Awaken, Align, Accelerate: A Guide to Great Leadership (eBook)

Quickstart Guide to Self Development or Coaching

This book is designed to be a resource and a guide that you use for your own self-development or while coaching others.

1. Read Chapters 1-3
   • Gain an understanding of the three models used as the foundation for the book.
   • Notice that each competency from the Leadership Competency Model on page 8 has a corresponding chapter.
2. Identify Key Priorities
   • Review all 16 competencies using the table in the Appendix (“Factors, Competencies and Core Practices”). Which are the most important to your role?
   • Seek feedback from others, such as your boss or peers, on which competencies they feel are the most important and should be your top priority.
3. Assess Your Strengths
   • Start with your top three competencies and read the Introduction and complete the Self-Assessment at the beginning of each corresponding chapter.
   • Prioritize the top three, identifying the competency with the highest “Development Need” or “Excessive Use” checks at the top of the list.
4. Review Development Suggestions
   • Beginning with your top competency, identify the core practices with the highest “Development Need” or “Excessive Use” check marks.
   • Turn to the development suggestions for these core practices within the competency chapter and identify suggestions that you would be comfortable trying.
5. Create a Development Plan
   • Read the Case Study and sample Development Plan at the end of the chapter.
   • Create your own Development Plan using the template in the Appendix.
   • Ensure that your development goals are aligned with existing business goals using the Business Context section.
6. Work the Plan
   • Work through the development suggestions, seeking regular feedback from others on your progress.
   • Once you, and others, feel as though you’ve “mastered” a suggestion, move on to another. Continue working through the core practices – returning to Step 4. Once you’ve mastered all the core practices in the competency, move on to another competency – returning to Step 3.
7. Development for the Future
   • Another effective development exercise is to rank the 16 competencies in order of importance for a new role that you may be working toward. Go back to Step 3 and retake the Self-Assessment while envisioning yourself in this new role.
   • Continue with the process, focusing on the newly identified competencies you need for the future.
8. Coaching
   • Use a similar process as above to help coach someone. Rank the competencies together and use the self-assessments to determine which core practices need development. Create a development plan using the development suggestions and check the coaching suggestions section for specific behaviors related to that competency that you may encounter during your discussions.