The best leaders know that they have to keep developing and growing to realize their true capacity. In the current economic climate, where there is an increasing demand for leaders to make and implement important decisions, the need for personal development planning is probably even more important than ever.
But what are the 5 key benefits of approaching personal development planning with the same rigor and professionalism of activity planning?
Advantage 1: Self Reflection
Just like planning activities, personal development planning benefits with an assessment of where you are now. To do this, you have to reflect on your personal skills, knowledge, experience and attributes and consider:
- What you do well What you don't do so well What would make you even more effective
This self-reflection is not only powerful in terms of planning your personal development, but also in knowing your consciousness.
Advantage 2: Clarity
Planning for personal development has two key aspects. The first decides which activities and areas you want to focus on in the short term, decide the next 12 months. The second is about gaining clarity about where you want to go in your career for the next 5-10 years. Planning for personal development helps you achieve that clarity.
Advantage 3: Decision making
We are continually faced with a number of options in our work and our lives. By being clear about your career priorities, the type of experience you have to gain and the skills and attributes you have to develop helps you make informed decisions, quickly.
Advantage 4: Long-term view
We accidentally ran into colleagues who took a promotion or job change that offered them something exceptional in the short term, but it turned out to be a bad long term option. While a big raise might seem attractive, wondering if the decision will help you achieve your career goals in the longer term.
Advantage 5: wise investment
There is surely no shortage of options available to spend your own or your organization's cash on education and development. On the other hand you want to make sure that you make the most of the appropriate investment. If you have a clear goal or destination this becomes much easier to do.
The Essential - Personal development is not an extra option. So when are you going to start?
