What is leadership development planning?

Leadership development refers to using various strategies to prepare for leadership roles. A leader development plan outlines a strategic plan aimed to support an employee’s growth toward leadership potential. It’s a detailed, individualized plan for a single employee to help them improve and gain skills in particular areas, usually with a long-term focus. In other words, it’s the blueprint for leadership development. 

Benefits of a leadership development plan

Why should you use leadership development planning? It offers benefits for your company and employees. Reasons to develop a leadership plan for employees include:

• Mold ideal company leaders. By establishing a leader development plan for a promising employee, you shape them to fit your organization’s needs. You can look at the leadership skills you need for future management openings to help with your succession planning . 
• Fill skills gaps. Even if every employee doesn’t move into a management role, leadership development planning can still help bridge the skills gaps on your team. Many of the skills detailed in a leadership development plan offer benefits in almost any role. This strengthens your organization and gives you new competencies that can improve your results.
• Clarify performance expectations. Building a plan with an employee helps them understand your expectations for their performance and growth. It shows them how they can continue growing with the company. 
• Encourage improvement. Investing in your team can motivate your employees to better themselves. They might go beyond your expectations and grow even faster than expected. 
• Improve company culture. Offering growth opportunities creates a positive company culture that can help keep your employees happy and attract new talent .  
• Clarify career paths. Leadership development planning focuses on strengths and areas of improvement for your employees. You might discover new possible growth opportunities for career paths as you go through the process. This can bring more satisfaction to your team members while making the most of the talent you have. 

When to use leadership development planning

Employees at all stages of their careers can benefit from having a leadership development plan. The timing can impact how you shape your plan for an employee. Examples include:

• Newer employees. It’s never too early to plan a team member’s career trajectory. When you develop a leadership plan early in an employee ‘s career, you give them a head start on advancement opportunities. They can gain skills more quickly than normal to get on the management track. This is also the time when many employees are eager to learn and willing to follow your lead, so you can shape them to embrace your company’s ideals and goals.
• Mid-level employees. When employees have been in the field for a decade or so, they might hit a lull in their careers. Implementing a development plan could ease them out of the rut and inspire them to pursue new skills and opportunities. You can use the plan to bring them out of their comfort zones so they can do more with their talents. 
• Executive-level employees. Reaching manager status doesn’t mean the learning is done. A development plan for higher-level employees can push them beyond their current skill levels. If you’re anticipating growth, you might need to add new executive titles in the near future. The leader development plan helps you prepare current managers for those new leadership roles. 
• Employee challenges. If your team member is facing a difficult work situation, you might develop a leadership plan to help them overcome it. For instance, if someone feels unmotivated or disconnected from the team, providing training and leadership opportunities to address those specific issues could help. 
• Company challenges. You might also implement plans when you’re facing an organizational challenge. Perhaps you want to strengthen your financial standing or become a more sustainable company. You might tailor leadership development planning toward those company goals. 

How to develop a leadership plan

Leadership development plans can be as unique as your employees. However, you can follow a similar process each time you develop a leadership plan. The following steps give you a basic framework. 

1. Evaluate the company’s overall needs and goals

While leadership development plans help individuals grow their skills, they should also benefit the organization as a whole. Evaluating your current leadership skills and talents and anticipating future needs helps you identify the skills you need to develop. It also helps to analyze your goals for the organization to determine how new leaders can help you achieve them. From there, you can outline what type of leaders and specific skills you need to get there.  

2. Identify the employee’s career vision and align it with company goals

Adding in the employee’s angle can make the leader development plan more effective. You can get better buy-in from the team member if the training you offer them fits their desired career path. Some employees might need more support in defining those goals than others. You might ask them to reflect on their accomplishments, strengths and interests to clarify a career path. Their supervisors might also have input on how they might excel. Find ways to tie those desires to what your company needs. This makes the plan beneficial for both parties. 

3. Create clear goals and a time line for completion

Once you know how the employee might progress, develop specific goals to help them get there. Include a timeline for each goal to make progress easier to track. The employee’s goals create actionable steps that break them down into manageable chunks. They also provide motivation and help keep your team on track toward their leadership development. 

4. Outline specific development methods to reach the goals

Each larger goal needs specific leadership development techniques to push the employee toward completion. For instance, if one goal is to improve communication skills, you might send the employee to a training on communication, mentor them on communication skills and give them more opportunities to practice specific types of communication skills. Factor in the budget when developing a learning plan for each employee. 

5. Generate methods to monitor the employee’s progress

Monitoring progress toward the goals helps you determine how fast the employee is growing. It lets you know if they’re ready for additional challenges and how close they are to being ready for a management position. Realistic measurement methods can help you gauge your overall success with leadership development.

Daily, weekly and monthly targets provide detailed feedback for you and your employees. This can help you identify barriers early in the development process. Looking at these benchmarks and expectations can help you make adjustments as necessary based on progress. 

Ways to develop leadership skills

Incorporating multiple leadership development methods can broaden the skills your employees gain while improving overall success. The skills you’re trying to develop often impact which method is the most effective. Each employee’s preferred learning methods can also influence how you develop individuals. Some options include:

• Internal training. You might develop company training programs to meet specific needs and tailor the learning toward your procedures.
• External training. If you have only one or two employees who need to attend a specific training, it can be more cost-effective to send them to an external training program. 
• Certifications. Some employees might benefit from earning certifications or other credentials in specific areas. 
• Mentorship. Creating a mentorship program within your organization offers an informal learning option. It can help with succession planning because you can pass down company information and methods. 
• Hands-on leadership opportunities. For some people, jumping into leadership roles can help them develop their skills. You might assign an employee to a planning committee or give them supervisory opportunities within their team. 
• Job shadowing, job rotation or cross-training. You can utilize your current employees to help with training through various job opportunities. Job shadowing lets an employee follow along with another team member to see what their job entails. Through job rotation, employees spend varying amounts of time in different positions. Cross-training your staff can fill in current skills gaps, provide coverage when employees are gone and hone leadership skills for advancement opportunities. 
• Self-guided learning. Some employees prefer to learn on their own via research and discovery. Online courses, books and trial and error can play into this type of learning. 
• Peer learning. You might group prospective leaders together for peer learning opportunities. One example is a leadership book club where participants read a relevant book and discuss the contents.

Having a variety of learning methods available can help improve effectiveness. Multiple methods can also reinforce the skills and help employees implement them in different ways. 

Leader development plan example

Seeing an example of a leader development plan can help guide the process for your organization. Use it as inspiration, but tailor the plan to your company’s needs. Here’s an example of a leadership development plan for a marketing manager position.

Name: Sydney Jones

Position: Marketing Manager

Company: Mercury Communications

Plan period: January 2, 2024, to January 2, 2026

Development focus: Recently promoted, serving in a new position

Top Three Employee Strengths:

• Social media reporting
• Lead generation
• Content curation

Top Three Employee Development Needs:

• Leading a team with a coordinator, an assistant and an intern
• Conflict resolution
• Interpersonal skills

Development Step 1: Collaborate with the marketing coordinator, assistant and intern to work on their leadership development plans. Approach this step in a coaching style while practicing your interpersonal skills.

Timeline: Begin this week and speak with one employee per week up until the end of January

Estimated cost: No monetary cost at this time

Development Step 2: Speak with Harper Cove, the human resources manager, on my leadership development plan and receive guidance on how to coach my team.

Timeline: Begin working with Harper this week and ask for advice when necessary

Estimated cost: No monetary cost at this time

Development Step 3: Read the novel “Essentials of Marketing Management.” Write down one way you’ve applied a concept from the book and meet with the marketing director to get feedback on my progress.

Timeline: Over the next four months

Estimated cost: $15.99 to purchase the book

FAQs about leadership development planning

What are some challenges to creating leadership development plans?

Effective leadership development planning accounts for potential challenges to overcome them. Common issues include identifying ideal participants, personalizing the plan enough to make it effective, developing relevant learning opportunities and sustaining the development long term. You might also face challenges with having the right resources to develop your employees efficiently. 

Can I assign a leadership development plan for all employees?

Leadership development plans work for employees at all levels, from the CEO down to interns in the same company. Not all employees are destined for leadership roles within your company, but a plan can encourage all employees to grow, improve and gain new skills. It can also help measure growth regardless of where employees end up in their journey. Because each plan is individual, you can adjust it to work for each person. 

Is a leadership development plan a substitute for a performance review?

A leadership development plan is different than a performance review. It solely focuses on areas of improvement with an emphasis on leadership capabilities. A performance review monitors an employee’s progress on tasks directly tied to the responsibilities of their current role rather than preparing them for advancement, but performance reviews can help employees learn how to improve.