Reference no: EM132851679

Leadership Development Action Plan

Purpose

This activity will guide your leadership development activities going forward. Reflecting on your vision statement, and the goals you have started to develop, you will work in a collaboration with a trusted mentor or advisor to develop a leadership development action plan. With the insights gained from your virtual meetings with your mentor, you will describe the actions you will take to strengthen and/or develop leadership skills. In addition to your mentor's insights, your plan will be informed by leadership theories, concepts, and/or research.

Instructions

1. You will develop or continue developing a collaborative partnership with a mentor of your choice. Typically, a mentor is a more experienced person that shares knowledge, provides guidance and support, sponsors your career success, and serves as a role model. If you do not have a mentor, or are looking for another mentor, consider the following:

• Your mentor should be someone you admire and respect.

• You should choose a mentor that has experience (career, life, etc.) that is congruent with your leadership vision (Assignment 3), who can provide valuable insight and direction to help you achieve your personal and professional goals.

• Consider people who have already contributed to your development. For example, your mentor could be an instructor, teacher, coach, community member, previous or current colleague or supervisor, etc.

o If you ask a Camosun instructor to be your mentor, make sure that they have not already agreed to mentor another student for this exercise. Instructors can only work with one student each for this exercise.

o Your mentor can not be an immediate family member.

• Regular communication with your mentor is important. Your conversations can occur over the phone, Collaborate, or a digital platform of your choice (Skype, FaceTime, Zoom, etc.). You are not to meet with your mentor face-to-face, unless your mentor is a supervisor with which you work in person. In this case, please consult your mentor to discuss their comfort in meeting face-to-face.

o You and your mentor will establish your meeting schedule.

o Confirm with them that they can commit the time to assist you with this project, which will require you to meet two-four times this semester.

2. Once you have established a mentorship, you can start to draft your paper/action plan. Include the following in your assignment (1-1.5 pages):

o Your mentor's name, position, and current organization. If your mentor does not currently work, state his or her previous position and organization.

o Provide a brief summary of your mentor's work experience.

o List the reasons that you selected this mentor.

o What do you hope to gain from your mentorship, and why?

3. Keep a Mentor Log of your interactions with your mentor. Include in your Mentor Log, the date of communication, topics of discussion, and a note about the date of your next meeting. The goal of this exercise is for you to establish a new or continue to build a long-term mentorship.

o Include the mentor log as an Appendix in your report. For this assignment, your Appendix does not count towards your page count.

Possible Topics of Discussion
The following list of discussion topics is meant as a guide for you and your mentor to explore. These questions are meant to serve as a way to get to know your mentor's vision and experience. (do not transcribe these questions into your paper - that is not their intent) This list is intended as a guide only; some questions may not be appropriate to discuss whereas others may be:

Ask your mentor about their leadership or career vision.
Do they feel they have accomplished or will accomplish that vision?
Did their career go how they planned? Why or why not?
Communicate your leadership vision. What does your mentor think of that vision?
Does your mentor have any general or specific advice to offer regarding achieving your vision?
Ask your mentor about how you can help them.
What would your mentor do to improve professionally if they were you?
Ask your mentor what their greatest weakness in the workplace was or is.
What steps have they taken to improve in these areas?
What is your mentor most proud of in their career?
What hobbies does your mentor have, or what do they do for fun?

4. Identify two core leadership skills that you believe are essential for you to develop to achieve your vision. Throughout the semester we have discussed many qualities, traits, and skills that contribute to leadership success. For example, communication skills, emotional intelligence, or motivating others. These areas should be a focus of your mentor conversations and will form the foundation for your action plan.

• For each leadership skill that you select, you must:

o Seek advice from your mentor about how to develop that skill.
o Summarize your mentor's advice for developing your two selected skills.
Each skill summary must be two separate paragraphs.

• Identify three practical steps to develop these skills:

o Utilize your mentor's advice and your own research (explore external sources) discuss three practical steps for developing each of your selected skills. Be as specific as possible.

o Justify these practical steps (i.e., how will these steps aid in the development of your selected skill).

o Develop a plan for executing these practical steps (i.e., how will you accomplish these practical steps). Completing these steps may occur after the semester is over.

5. Describe the ways your career vision has altered since your discussion with your mentor. What advice, if any, did your mentor provide you with regarding the development or achievement of your vision? Or you may consider the discussion of their own vision and/or experiences that had a positive impact on your vision.

6. Conclusion - Conclude your action plan with three important take-aways you have had from this experience. This could be something your mentor shared that resonated with you, something you and your mentor discovered in your conversations, a deeper self-awareness of a strength you have, or anything that leads to a deeper appreciation for leadership and/or your ability to be a successful leader.

Attachment:- Leadership Development Action Plan.rar