into how to make your plans even stronger. During Weeks 11 and 12 you have the benefit of your colleagues’ feedback on the drafts of your Personal and Professional Development Plan. - Carefully consider your peers’ feedback and determine what feedback you can incorporate into your plan to make it stronger. You also have the opportunity to share your thoughts on your reflective partner(s) plans. Not only will that help them enhance their own plan, but by reading other development plans, you will get ideas that you can use with your own PPDP.
- When providing feedback on your partners personal and professional development plan, address the following:
- Do you think that the plan is realistic? Why or why not?
- How clear is the plan? Could you explain the plan in your own words?
- Are the elements appropriate for their definitional categories? In other words, are the goals really goals? Are the elements aligned with a clear relationship from one to another?
- Are the goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely (SMART)?
- As you review the Personal and Professional Development Plans of your classmates, ask yourself these questions:
o What strengths do you see in others’ plans that you could incorporate in your own?
o What could you do to make your plan clearer?
o What could you do to make your plan more compelling?
o What barriers might you encounter, and how will you address
Resources to Use
- Your own research into the topic/ themes
- Lecture PPTs/ discussion/ readings on the topic
- Module 4, 5, 6 Reading Notes for insight into goal setting, action plan template
