Personal Leadership Plan: Communication and Emotional Intelligence

Executive Summary

This personal leadership plan identifies both long-term and short-term goals. My long-term goal is to become a leader in my family's company; my short-term goal is to become more respected as a leader. My strengths lie in creativity and the ability to see multiple solutions to problems. My main weakness is in communication. My personal action plan is to focus on developing better communication skills by building my social and emotional intelligence. This will allow me to speak more effectively with others, be more supportive, and in turn build stronger relationships.

Goals and Career Aspirations

As a member of my family's real estate development company in the Caribbean, I look forward to a long career with the firm and to taking on more responsibilities as I grow and develop new skills. My goal is to eventually head the development division — something I feel I am more than capable of achieving, as I am strong in exploratory and abstract thinking, two skills that are absolutely essential in this field. While I have only been with the company for eight months, I have enjoyed every minute and want to keep proving my worth and value to the firm. My ultimate goal is to help lead the company into the future and expand its footprint throughout the Caribbean market, and perhaps into other markets as well.

Based on an analysis of my character and leadership qualities, my immediate short-term goals are the following:

1. Becoming more respected as a leader — one whom people are willing to listen to more often.
2. Developing stronger relationships with others by engaging with them so that they get to know more about me, my thoughts, and my viewpoints.
3. Becoming more self-confident in group settings and around colleagues.

Current Position and Communication Needs

Currently, I am a mid-level manager who is just getting my feet wet in the company. I do not yet carry a great deal of responsibility, but one of the primary skills I have recognized I need to develop is communication. While I consider myself a capable communicator, I feel I could be better. In this environment, there is little room for error or miscommunication, as either can lead to significant losses of time, money, energy, and resources. If I want to work my way up in the company over the long term and meet my short-term goals, I need to focus on communicating more effectively.

My strengths include my ability to envision goals, motivate others, think creatively, and seize opportunities. I am always looking for openings that may present themselves, and I view a missed opportunity with genuine regret.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Skills, and Motivations

An important weakness I need to address is my soft-spoken nature and my tendency to go quiet at times. Through feedback and self-reflection, I have learned that this behavior is perceived by others as a lack of engagement or initiative — even when I feel fully present and attentive. I believe that, at times, I am so focused on listening and making others feel comfortable that I do not speak up enough with my own views and thoughts. I become too agreeable and too hesitant to voice my opinions when, in fact, that is precisely what others want to see from me.

I over-concern myself with saying the right thing, and as a result I sometimes say nothing at all, out of fear of saying something incorrect. I need to build my self-confidence so that I feel comfortable speaking my mind without internally over-analyzing everything I want to say. This tendency becomes most pronounced in larger groups, where my timidity to speak is heightened.

I am skilled at brainstorming and generating multiple options and solutions to problems. I can synthesize information readily and identify different themes as they emerge.

My motivation is to become the best possible version of myself. I am driven to help my family, to contribute to the success of the business, and to help my colleagues achieve their own success as well.