create an adaptive leadership toolkit that can be used throughout the organization.

Scenario

You work as a director of leadership and learning for an organization that makes prosthetics. This year’s employee engagement survey results for the organization show that some leadership practices are rated lower, while some practices were rated higher. The new chief human resources officer (CHRO) met with the team to discuss the general results. Everyone agrees that the company’s focus should be on both specific leadership development areas perceived as strengths and on those rated as areas for improvement, primarily regarding social intelligence, emotional intelligence, and the interpersonal skills of effective leaders.

To help this initiative, your manager, the vice president of leadership and learning, asked you to create an adaptive leadership toolkit that can be used throughout the organization. To begin this work, you conducted a personal leadership self-assessment and turned this into a personal development plan. Then you shared this artifact with your manager. Your manager was impressed with the thoroughness of the personal development plan and saw value in incorporating it as an exemplar within the adaptive leadership toolkit for use by all people leaders in the organization. After receiving such positive feedback from your manager, you are now ready to move forward on developing the adaptive leadership toolkit that will be shared with your manager and chief human resources officer (CHRO) of the organization.

Prompt

1. Summarize the business problems the organization is currently facing and describe how the adaptive leadership toolkit will address these problems.
2. Based on the employee satisfaction survey, identify the skills and behaviors that are current strengths exhibited by leadership and explain how these strengths are critical to the success of the organization.
3. Based on the employee satisfaction survey, identify the skills and behaviors that are current areas of weakness for leadership and explain how these areas may be improved by applying the self-assessment you used to create your own personal development plan.
4. Describe the importance of including a personal development plan as an exemplar in the adaptive leadership toolkit and explain how SMART goal setting can help to improve the areas of weakness for leaders within the organization.
5. Explain how the personal development plan and SMART goal setting could help develop the leadership styles of the leaders within the organization.

MBA 530 Module Six Assignment
Personal Development Plan Template
Complete this template by replacing the bracketed text with the relevant information.
First and Last Name: LaKisha R. Harris
Date: June 15, 2024
Goal Description:
My personal development goal is to significantly improve my ability to challenge the process by
proactively identifying opportunities for innovation and generating small wins through
experimentation and calculated risk-taking. The objectives are to:
1. Identify at least one new opportunity each month to improve a process, procedure or
product
2. Implement at least one innovative idea per quarter that leads to a measurable “small
win” for the team
Leadership Competency: Challenge the Process
Category
S: Specific
Explanation
What do I plan to
accomplish? What do I plan
to achieve? What is the
reason for this goal? Why is it
relevant?
Example: Ensure a
development plan, with
specific deliverables, is jointly
developed with all of my
direct reports.
Response
My goal is to significantly
improve my ability to
challenge the process by
proactively identifying
opportunities for innovation
and generating small wins
through experimentation and
calculated risk-taking. The
reason for setting this goal is
that my LPI self-assessment
showed “Challenge the
Process” as my lowest-rated
leadership practice.
Developing this area will
make me a more wellrounded leader who doesn’t
just maintain the status quo
but drives positive change
and improvement.
It’s highly relevant because
our organization needs to
evolve and innovate
continuously to stay
competitive. As a leader, I
need to model the way to
seek out innovative ways to
improve our work rather than
Category
Explanation
Response
simply executing our current
procedures and processes. By
focusing on enhancing this
leadership practice, I will
push myself and my team to
new levels of creativity and
impact. We may fail at times,
but we will learn and get
better through the process.
Specifically, I plan to
accomplish two main
objectives:
1. Identify at least one
new opportunity
each month to
improve a process,
procedure or
product. I will
proactively look for
areas of inefficiency,
waste, customer pain
points, market
trends, competitive
threats, etc., that
present opportunities
for us to innovate
and optimize how we
work. I will engage
my team, peers, and
stakeholders to help
uncover these
opportunities.
2. Implement at least
one innovative idea
per quarter that leads
to a measurable
“small win” for the
team. From the
opportunities
identified, I will work
with others to
brainstorm creative
solutions and select
one or more actually
to implement and
test each quarter.
Category
M: Measurable
Explanation
What metric(s) will be used
to determine if you meet the
goal? If more than one
milestone is
included, provide the metric
that will be used to measure
performance.
Response
The goal is to
translate ideas into
action and learn from
the results, even if
some attempts fail.
The implementation
should result in some
measurable
improvement, even if
small in magnitude.
To measure achievement of
this goal:
1. I will keep a log of
new opportunities
identified to improve
a process, procedure
or product, aiming
for at least one per
month. This will be a
simple spreadsheet
where I capture the
date, a brief
description of the
opportunity, how it
surfaced, and any
initial ideas for
addressing it. I can
tabulate the number
of entries each
month.
2. I will track the
number of innovative
ideas actually
implemented per
quarter, targeting at
least one that
generates a
measurable “small
win” or
improvement. I will
document the
specific idea, the
rationale and
hypothesis, the
implementation plan
Category
A: Achievable
Explanation
Response
and timeline, and the
results. The key
metric is the number
of ideas implemented
within the quarterly
timeframes.
The metrics demonstrating
the impact of each
implemented idea will vary
based on the specific
initiative. Examples could
include:
• X% increase in
process cycle time
• $Y saved in costs
• Z% improvement in
customer satisfaction
scores
• X number of
employee hours
saved through
automation
• $Y increase in
revenue by reaching
a new customer
segment
• Z% reduction in
defects or errors
What tools and skills do I
need to achieve the goal?
Who needs to be involved for
me to be successful? What is
my motivation for wanting to
achieve this goal?
To achieve this goal, I will
need to enhance my skills in
areas like creative problemsolving, design thinking, data
analysis, influencing others,
and agile project
management to bring ideas
to fruition. I will take
advantage of online courses
and reading to build
knowledge. I also will seek
out a mentor who is known
for innovation to coach me.
Significant time and effort
will be required to work on
this goal alongside day-to-day
responsibilities. I will need to
Category
Explanation
Response
get better at prioritizing,
delegating, and managing my
time and energy to create
space for the work involved
in identifying opportunities
and implementing
innovations. It won’t be easy,
but it’s doable with focus and
discipline.
I will also need to involve my
team, peers, and
stakeholders across functions
to help brainstorm ideas and
get buy-in to implement
them. Challenging the
process can disrupt the status
quo, so I’ll need to
communicate effectively,
influence, and manage
change with others.
Leveraging the diversity of
thought in the organization
will improve the quality and
creativity of solutions. My
manager will need to support
me in taking calculated risks
and provide air cover if some
initiatives fail, as long as we
are learning.
My motivation to work hard
to achieve this goal comes
from knowing that
challenging the process is a
key practice of exemplary
leaders. It’s the only way to
avoid stagnation and drive
breakthroughs that keep us
competitive. I want to grow
and differentiate myself as a
transformational leader. I
know this will stretch me
outside my comfort zone, but
that’s where growth happens.
I’m energized by the
opportunity to think big, try
new things, and empower my
Category
R: Relevant
Explanation
Response
team to make a more
significant impact.
Seeing innovations take hold
that improve how we work
and deliver for customers will
be incredibly rewarding,
especially when they come
from engaging the talent of
my team members and
others in the organization. I
want my leadership legacy to
be elevating innovation in my
sphere of influence.
Achieving this goal is a
significant step in that
direction.
How is this goal linked to an
overall business objective?
How will this goal increase
my knowledge and improve
my overall performance?
This goal directly supports
our company’s strategic
objective of innovation and
continuous improvement to
sustain our market
leadership. The executive
team has made it crystal clear
that the status quo is not
sufficient to stay ahead of
rapidly evolving customer
needs, technology
advancements, and industry
disruption. They are looking
to leaders at all levels to drive
curiosity, creativity, and
experimentation in order to
surface the innovations that
will become our competitive
advantage. By proactively
searching for opportunities to
enhance processes and
products and taking
calculated risks to implement
new ideas, I will directly
contribute to this business
imperative.
On a personal level, this goal
is relevant to my leadership
development objectives of
Category
T: Time Bound
Explanation
Response
elevating my strategic
thinking, change leadership
and organizational influence.
Challenging the process
requires looking at the big
picture of where our business
and industry are going, not
just focusing on the day-today tactics. It involves
inspiring and rallying others
around a vision for a better
future state and leading the
charge to disrupt ourselves
before we get disrupted.
Becoming more proactive,
creative, and agile in leading
change is perhaps the most
critical development area in
my leadership journey.
Achieving this goal will
improve my overall
performance and value to the
organization. I will develop a
reputation not just for solid
operational execution but for
driving us into the future. I
will gain knowledge about
innovation tools, processes,
and change management
that I can share with others.
My team will become more
engaged and energized by
the opportunity to envision
and implement new
solutions. I will demonstrate
the kind of 21st-century
leadership mindset and
behavior that the company
will need more of to succeed
in the years ahead.
Provide tangible deliverables
(s) with due dates if more
than one milestone is
included. Provide the final
I am committing to work on
this development goal over
the next 12 months, from July
1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The
Category
Explanation
due date for completion of
this development goal.
Response
following are the key
milestones and deliverables:
1. Monthly, starting in
July 2024 and
continuing through
June 2025:
• Log at least 1 new
opportunity each
month to improve a
process, procedure,
or product (for a total
of at least 12
opportunities
identified over the
year)
2. Quarterly:
• Q3 2024 (July-Sep),
Q4 2024 (Oct-Dec),
Q1 2025 (Jan-Mar),
Q2 2025 (Apr-Jun)
• Implement at least 1
innovative idea each
quarter that
generates a
measurable “small
win” or improvement
(for a total of at least
4 implemented
innovations over the
year)
3. December 2024:
• Mid-point check-in
with manager to
assess progress,
review metrics, and
discuss what’s
working well and
what I can adjust in
my approach for even
better results in the
second half
• Review 360
stakeholder feedback
on how I’m doing
with involving others
Category
Explanation
Response
in challenging the
process
4. June 2025:
• Final review of goal
achievement with
manager, using yearend metrics and the
LPI re-assessment to
evaluate
improvement on the
“Challenge the
Process” practice
• Reflect on lessons
learned, personal
growth, and team
and organizational
impact from focusing
on this goal
• Share critical insights
and celebrate
progress with the
team and key
stakeholders
• Set new goals and
actions to continue
building on this
development area
Final goal completion target:
June 30, 2025
EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION SURVEY
SURVEY QUESTIONS
Constantly strives to provide value to our clients and customers
My company cares about its employees
My company cares about its customers
I believe the company mission and vision drive the decisions that are made
My job makes good use of my skills and abilities
I am very satisfied with my job
My supervisor shows appreciation for the work that I do
My pay is competitive with others places that I could work
I am proud to be a part of this company
I am proud to tell my friends and family that I work here
Recognizes employees based on merit, i.e., accomplishments, successes.
I feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things
My work gives me a sense of personal accomplishment
When people work extra hard to meet our goals they are rewarded accordingly
My Supervisor takes the time to praise those who do an excellent job
I have received the training I need to perform my job responsibilities
My Supervisor talks with me to help me determine my training and development goals.
Maintains working conditions that are safe
Maintains working conditions that are clean and orderly
Respects the dignity and diversity of all employees
Committed to helping employees fulfill their family and other responsibilities
Provides leadership who act in just and ethical ways
Provides employees with a sense of fulfillment and purpose in their jobs
Provides employees with a sense of security in their jobs
Provides employees with fair compensation
Promotes an environment in which employees feel free to make suggestions and complaints
Provides an inclusive environment where each employee is considered as an individual
I have the tools and resources to do my job well
In my job I have clearly defined quality goals
When I am having difficulty my Supervisor is there to support me so I do not feel abandoned
My Supervisor gives me useful information on how I can improve my job performance
My Supervisor lets me know where I stand and what is expected of me
I trust my supervisor
SFACTION SURVEY RESULTS
PERCENT FAVORABLE RESULTS
FOCUS AREA
CLIENT/CUSTOMER
COMPANY & STRATEGY
COMPANY & STRATEGY
COMPANY & STRATEGY
JOB SATISFACTION
JOB SATISFACTION
JOB SATISFACTION
JOB SATISFACTION
JOB SATISFACTION
JOB SATISFACTION
RECOGNITION & PRAISE
RECOGNITION & PRAISE
RECOGNITION & PRAISE
REWARD & RECOGNITION
REWARD & RECOGNITION
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
Current Year
Two Years Ago
Four Years Ago
90
60
75
60
43
35
38
75
70
80
46
35
38
31
35
66
25
78
80
75
76
35
77
43
75
37
36
76
80
35
38
36
24
89
70
74
65
52
41
48
77
72
81
49
40
42
35
39
70
28
80
82
76
73
45
80
44
76
41
40
77
80
38
41
39
33
91
75
76
71
59
48
55
76
79
80
52
43
44
40
44
68
33
80
82
75
68
53
80
47
75
44
41
76
77
44
44
42
39
1. SMART Goal: Apply SMART goal setting to create a personal
development plan that aligns with the leadership behavior you’re
looking to improve. Keep in mind that your personal development
plan will be used as an exemplar for the adaptive leadership toolkit
in Milestone Two. Your SMART goal should address the following:
1. “S” Specific: Your goal must be specific.
i) State your personal development goal.
ii) Describe the reason for this goal.
iii) Describe the objective(s) needed to ensure this goal it
met.
2. “M” Measurable: Your goal must be measurable.
i) Describe the metric(s) that will be used to determine if you
meet this goal.
ii) Describe the metric(s) that will be used to measure
performance of meeting objective(s) along the way.
3. “A” Achievable: Your goal must be achievable.
i) Describe the tools and skills you will need to achieve this
goal.
ii) Describe who needs to be involved to allow you to be
successful in achieving this goal.
4. “R” Relevant: Your goal must be relevant.
i) Explain how this goal can be linked to an overall business
objective.
ii) Explain how this goal will increase your knowledge and
improve your overall performance as a leader.
5. “T” Time-Bound: Your goal must be time bound.
i) Provide an overall timeline for the completion of this goal.
ii) Provide tangible deliverable(s) with due dates that
support the objective(s) you indicated above.