How to Create a Leadership Development Plan (+Template)

The beloved Brazilian soccer icon, Pelé, once said, “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you do or are learning to do.” This is especially true for those in leadership. While some people are naturally gifted leaders, the vast majority of those in leadership have to learn how to be good managers by honing their leadership skills, perfecting new techniques, and building their confidence over time.

To help you become the type of leader you want to be for yourself and for those you lead, it’s important to create a leadership development plan. If you’re wondering what this means exactly and how to create one of your own, you’ll find what you need to know below, as well as a leadership development plan template so that you can get started as soon as you’re ready.

What Is a Leadership Development Plan?

A leadership development plan is a written document that outlines the skills, competencies, and knowledge a leader needs and the plan for how they will acquire those things. Typically, an individual will create this type of plan for themself and then share it with their immediate supervisor and HR team, so that relevant support, coaching, and feedback can be offered.

It is not the type of document that should be created and then forgotten about or left to expire. Rather, it should be treated as a living document that is regularly reviewed and updated so that it accurately reflects a leader’s most current professional goals, strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.

5 Components a Leadership Development Plan Should Include

There are quite literally hundreds of leadership development plan examples on the internet for you to take inspiration from. Regardless of which you go with, it’s important to ensure that yours includes the five components of a leadership development plan.

The reason to include all five of these components in your leadership development plan is that it will help guarantee that you end up with a document that’s action-oriented, realistic, and practical. With this information, you can begin making progress immediately, as you have clearly stated exactly what needs to be done to achieve your defined development goals.

The five components of a leadership development plan are:

1. Area of Development/Goal
2. Step-by-Step Plan
3. Resources
4. Priority
5. Timeline

Area of Development/Goal 

Area of Development/Goal Define what it is you want to learn, improve, or achieve, and be specific as possible. Consider what your leadership strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, goals, and struggles are, as those will help inform what exactly it is that needs to be focused on in your development plan. Ask yourself: 

• What would make you a more effective leader?
• What skills/knowledge do you need right now? What skills/knowledge will you need in the future?
• What skills/knowledge would make being a leader easier or more enjoyable?
• What areas of leadership do you find most challenging, uncomfortable, or stressful?
• When you receive constructive feedback from your supervisor, peers, or employees, what area(s) are they most critical of?

Step-by-Step Plan

Once you know what you want to achieve, it’s time to think about what steps you will need to take in order for it to become a reality. Breaking down goals into a step-by-step plan is a great idea because it will make your goals feel more manageable and achievable, which is important given how much leaders already have on their plate aside from their own development.

Resources

As you break down each area of development/goal into steps, it will become clear exactly what resources you will need to make it a reality. Resources can refer to training, budget, technology, time, or leadership support. Ask yourself:

• Does your goal require leadership training or professional coaching? If so, how much will it cost approximately?
• Do you need a specific piece of technology or software to achieve your goal?
• How much time do you need to achieve your goal? Does your current workload allow for that?

Priority

As a leader, you will always be busy, and it may never feel like you can step away from your daily workload to focus on your leadership development needs. That’s why it’s important when creating your leadership development plan to assign each area/goal a level of priority. By doing so, you will have a better idea of what you should tackle first and what can wait until a later date.

Timeline

Not only should you assign the items on your leadership development plan with a priority level, but you should also set a timeline. While that might end up changing along the way, it will initially help you decide what goal to focus on and when. Ask yourself:

• Ideally, when would you like to achieve your goal?
• Realistically, when is it most likely that you can achieve your goal?
• Are there any set dates/times you must account for and work around? (Ex. A conference or training session scheduled for a specific date)

Next Steps: Get Started Using a Leadership Development Plan Template

If you’ve never created a leadership development plan for yourself before, it can be intimidating to get started. That’s why we recommend using this leadership development plan template. It is designed so that all you have to do to create a leadership development plan is start writing information into the space provided. Simple as that. Not to mention, if you want to add or edit columns according to your unique needs, you have the ability to customize the template freely in either Google Docs or Microsoft Word.