Assignment 3 – Leadership Development Plan
Course Name Leadership
Course Code BUSM4188 & 4195
Campus/Tutorial Class SGS_G06
Lecturer’s Name Brian O’Reilly
Student Name Dao Thi Minh Phuong
Student ID S3979092
Word Count 1953
Date of Submission 20 September 2024
Table of Contents
I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................2
II. BODY ........................................................................................................................2
1) Leadership Development Plan............................................................................2
1.1) Diagnostic tools results ...............................................................................2
1.2) Leadership Development Plan ....................................................................4
2) Industry Feedback ...............................................................................................5
III. CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................6
IV. REFERENCES ......................................................................................................6
V. APPENDICE..............................................................................................................8
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I. INTRODUCTION
Leaders are not born and leadership skills are developed through contiuous challenges.
An organization’s success relies on the mutual balance of the effectiveness of leaders
and the combination of leadership and management skills (Zisu 2021). Moreover,
leadership during the developmental years of youth have significant impacts on the
leadership behaviors exhibited later in the workplace as an adult (Karagianni and
Montgomery 2017), highlighting the demand for utilizing methods to construct leadership
development. In this paper, I will reflect my leadership qualities through the use of
diagnostic tools, which assess three key areas of leadership to identify my strengths and
weaknesses. Based on the results, a draft development plan will be outlined and
constructive feedback from a leader will be given to make any improvements for
successful execution, aimed at fostering personal growth and leadership effectiveness.
II. BODY
1) Leadership Development Plan
1.1) Diagnostic tools results
a) Strength
Strong self-regulation: Based on Emotional Intelligence assessment results (Appendix
1), I had high score for self-regulation with 12 points. Self-regulation demonstrates an
individual’s ability to take control of thoughts, feelings, and actions which result in
achieving goals. In organizational context, leaders are often pressured with tasks and
decision-making can be demanding and stressful. Hence, effective self-regulation is
essential for goal-oriented behavior and long-term success, promoting proactive actions
and transformative leadership (Collins and Jackson 2015).
Being a full-time student requires me to spend substantial amount of time for continuous
learning, self-regulation supported me through decision-making and goal-setting process,
in which I developed a self-directive process by transforming mental abilities into
academic skills (Zimmerman 2002). Moreover, based on IPIP Big 5 Personality Traits
(Appendix 8), I got a high score for conscientiousness and emotional stability, which
displayed my good management of cognition and strong commitment to responsibility.
Regarding individual work, I showed a strong task-oriented behaviors towards my
individual work and successfully handled all tasks by well-organizing my personal
schedule to avoid stress and overloadness.
Despite having low extraversion point in IPIP tests having highest score for
conscientiousness has supported me to interact with everyone. High self-regulation also
helps me to connect with teammates and diligently orientate the process under my
leadership. For instance, I has overcome numerous mental challenges for being a team
leader of the same teammates for 2 Digital Marketing courses, which were Marketing
Intelligence and Global Branding. As some teammates did not actively interact with the
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group discussion or lack of expertise to do some tasks, as being a hot-tempered person,
I suffered stressful but tried to control my anger issues and also worked hard to involve
them in. Besides, I approached several relations-oriented behaviors such as giving
honest yet constructive feedback instead of criticism, or regularly taking care of others’
mental stability to assign reasonable deadlines.
b) Weakness
Low Motivation: Despite having strong self-regulation, I am lack of motivation to stabilize
with long-term process (Appendix 1). Motivation is a catalyst for individuals to encourage
themselves and support people to achieve great accomplishments (Chang and Tsai
2022). Leadership motivation is recognized as a crucial part of the leadership
development process and lack of work motivation leads to failure to apply leadership
abilities into social issues (Correia-Harker and Dugan 2020), adding that the learning and
working environment I am in is stressful, I struggle with self-motivation that adversely
threatens my academic achievement. Fortunately, with a good balance of 5 elements in
EI, self-motivation can be cultivated.
Ineffective Networking: Moreover, although I acquired high score for social skills in EI
test, my networking skills was moderate (Appendix 2) and due to being a full time student
currently, this result is understandable. Networking is the process of forming lasting
relationships with others to create value for individuals and communities, which is a key
driver for both current and future personal growth (Palalić et al. 2019).
Personally, I am not confident with my socializing abilities when being in a new
environment. Networking is about making new contacts and sustaining current ones at
the same time, in which both tasks are challenging for me. In reality, I found it difficult to
immerse myself in the social environment of university clubs so I rarely visit any industry
talks or student-oriented seminars in university. Moreover, taking initiatives in
conversations is not my strength, as I only reach out to my teammates during assignments
or replying when needed. Based on IPIP result (Appendix 8), although I scored high for
Agreeableness, this trait best described me when I am in familiar environment and with
high conscientiousness, I am able to push my confidence to speak up and embrace on
new relationships.
c) Skills
Finally, skills inventory assessment suggested that I hold prospect to be a leader, in which
my conceptual skills fell in high range and meanwhile human and tecnical skills received
highly moderate score (Appendix 3). According to Tran (2023), technical skills refer to
fundamental knowledge and academic resources derived from formal and informal
education, training and knowledge while human skills are interpersonal competencies
that supports effective collaboration. Regarding conceptual skills, Yukl (2020) stated
that with a confluence of cognitive capabilities alongside proficiency in both inductive and
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deductive reasoning processes, conceptual skills strengthen abilities to make quick
decisions (Haq 2011). As a result, those skills facilitate effective organisations and
planning, helping leaders identify opportunities and implement effective strategies to
address problems (Harrison 2018, Mumford et al. 2007).
As a team leader, I prioritize responsibility in an open, collaborative environment, using a
flexible approach to skill application for optimal performance. I always begin by thoroughly
analyzing the assignment's requirements and identifying key tasks based on my
knowledge. Then, interpersonal skills, alongside experience in communication and
teamwork, will help me assign tasks aligned with each individual's strengths and set
achievable goals. Above all, I aim to foster a working environment that encourages
creativity and open communication, where I always ask, "Do you have any suggestions?"
or "Do you have any additions to my ideas?". By asking that, I foster an ethical and
innovative studying environment, leverage contribution in knowledge sharing to find the
best solutions.
1.2) Leadership Development Plan
My aspiration is to be a participative leader, emphasizing on the balance of team
empowerment and encouraging knowledge-sharing environment. Therefore, from the
above analysis and self-reflection, a leadership development plan was built, focusing on
honing my strength and improving weaknessed on the basis of skills inventory (Appendix
4).
My first goal is to maintain emotional composure and thoughtful decision-making
under pressure, with a 6-month plan. Self-regulation helps manage stress and reactions,
leading to better decisions and avoiding conflicts. However, in some occasions, impulsive
decisions cause unsustainable results, while delayed decisions can be interpreted as
indecisive. Therefore, journaling will help me record daily events where I have had to use
my emotional regulation skills. Additionally, attending courses on Stress Management,
Emotional Intelligence, and meditation will strengthen my mental stability. Furthermore,
limiting exposure to social media issues will enhance my concentration and work
efficiency. After 6 months to 1 year, I will gather anecdotal feedback from peers and
professionals to evaluate my performance.
Secondly, as procrastination in my work and the difficulty in staying committed to big tasks
stem from a lack of motivation, the goal is dedicated to self-care. Both leaders and
employees should practice self-care in order to maintain their own health and well-being
(Klug et al. 2022). Additionally, for leaders, maintaining a positive mental health not only
brings motivation to the team, moralizes team spirit and foster inspiration, otherwise, the
team will face weak bondings, conflicts and inabilities to solve long-term issues To
promote self-care, I engage in daily positive self-affirmations and adhere to a structured
learning schedule. This approach allows me to practice effective learning techniques
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while offering self-recognition, rather than prioritizing rapid task completion that might
negatively affect my mental health. Taking part in social work or sharing milestones also
enhances my motivation as I have opportunities to socialize with people whose the same
interest as me and gain rewarding encouragement from my connections, developing a
sense of purpose and recognition. All activities will be tracked throughout 3-6 months by
using tracking app to evaluate my commitment to work and study, as well as feedback on
current performance and work ethic from teams and professors by their perception
towards level of motivation and engagement will help me determine further changes to
my plan.
The final goal is to improve problem-solving and collaboration skills in networking over 6
months. As my hesitation to form new relationships limits valuable connections and job
opportunities, combining my conceptual skills, social skills and past achievements for
motivation, I can engage in community activities like university clubs to build friendships
and attend industry seminars to connect with professionals for career advice. Additionally,
maintaining an attractive social media profile will showcase my skills and enhance
engagement. Finally, to determine the success, feedback from peers and professionals
on my groupwork and involvement are included, along with self-assessment using
tracking apps to monitor interactions.
2) Industry Feedback
After evaluating my development plan, Ms Nhi gave me some advices based on my
current working style and the feasibility of goal achievements (Appendix 6). Besides clear
reasonings and understandle implications of potential challenges, she specifically
complimented me on setting achievable goals that also align with her assessment of my
current leadership performance . Secondly, the activities and applications of the skills
were clearly outlined to directly tap into the goals I set with certain ways to measure the
success. Overall, she agreed that my plan was well-proposed with high feasibility and
appropriation.
For suggestions, she had some suggestions for the activities to hone or to improve my
current performance, the timeframe for achieving the goals and the measurement
methods I used. She recommended me to have some alternatives in activities that take
my mental health and my introverted traits into consideration, so that I will not feel
overwhelmed when joining in the crowd of clubs and industry-led seminars. Besides, to
assist better communication with professionals, she advised me to gain basic knowledge
or develop CV with certificates from online courses from so I can use to optimally gain
advices. Additionally, apart from primarily gaining feedbacks from peers and
professionals, taking self-assessment tests will provide more insightful results based on
my understanding of current situations, so I can assess the objectivity of my plan and
make altenative approaches.
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With the feedback checklist, changes are made to develop a better version of my
leadership plan (Appendix 7) . The most significant changes were a more specific
timeframe for each activity to easily track the progress of goal completion over time, as
well as adding metrics to evaluate situations and performance comprehensively.
Regarding the activities, participation in group discussions with people having the same
interests helps me release stress and gain mental support. Besides, reading books to
acquire more knowledge, to my belief, will also help me find motivation in study, improve
my concentration span and foster stronger emotional regulation. Finally, self-assessment
tests are added in the measurement to have the most objective results, so that I can
achieve my goal more successfully from a variety of perspectives.
III. CONCLUSION
Practicing leadership early on provided a clear understanding of the importance of
leadership skills in setting long-term goals for personal growth and career development.
After self-assessing using diagnostic tools, I found that I have strong emotional
intelligence and conceptual skills, but improvements in networking, technical, and human
skills are necessary. Therefore, I proposed a draft development plan with specific goals
to Ms. Nhi Bui, my role model in participative leadership, for feedback. Thanks to her
feedback checklist, I could revise the plan thoroughly and adjust applications and
timelines. Ultimately, I finalized a plan with achievable tasks and metrics to guide my
future leadership journey.
IV. REFERENCES
Chang YC and Tsai YT (2022) ‘The effect of university students’ emotional intelligence,
learning motivation and self-efficacy on their academic achievement – Online English
courses’, Frontiers in Psychology, 13, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.818929.
Zisu MA (2021) ‘The importance of leadership development and self-development within
the organization’, International Conference Knowledge-based Organization, 27(1):247–
252, doi:10.2478/kbo-2021-0038.
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Karagianni D and Montgomery AJ (2017) ‘Developing leadership skills among
adolescents and Young Adults: A review of leadership programmes’, International
Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 23(1):86–98, doi:10.1080/02673843.2017.1292928.
Zimmerman BJ (2002) ‘Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview’, Theory Into
Practice, 41(2):64–70, doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4102_2.
Correia-Harker BP and Dugan JP (2020) ‘Beyond knowledge and skills: Exploring
leadership motivation as a critical construct for student leadership development’, Journal
of College Student Development, 61(3):299–316. doi:10.1353/csd.2020.0029.
Palalić R, Ramadani V, Welsh DH, Dizdarević A and Ðilović (2019) ‘Impact of networking
and business environment on student leadership styles’, International Entrepreneurship
and Management Journal, 17(1): 447–475, doi:10.1007/s11365-019-00610-8.
Tran QHN (2023) ‘Building technical, human and conceptual skills: Implications
for Vietnamese librarians’, Library Management, 44(6/7):397–410, doi:10.1108/lm-11-
2022-0104.
Haq S (2011) ‘Ethics and leadership skills in the Public Service’, Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 15:2792–2796. doi:10.1016/[Link].2011.04.190.
Yukl G (2020) Leadership in organizations, 8th edn, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Harrison C (2017) ‘Conclusion’, Leadership Theory and Research, 79–101.
doi:10.1007/978-3-319-68672-1_4.
Mumford TV, Campion MA and Morgeson FP (2007) ‘The leadership skills strataplex:
Leadership skill requirements across organizational levels’, The Leadership Quarterly,
18(2):154–166, doi:10.1016/[Link].2007.01.005.
Klug K, Felfe J and Krick A (2022) ‘Does self-care make you a better leader? A
multisource study linking leader self-care to health-oriented leadership, employee self-
care, and health’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
19(11):6733. doi:10.3390/ijerph19116733.
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V. APPENDICE
Appendix 1: Diagnostic tool of Emotional Intelligence
Self-awareness: 11
Self-regulation: 12
Motivation: 9
Empathy: 11
Social skills: 11
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Appendix 2: Diagnostic Tool of Networking
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Appendix 3: Diagnostic Tool of Skills Inventory
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Appendix 4: Initial Leadership Development Plan
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Appendix 5: Leader Background Information
Ms. Nhi Bui is the CEO of a private English Academy called Chilli Academy, primarily
supporting students at all ages to achieve a high proficiency in IELTS for more than 3
years. Despite being the leader, her behaviors as a leader are a good demonstration of
participative leadership traits as she prioritze the involvement of team members into the
decision-making process with them contributing their ideas and suggestions to the final
decisions. She holds a master’s degree in Social Psychology which she can leverage to
conduct effective communication skills with everyone and widen her network, in which
she also utilizes the experience gained from the degree to maintain emotionally stable
and supportive. Moreover, she believed that giving feedback and promoting collaboration
among staffs is an optimal motivation to them, as they are receiving opportunities to
achieve self-development and a growth mindset rather than a judgemental criticism. That
being said, she places high value on the growth of the organization based on motivation,
communication and respect among staffs, which significantly affected my perspective on
an ideal type of leader.
Appendix 6: Chosen leader’s feedback – Feedback Checklist
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Appendix 7: Final Leadership Development Plan
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Appendix 8: IPIP Big Five Factors Marker – Personal results
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