Creating a Development Plan
Once people have a clear picture of what their development goals are, it is time to look at how they will reach them. This will largely depend on the individual’s personality and the specific areas he or she wants to develop. It is useful, however, to consider the strategies for change that have proved successful for others in the past.
Common Tactics of Successful Learners
The first question to ask is, “How do I learn and grow?” We all have our own personal tactics for learning new behaviors that we have developed and become used to over time. Therefore, each person needs to identify his or her own approach to learning before undertaking a specific action step toward development. Although these preferred learning methods will often be the centerpiece of the development plan, recipients need to be open to other approaches that may be more effective for learning a particular skill or behavior. For example, we may prefer to read about a subject to get more familiar with it. This works very well for knowledge-based development targets, but it may not be as appropriate for developing negotiating skills. Reading can be helpful, but the best way to develop this skill is to practice it and learn from experience.
A list of tactics used by successful learners, compiled by the Center for Creative Leadership,3 follows:
1. Building new strengths or testing present strengths in new situations
2. Teaching someone else how to do something
3. Compensating for a weakness (for example, hiring someone to take care of detail if one is poor at doing so oneself)
4. Constructing strategies for learning (for example, imagining what things could look like in the future, examining the past for similar events, planning a series of activities to try, mentally rehearsing how one will act before going into problem situations, asking what the ideal manager or professional would do)
5. Action learning: taking action in order to ferret out real problems and increase learning; putting oneself in a situation in which one must overcome or neutralize a weakness; emulating the behavior of an admired person
6. Enhancing self-awareness through feedback on strengths, weaknesses, and limits
7. Taking non-obvious choices and trying new behavior to overcome habits
8. Asking, “What lessons have I learned?”
9. Developing many flexible rules of thumb that can be applied in different types of situations
10. Analyzing successes as well as failures and mistakes
11. Seeking help in structuring learning (for example, seeking role models, keeping a learning diary, having dinner with those who have faced similar challenges, talking with previous job incumbents, attending courses, getting on-the-job tutoring)
12. Avoiding abstractions and generalities (for example, the way to develop people is. . . .) and focusing on applying learning in specific situations
13. Searching for historical parallels that provide comparison points (for example, thinking of a good team-builder to compare oneself with, comparing a time when one was strategic with one’s present behavior)
14. Thinking about one’s feelings and attitudes about a learning event
15. Asking oneself lots of questions
Strategies for Change
In our feedback work sessions, we cover five distinct self-development strategies, which we explain next in depth.
Reading. There are hundreds of books, journals, magazines, and newspapers related to the field of management and leadership. Recipients should also keep in mind the value of reading things that are not directly related to business but may nonetheless illuminate management and leadership issues. Works on figures like General George Patton and Sir Winston Churchill can be useful for understanding strategic and tactical thinking. Or science fiction might inspire managers to think creatively—to see the familiar in new ways and to approach it differently.
There are several useful resources available for readings as well as for tips and pointers for choosing possible developmental activities. The Successful Manager’s Handbook: Development Suggestions for Today’s Managers, published by Personnel Decisions International, gives an overview of potential aids, from books to seminars that managers can use for a wide variety of behavioral change and skill-development needs. FYI for Your Improvement—A Guide for Development and Coaching was authored by Michael M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger to assist “learners, managers, mentors, and feedback givers” as they reflect on their needs and take responsibility for their development. A typical section on a given competency includes everything from the description of skilled vs. unskilled use to remedies for addressing deficiencies to how one can use certain strengths to compensate for one’s weaknesses.
Self-Monitoring. A tracking system helps recipients keep tabs on their progress. This approach does not require outside assistance. First, recipients need to decide which skill or behavior they want to concentrate on. It is best to select one that is directly relevant to their jobs but that they do not use very much at present. Examples of behaviors that are well suited to self-monitoring are Informing, Consulting, Monitoring, Recognizing, and Supporting.
Next, they should select several concrete and relevant examples of this skill or practice. Most feedback reports include specific examples of behavior. They may select all the examples from the category or, if they wish, identify other examples that are more relevant to their jobs and add them to the list. It is best to have between four and six behavior examples.
A self-monitoring checklist such as the one shown in Exhibit 8.2 can be used to list the behavior examples they want to monitor.4 The form shows the days of the week in columns, and the checklist is good for a period of six weeks. Either during the day or at the end of the day, the manager should make a check mark when he or she uses one of the behaviors. Ideally, each behavior should be used at least once per week, if appropriate. (No behavior should be overused, however, or used for its own sake.) At the end of each week, recipients review their performance and determine how well they did. They should be encouraged to congratulate themselves whenever they attain their goals.
Exhibit 8.2 Self-Monitoring Checkist
After a period of six weeks, the recipient will probably find that he or she is using the practice naturally, without conscious planning. When this happens, it is time to switch to another practice that needs to be improved and use the same procedure. If it is not too confusing, recipients can use self-monitoring for more than one managerial practice at a time. However, it is not a good idea to work on more than three practices at a time.
Coaching-Consulting-Mentoring. Not all behaviors lend themselves to improvement by self-monitoring. If the successful use of a practice requires skills that the manager currently lacks, coaching may be necessary. When a manager is already using a behavior, but with mixed success, a competent coach can provide advice on how to use it more effectively and, if necessary, demonstrate or model its proper use. A coach can be either an internal resource, such as the recipient’s boss or a trusted colleague, or a management development specialist or an external professional who is qualified to provide the help necessary for change.
If choosing to work with an internal coach, the manager must decide how best to approach this person and persuade him or her to help. An appropriate setting and time for the coaching to take place should be established, taking into account any special resources that may be needed and any other people whose cooperation is required. (Sometimes, it is possible to have direct reports provide feedback on a manager’s use of certain practices.) Effective coaching with an internal resource is only feasible if someone is willing to make the effort and is able to provide the instruction, advice, and guidance needed.
The use of an external coach may be an option when the feedback recipient is a senior leader, if the skill development needs are complex, if the skill to be addressed is highly specialized, or if a significant investment of time may be necessary. An effective coaching relationship will focus on improving the individual’s skills as well as laying the foundation for continued success once the coach is out of the picture. When engaging external resources in this type of role, agreement on expectations and deliverables is necessary for all stakeholders. Most importantly, the external coach should not be called in to do what is clearly the “management work” of the recipient’s boss (for example, setting expectations, providing feedback on a day-to-day basis, and so forth).
Management Training. When appropriate, a formal course, workshop, or seminar should be found that includes training in the relevant skills. If nobody with the skill and the time to provide appropriate coaching is available, formal training is an alternative approach. It is especially appropriate for learning complex skills that may not be easily acquired through occasional coaching, for learning conceptual and analytical skills such as those required for planning and problem solving, and for learning complex interpersonal skills such as those involved in mentoring. Classroom learning works best when it is directly related to the individual’s real-life needs.
Once the recipient has identified a skill or behavior that he or she would like to improve with formal training, the next step is to identify an appropriate training opportunity. Many workshops and courses are available for practices such as planning, problem solving, clarifying, consulting, delegating, mentoring, and team building. However, for some practices (inspiring, risk taking), it may be more difficult to find an appropriate training opportunity.
Participants should conduct a search of available training courses, including those within their own organizations, those in nearby colleges and universities, those offered by professional associations, and those offered by consulting companies. Before making a final decision, it is a good idea to probe beneath the superficial description presented in a catalogue or training brochure to determine whether the needed skills are indeed taught in a particular course or workshop. The trainer or sales representative, for example, should be asked to explain exactly how the course or workshop improves the skills in question and what kind of opportunity will be provided to practice them during the course.
Finally, managers should consider combining training with self-monitoring or coaching; such an approach often proves especially effective.
Job Assignments. Feedback recipients can often find a way to enhance their current jobs (special projects, new challenges) or change assignments to provide them with developmental experiences.
Confirming the old adage that experience is the best teacher, research has shown that the most effective classroom is the job itself. In The Lessons of Experience and several studies conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership, executives reported that nearly half the events that had a lasting effect on their ability to manage were job assignments. Both new jobs and current jobs with intentionally constructed challenges are critical for continual learning, growth, and change.5
The following are the key learning experiences identified from the Center’s research:
• Scope assignments include a huge leap in responsibility, moving into an unfamiliar line of business, or being switched to a line management position from a staff job. In these and other examples, managers are faced with bigger-scale, bottom-line accountability and the need to practice new skills or knowledge, such as leading direct reports and learning new technical skills.
• Scratch assignments include building something from nothing and taking action in the face of uncertainty. Managers are challenged to stand alone, make quick decisions, and find talented people for their staffs.
• Fix-it assignments include positions where an organization is in trouble and things need to be turned around. These complex situations require managers to persevere, make decisions, and manage staff in a (sometimes) tough way.
• Project or task force assignments are short-term and highly visible and often require managers to work in areas in which they have little or no content knowledge. Managers are tested in areas such as decision making, communicating, and establishing relationships.
• A move from a line to a staff assignment (in areas such as planning, finance, and administration) requires managers to learn new technical skills on the job, as well as appreciate the importance of influencing others where they have no direct authority.
• Demotions, missed promotions, and unchallenging jobs can also be learning experiences, although no one would seek them out. They teach humility and challenge managers to persevere and take stock of themselves.
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