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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PLAN
16
Leadership Development Plan
MBA6026
The Global Leader
Shermanda Green
Leadership Development Plan
Introduction
In order to develop an ideal global leadership development plan,
one has to conceptualize what it will look like in their mind.
The global development leadership competence curriculum that
has to be developed must be one which is unique to my needs as
an individual (Abbasiyannejad & Silong, 2015). It must be one
that indicates my vision and mission in leadership and my main
competencies in leadership. It is not easy for one to determine
his/her competency in leadership without having a great
technique to do so. There are some people who have relied upon
computerized programs to come up with a description of their

competencies, this might not be the best method yet. In this
paper, I have made use of Gardner’s five minds to determine my
areas of strength and weakness.
After development of the Gardner’s five minds, the paper has
proceeded to create the personal leadership development plan
based on the leadership concern of the future. The main
concerns for leadership in future include the following main
areas; human resources management, social media, ecommerce
and technology. These are important areas that have been
aligned to my vision of leadership that is based upon
management of diversity and change in an organization. This
paper contends that it may not be easy for a leader to operate
well without having a mastery of how best the above four areas
can be managed.
The concerns that the global arena of leaders have at the
moment is transformational leadership which is aimed at no
only improving the relational type of management but
ascertaining the future of organizations. Therefore, in the
current world leadership has just stood as an entity that people
possessing leadership characteristics are selected randomly and
put in a position of leadership without a proper understanding
of who they really are and what they can promise. There are
failures that are brought about by the failure of the leadership
characteristics that organizations have put so much hope
because of the kind of leaders that they place in top positions.
Leadership is not based on the amount of time someone can use
to complete a task but how far can a person go deep in desiring
to rid errors while in the process of executing the directive of a
task which will give them a true shape of how decision making
and implementation of projects shall be done in the future.
Global Leadership Concern for the Future
The current global trends that are driving the global leadership
agenda is heavily based on the areas of human resources
management, technological application in organizations, e-
commerce and social media. It will not be easy for one to
operate as a global leader without incorporating these trends

into their leadership agenda.
In relation to human resources management in global
environment, one important element that comes up is
management of a diverse set of employees. There are several
good managers who have been made even better based on their
ability to manage a diverse set of employees. The current global
environment requires that organizations keep changing their
capabilities and use of resources. Change within an organization
can only occur when an organization has a huge talent base
from which it can choose. In order to have a unique combination
of talent, the base must be made up of people with different
capabilities derived from different backgrounds. It is for this
reason that organizations must have people from varying
backgrounds.
The second area that is important in the contemporary global
leadership is application of technology. Businesses are able to
outdo each other based on which business has the best
technological application to implement compared to the other.
Technology increases productivity and reduces costs hence the
business becomes more profitable than before. One reason as to
why companies such as IBM have managed to continue being in
the market is due to their ability to alter their technology to go
in line with their technological needs.
The third area that is important is the field of ecommerce.
Technological changes have made it easy for the business to
move to the next level in terms of how they can meet the
customer, convince them and make the final sale. It has become
easy for a customer to make an order online and the good be
delivered at his or her doorstep. Initially this was not possible
since technology had not advanced to such sophisticated levels.
Situations of this kind mean that the management has to be keen
on the best methods through which internal development agenda
is set in relation to customer relation and service delivery.
Under environment of ecommerce, management issues to be
addressed have become even more complicated. It is not easy to
learn the organizational culture and determine how best it can

be made part of the organization.
Social media, is a huge part of ecommerce. Without the social
media, different businesses would have found it a little difficult
to advertise most of their products and get feedback in relation
to customer satisfaction. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and many
other platforms have been used as a means through which
research on the product can be carried out (Alimo‐Metcalfe,
2008).
My leadership needs can be aligned to the above areas in terms
of diversity and change management. Technological
development calls for an organization that is full of talent. In
order to attain high levels of talent development, an
organization must embrace diversity. Change management has
become an important topic in the current generation.
Technology, social media and ecommerce represent areas in
management that are challenging as they change with each
passing day. Management must be ready to always move along
with the changes so as to remain relevant in the short and the
long run. Without a proper understanding of change
management, it becomes very difficult for the manager to
determine what technology will be profitable in the long run
and which ones will only be disruptive technology.
Emerging Leadership Theory
There are several emerging leadership theories in the field of
leadership and especially planning and management. Failures
that have been witnessed in the current leadership in
organization is what has led to the development of the new
models and theories to establish what the current market of
leaders need and what the future has for organization in the
leadership that is expected. The relational theory is one
roadmap of what the world is so much yearning to be in
possession (Zaccaro & Horn, 2003). Mistakes have been made
in which leadership fail to provide the scalars for relationships
and intellectuality in making choices which affect everyone
else.
Therefore, the relational theory is demonstrating for a

leadership that employs social and emotional intelligence
whereby a leader shows empathy and is ready to welcome
opinions from their juniors (Abbasiyannejad & Silong, 2015).
What has actually made the leadership to reap very few results
beyond expectation is because leaders become domineering
instead of demonstrating assertiveness in all difficult situations.
To champion the desired leadership agenda for the 21st century
CEO, there should be a relational leadership that focuses on
leader-member exchange to build the leader, the subordinate
member and the profile of the organization.
The contingency theory states that there is no best way to plan,
organize manage and lead an organization; rather, leadership is
contingent (dependent) on the internal and the external factors
in a leadership (Barney, 1985). In relation to the multi-
dimensional leadership rich in transformational agendas for the
future, assessing the type of leadership that is present in an
organization verses the desired future is very vital. This is
because through the assessment, the leadership is going to
identify indicators or the risk factors both in the inner and the
outer environment which can be dealt with squarely for the
leadership of an organization to have relevance in the current
world of leadership.
Thirdly, Theory U states that the quality of awareness,
authenticity, attention and consciousness is a variable of a
function which is the results that the participants have purposed
to attain. The theory should be broken down in three main
dimensions: framework, method and a way of being. In relation
to the global transformational leadership that not only changes
the organization but leave impacts in the society, the theory is
result-oriented and is step by step. This kind of leadership
theory asserts that leadership fails because there is a blind spot
in which organizations do not take heed to identify. Blind spots
are what brings about deficiencies in the management of
employees and execution of projects (Otto, 2008). Therefore,
the course of excellent leadership according to the theory
should demonstrate assessment of the potentially exposed tools

of management and identify indicators through self-assessment
tests so that result can be ascertained even before an action is
taken.
Lastly, path-goal theory focuses on the transformational
leadership in which an organization selects or nominates an
objected-oriented leadership in which the leader should be an
exact replica for the ingredients that the employee requires for
productivity. This is the kind of leadership in which leaders
should assess the empowerment of the employees through short
courses and trainings to improve their productivity. The theory
also asserts that leadership of an organization should look for
ways in which employees are motivated so that they can work to
better the transformation of a company.
Personal Plan to Develop Global Leadership
A global leader is tasked with several areas of concern than any
other form of traditional leadership. This is the reason as to why
a global leader must always strive to make changes to his/her
style in order to deal with the changes that take place in a
dynamic environment with each passing day. My main
responsibility is to ensure that change in organization is
properly implemented and that diversity is embraced within my
area of jurisdiction. Several leaders in the past have failed due
to their inability to adapt their followers to change and to
embrace diversity that exist in any global organization.
Basically, this is the reason as to why it is important for me to
develop as a global leader.
Change management is not an easy task; several organizations
have failed in the past due to their inability to embrace change.
IBM realized that it was headed the wrong way when it was not
able to make use of talent from within the organization to
implement change (Alimo‐Metcalfe, 2008). This is the reason as
to why the management decided to develop the IBM General
Management Leadership Development Program (GM LDP)
(Goodman, 2016). In this program, leaders have been
undergoing a training mentorship which has been rotational in
nature. The different areas that were identified at IBM include;

consulting, sales and business development. Personally, I have
made sure that I take part in all the development areas and I
have taken part in each area of importance above.
Diversity management is another element of modern leadership
that has to be embraced by a modern leader (Bass, 2009). It is
paramount to understand, as a leader that no one organization
can be managed by a homogeneous group of people. Different
people come into the organization with varying characteristics
based on race, age, gender, sizes, race and even educational
background. A global leader must have an understanding on
how best to manage the different groups of people with varying
talents to produce positive long term results.
As a global leader, I have a responsibility of making sure that
people working under me are open and free to express their
varying degree of creativity. This may not be possible in case
where the environment where the team is operating is not
tolerant of divergent idea. My leadership learning goal is to
learn the best way through which I can manage to lead within an
environment that is diverse.
In relation to Gardner’s five minds level of competency, there
are several areas that I was able to point out in relation to my
strength and in relation to my weaknesses. Just to give an
overview of what I was able to find before providing my plan on
how best I can manage these area, the following are the issues
that came up;
a. Disciplined mind
This is one area where I have considered myself to be very
strong. My personality can be described as being quite
disciplined. I have worked from home for the past 10 years and
it takes a great amount of self-discipline to get out of bed each
morning, when you know you have no one watching you to
make sure you are working. There are few people who have the
ability to make things happen without having to be pushed
around by a supervisor (Alimo‐Metcalfe, 2008). Being an
individual with internal self-discipline is by design the path to
better global leadership

b. Synthesizing mind
The global business environment today is complicated, and a
leader has to understand not only his area of expertise but also
several other areas within his environment. In order for this to
actually take place, one must have the ability to grasp
information, process it and make decisions out of such
information. Pieces of information under these circumstances
will come from various varying directions. When I am focused
on a task at hand I try to put 100% of my time into making sure
it’s done correctly before moving on. In the effort of trying to
multi task at times, I seem unsuccessful more than successful
because of my need to perfect things. It is not easy to perfectly
handle different issues that arise from various areas, it is
important to have the ability to grasp a little of each content and
relate it to the main goal of the organization. This is one area in
which I need to make some changes and learn more.
c. The Creative mind
The global management environment has changed from what it
used to be under the traditional form of management. At the
moment, the environment keeps changing with each passing
day, and leaders have to set their minds in line with the changes
that take place (Northouse, 2015). Creativity is an area in which
I have built my strength. I love to create things and bring forth
new ideas. I have the ability and imagination at times to create
things that are positive. In working from home, I have to be
extremely creative in the ways of marketing my business. You
have to constantly be reinventing your business so to say to
make sure you stay relevant. There is no way a business can
keep up with the pace of changes that are taking place in the
global area without having a plan on how best to create new
ideas (Nicola & Thomas, 2011).
d. The Respective mind
Respect is the ability to understand other people’s opinion and
work with them based on what they believe in. Other people’s
opinion should not be seen as being inferior to my opinion.
Respect is one area that I have mastered very well. I am most

certainly open to diversity. Having many bi-racial members in
my family, I have always been respectful of others cultures and
beliefs. Having a respectful mind speaks volumes about a
person. This strength has given me the opportunity to make
great friends and enjoy many cultural experiences (Avolio,
2010). I use my respectful mind to hear out people’s concerns
and help them make decisions on certain aspects of their lives.
e. The Ethical mind
Ethics refers to the rightness or wrongness of an action. It is
based on expected norms in a certain culture (Cacioppe, 2008).
Personally, I have been raised within a family that holds high
the principle of morality and good practice. This is what has
guided my leadership performance and understanding up to
date. In any workplace, having a team of employees that show
this high standard of value is good for the company and job
performance. When I had an office job, I would always look for
individuals that had an ethical mind because these individuals
could help me work effectively and provide quality and positive
outcomes.
Leadership development plan
In order to ensure that am able to translate vision into reality, it
is important to plan as a leader. What leadership entails is
proper form of planning. In this leadership development plan
the main areas that must be highlighted include; my leadership
vision, the main role models or the main mentors that I look up
to, the areas of weakness identified above, the main learning
agenda, the possible realignments and the coalitions that I might
form
As an individual, it is important to have a vision. I am an
individual who believe in workplace democracy and each and
every member of the team is equally important. In modern
global leadership, it is very important to view oneself from a
complete image and not a broken self. A good vision does help
make sure that the image is seen as a whole and not as pieces.
By referring to vision, am not only talking about just any other
form of vision. There are up to five forms of leadership

commitments that I must adhere to;
1. As a leader, it is important that I find my voice and lead by
example. Any leader must always understand how best to model
the direction that will be taken by the rest of the team
2. As a leader, much of the work that I do is based on the help
of other team members, this is the reason as to why it is
important to develop a vision that can be shared by the rest of
the team
3. In leadership, it is not proper for one to always agree with
every aspect that is put forward by the rest of the team, it is
very important to find my voice and challenge some aspects of
the process that are not ideal. It is always important to look out
for opportunities, carry out experiments and take risks in
relation to implementation
4. It is easy to operate with others if one creates means through
which collaboration can be made possible in order for the team
members to build each other. As a leader aiming at ensuring
there is diversity in the organization, this an important element
that has to be highlighted
5. Encourage internal celebration where as a leader I can
celebrate personal achievements and add them to the areas of
victory that must be celebrate.
The main questions that my leadership vision seek to answer
include the following; what do I want to create around myself as
a leader. It must describe the type of leader that I wish to be
three years from now. To answer this, I believe that I want to be
a leader who is able to understand various facets of operation,
both with and without my business’s operational area. I want to
think about myself and other people that work around me and
make them believe that they are as important as their leader in
terms of contribution towards the success of the organization.
The main leadership goal that I wish to accomplish is that of
diversity and change management.
The role of a mentor in my leadership development is another
area of importance. A mentor is a person that helps me as an
individual to have an ideal interpretation of the world (Nicola &

Thomas, 2011). One great leader in the global environment that
has helped my vision of the world is Steve Jobs. He had a vision
for his organization and planned on how best he would be able
to ensure that such vision would be attained through
management of diversity and change. Several years down the
line, Apple is one the world’s most valuable companies. Lack of
a mentor in most cases leads an individual into a barrier in
terms of development and growth.
The main gap in my leadership bag is my inability to deal with
information from different sources (Cacioppe, 2008). This
means that I have no capacity to be able to synthesize a huge
amount of information at once. Most managers are faced with
ambiguous situations that they have to offer guidance; this
means that one must have the ability to make use of a range of
information in order to make a final decision that is geared
towards achievement of the organizational goals.
In order to learn how best to deal with huge information load, as
a manager, I have to learn the best skills in reading quickly and
internalizing the main contents in the paper and using the
information to making decision. I can take lesson on how best I
can do short hand writing, skimming in reading and selective
listening where I will be able to only pick that information that
I believe is relevant to the decision that has to be made.
In order to evaluate my progress, it will be important to come
up with my leadership challenge assessment (Northouse, 2015).
The various behavioral items will be set out in form of a
question and they will be scored against a rating where the most
appropriate score from 1 up to 5 will be circled as a reflection
of that area that requires the best form of rating. A score of 5
will indicate that the behavior is shown in me extensively and a
score of 1 indicates that such behavior is not displayed.
Action steps of the plan in tabular form
Month
Task
November
Gardners’ Five Minds (Determination and analysis)

December
Analysis of the minds and determination of the existing gap
January
Determine the main commitments that must be provided under
the vision
February
Develop the main questions that must be answered through the
vision
March
Create the vision
April
Share the vision, make it part of the entire team working with
me
May
Select the mentor
June
Develop the value that must be provided by the mentor
July
Undergo the mentoring process
August
Develop a personal executive coach on; professional
development and emotional competence
September
Development of a global leadership Assessment
The calendar table above indicate the activities that will be
carried out in order to attain the goals of the global leadership
plan. The activities start with the creation of the Gardner’s Five
minds and carrying out an analysis as to which areas form my
strengths and which areas form my weaknesses. After this has
been developed, the next step is to come up with a plan on
leadership which is further split into other activities that are
carried out successively from one step to the other.
Conclusion
The leadership agenda is to bring about transformational
leadership that changes the global society and not the

contemporary leadership that ok for satisfactory results.
Therefore, to make an evaluation, the leadership agenda in
terms of the expectations of the global society and the dominant
theory should demonstrate multi-dimensional change in which
the leadership is its bedrock. The leadership also should be set
in place so that the safety of the future is guaranteed through
self-assessment of participants of the agenda and the external
indicators countering progress rather than just observing that
the law is followed as the common contemporary leadership
does.
This can be customized at organizational through stirring
change at organizational level so as to display the blueprint of
‘the future we want’. The global leadership agenda proposed is
establishment of a multi-dimensional change of the global
society through authentic gearing leadership in which the main
goal is to leverage the different capacities of individuals and
protect the possibilities of risks by engaging in mitigation
process, for the common good of the society’s future.
References
Abbasiyannejad, M., & Silong, A. D. (2015). Contemporary
Leadership Theories. In Chaos, Complexity and Leadership
2013 (pp. 327-330). Springer International Publishing.
Alimo‐Metcalfe, B. (2008). 360 degree feedback and leadership
development. International Journal of Selection and
Assessment, 6(1), 35-44.
Avolio, B. J. (Ed.). (2010). Full range leadership development.
Sage.
Barney, J. B. (1985). Dimensions of Informal Social Network
Structure: Toward a Contingency
Theory of Informal Relations in Organizations, Social
Networks (9) 7:1-46
Bass, B. M. (2009). Two decades of research and development
in transformational leadership. European journal of work and
organizational psychology, 8(1), 9-32
Cacioppe, R. (2008). An integrated model and approach for the
design of effective leadership development

programs. Leadership & Organization Development
Journal, 19(1), 44-53.
Effective Leadership - Roles, Responsibilities, and Tasks (Your
free e-COACH: free tips and advices). (2016).
1000advices.com. Retrieved 4 November 2016, from
http://1000advices.com/guru/leadership.html
Gardner, H. (2008). The five minds for the future. School:
Studies in Education, 5(1/2), 17-24.
Goodman, N.R (2016). Global Human Resources
Development, Learning & Development, Senior Leaders &
Executives. Retrieved from
https://www.td.org/Publications/Newsletters/Links/2016/10/Ho
w-to-Develop-Global-Leadership-Competence
Leadership development. (2016). Christopher Gmyers.
Retrieved 4 November 2016, from
http://www.christophergmyers.net/oxford_leadershipdev.pdf
Nicola, M. P. & Thomas, M. (2011). Responsible Leadership:
Pathways to the Future (98)1:3-13
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage
publications.
Otto, C. S. (2008). Uncovering the Blind Spot of Leadership (7)
3:52-59
Timperley, H. S. (2005). Distributed leadership: Developing
theory from practice. Journal of curriculum studies, 37(4), 395-
420
Zaccaro, S. J., & Horn, Z. N. (2003). Leadership theory and
practice: Fostering an effective symbiosis. The Leadership
Quarterly, 14(6), 769-806

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