Leadership Development Plan – Step One

A leadership development plan can be broken down into three different steps which are as follows:

• Step One – Identifying your motivation to become a leader
• Step Two – Obtaining the steps and knowledge.
• Step Three – Incorporating step two into your life.

These three steps are instrumental in becoming a leader in your environment, and will therefore be covered in three different posts (one post for each step).  This ensures the information provided necessary for your leadership development plan is not rushed, but is instead covered in detail and can be easily applied to individuals in all field.  These steps are the same for all environments from youth to the corporate world.

Identifying your motivation to become a leader

Motivation is the most important part to any leadership development plan. Some people might laugh at the idea of motivation, knowing that procrastination often overcomes what you were meant to achieve for the day. However this is not the case. You will find that if you are procrastinating on something, it is because you have no real desire or motivation for the task at hand.

For you to be successful in becoming a leader and achieving your goal, you need to really want the goal. For example: imagine a lady named Jane working as a secretary. Sometimes it crosses into Jane’s mind that it would be nice to get a promotion to Organisation Manager. However, Jane is also content just keeping life how it is.

The attitude that Jane has is not enough to get her the goal. Instead now consider Paula, who is a secretary in a different department of the business, who also dreams of becoming the Organisation Manager. Paula is different from Jane though, as Paula thinks about her goal when she wakes up, on her way to work, while she is conducting her existing work, on her way home from work and in the evening at home. The attitude Paula holds is a burning desire and true motivation for the position of Organisation Manager.

Why is motivation the key to a leadership development plan?

Motivation is essential to becoming a leader, as when you have a burning desire for something it affects all your thoughts and therefore your actions. Someone like ‘Paula’ is thinking about her goal all the time, and will therefore subconsciously seek ways to achieve the goal, as well as recognizing opportunities that arise around her to obtain her dream. This may include performing more for her boss throughout the day, seeking extra clients, writing a report in a more professional manner or researching what else she can be doing to improve her professional persona.

Opposing this, someone with the mindset of Jane, would improve her performance temporarily while thinking of her goal, but quickly slip into under performing when the motivation has left her train of thought. Therefore it is evident that you have motivation to achieve your goal, as this provides a solid foundation for the rest of your leadership development plan.

How do I find out what my motivation is?

An easy and practical method to find what goal you are truly motivated for, is to go home and sit in a quiet place. Write down as many goals and dreams you can possibly think of, and remember this does not need to be a rushed exercise. When you are done, read through the list once more. After you have done this you should discard the list. Once you have walked away from the list, assess which goals are most present in your mind? In twenty fours time, ask yourself the same question. After this time, you will no doubt have a goal that has lingered solely in your mind for this period. This is your goal for which you have strong motivation.

Join us in our next post as we look at step two in your leadership development plan!

The Dream Reality Team – Sean and Tegan
Make your dreams your reality.

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