Creating a Roadmap to Success for Emerging Leaders | Part Two: A Leadership Development Process March 20, 2022 by Belinda EganLeaders are not born; they are developed. I believe that leaders are created from the inside out. In part one of this series, we focused on who you are at your core. Leadership isn’t about lording your power over others and barking orders; it’s about continued development, self-awareness, insight, and meaningful communication. The more you and your organization focus on continued development, the more successful you both will be. Your success as a leader begins with you. During your interview with the organization, an excellent question to ask is – do you have a leadership development plan for employees? Is this included with the onboarding process for new leaders? If you are in a new leadership position, these are also good questions to ask about your organization. Do you have a roadmap that provides your leaders with an approach that creates a competitive advantage? Do you have a documented leadership process that guides coaching and conversations? If the answer is no, I’m glad you’re here reading this. We will cover the importance of a development plan what should be included. And how to implement this within your processes. Why is a development plan so important? Great leaders attract, hire, engage, and motivate great people. Leadership development boosts employee engagement, increases office morale, and prepares your organization to deal with challenges and varying opportunities in front of you. It will save your organization valuable time, resources, and money. You will see reduced turnover if you have happier, more engaged employees. A development plan will allow you to define your mission better and a set of steps to help you achieve your goals. It will enable you to establish pathways for diverse talent and show your employees exactly how they contribute to the overall success of your organization. What should you include in your leadership development plan? The overarching goal of a leadership development process is to enhance the capacity for your people to be influential in their roles. Allowing you and your leaders to focus on creating results, implementing strategic objectives, solving problems, analyzing issues, developing your people, and building relationships. The plan must be designed to support the organization AND the individual to be effective. A leadership development plan must include the following. A well-defined mission and vision. With a set of steps to get you there. Strategic objectives and goals for every department in your organization. Tools and assessments to identify emerging leaders and define what type of leaders you need. Individual development programs to increase self-awareness, emotional intelligence, effective communication. And executive presence. A Succession Plan with a vision allows you to look towards the future to determine when and where you need to hire, expand, and what resources are already available. Formal development opportunities to offer ongoing development on the skills needed for each leader. Whether internal or external resources, your people should always be learning. Mentorship programs for new leaders. Having a mentor as well as a professional network is a valuable resource. Create a culture of accountability where everyone knows what is expected and executes without fail. This may come in regular performance reviews and recurring leadership meetings designed to discuss goals, progress, and next steps. One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a leader is not holding yourself and your people accountable. Developing and implementing a leadership development plan that works well will not happen overnight. This is a process that will and should take time. Often the biggest challenge to creating the program is the investment it involves for the organization. A successful development plan needs buy-in from top to bottom, so it must be well-thought-out. Here are a few things you will want to do as you start creating and implementing your plan. Allocate a budget to the plan and the process Select a committee comprised of your executive leadership, HR professionals, and leaders within your organization. Set a timeline and recurring meetings to brainstorm, collaborate, build, and construct the plan. Once the program is implemented, ensure everyone knows, understands, and has buy-in. Implement the plan. Once your plan has been executed, you must continue to return to it to analyze the results and its effectiveness. As your organization grows and develops, you will want to update the plan to fit the mission and vision needed to move forward. I hope this article has provided you with insight and a place to get started in developing a process designed to support YOU and your organization. It’s ok to start small. If you don’t have the resources to create a full-fledged development plan as outlined above, you can develop it in bite-sized chunks and still see a massive improvement within you, your people, and your organization. As always, I am here to help you on your journey to success. – Belinda Egan PS. If you’re looking for a partner to move you and your team ahead, or if you’re struggling to take your team to the next level, check out my available partner programs. Partner Programs!