Creating Your Own Personal Leadership Action Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide
Leading in an effective manner is a crucial part of any professional’s job. As strengths and weaknesses vary person to person, it is essential to take a personalized approach to leadership. A Personal Leadership Action Plan (PLAP) can help you do just that. It is a self-examining process that helps one to identify leadership strengths and weaknesses, and provides a path for growth and improvement. In this article, we will explore how to create your own PLAP and achieve your leadership goals.
Step 1: Know yourself
The first step towards creating a PLAP is to understand your leadership style, strengths and weaknesses. You can begin with an honest self-evaluation and ask questions like, “What do I need to work on?”, “What are my shortcomings?”, and “What qualities make me stand out as a leader?” Once you have identified these different factors, you can continue to use this information for the next steps.
Step 2: Set goals
An effective PLAP requires setting up clear, practical and achievable goals. These goals must be rooted in your needs as a leader and can be both short term and long term. For instance, if you find that you are not assertive or authoritative enough in leadership, your goal might be to work on these specific qualities within a set timeframe.
Step 3: Develop an action plan
In this step, you will create a solid plan of action for achieving each of your set goals. This step can involve creating timelines, setting milestones, allocating resources, and seeking necessary support. Effective plans should focus on the how, who, what, when, and why of each action.
Step 4: Take action
This is the step where you put your plan into action, it might demand some extra effort, like attending leadership workshops or taking up responsibilities that are outside of your comfort zone. Taking the right kind of action is key to achieving your goals and growth as a leader.
Step 5: Monitor and Evaluate
Along your journey, it is important to monitor your progress and evaluate how far you have come in achieving each goal. This is where your initial self-evaluation comes in handy as you can compare the progress made from your initial assessment. When you monitor and evaluate your progress, you get to know what works and what doesn’t, and modify your plan accordingly.
Conclusion
Creating a Personal Leadership Action Plan can be a daunting task, but by taking it step by step, it can be an effective, rewarding, and growth-oriented process. It helps you take control of your leadership development and ensures that your efforts are purposeful and lead to success. By knowing yourself, setting clear goals, developing a practical plan of action, taking deliberate action, and monitoring and evaluating your progress, you can achieve great heights as a leader.
