Planning is the basis of action. When you have a plan in mind, you take the necessary course of action to implement it, and that is how these plans materialize into reality. Having a plan in mind however is never enough, and to really make it work, writing it down is more effective. What is the importance of a leadership development plan? Charting out your plan toward improving your leadership skills and qualities gives you vision and a goal to work towards. It tells you the course of action you are required to take, along with the time within which your goals must be achieved. All these factors give you a concrete base upon which you can build your vision. Further, if you have written down your goals and your plan of action, your commitment and accountability toward them increases. Your comfort zone is broken and you stretch your capacity in order to improve yourself and achieve all those goals you have set for yourself. You will definitely meet several obstacles in the way, but it is your job to overcome these obstacles. Doing so will have you emerge a stronger, more confident person. So, how do you go about developing a leadership plan? Here, we give you tips on making your leadership plan, along with a template that you may use keep track of these. How to Develop a Leadership Plan The following steps will tell you how to go about developing a leadership plan:

• Assess: Developing a leadership plan requires you to introspect and assess your strengths and weaknesses as a leader. You must note down where you are a great leader, where you have a room for improvement, and the qualities you would like to enhance in the provided time frame.
• Set Goals: Any goals that you set have to be SMART, in that they have to be Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, and Time-based. Do your goals include developing listening skills, communicating better with your team members, implementing newer strategies in decision-making, and the like? Whatever your goals are, ensure that they fit into these parameters so that you can easily achieve them. Also note, why you want to achieve these goals, and the difference they will make to your professional life.
• Plan: You know what you what to achieve in the given time period, so it is now time to build on your vision. Write down the course of action you intend to take toward goal achievement.
• Implement: It is now time to start implementing your plan for success as a leader. Take the help of your mentors and your colleagues to help improvise upon the plan and execute it. Ask for feedback at regular intervals so that you know whether your course of action is working out as planned.
• Monitor Progress: Finally, continually monitor your progress as you work on your goals. If you think there is little difference, change your course of action to something that will be more effective.

Finally, at the cost of repetition, ensure that the goals you have set are realistic. You don't want to set unachievable goals and then find yourself disappointed. Be open to feedback from others so that you can truly make a difference to the way you function. Also, account for the obstacles you may encounter in the process of implementing your plan of action. Template Having provided details about developing a leadership plan, here's a template for your personal use; one that will measure the progress you have made, and will contain all your plans and visions.

Parameters	Measures
Personal Mission Statement	Overview of goals that you intend to achieve
Current Position (Personal Approach)	Strengths	Weaknesses
Current Position (Based on Feedback Received from Colleagues & Mentors)	Strengths	Weaknesses
Short/Long-Term Goals	What?	Why?
Enlist the goals you wish to achieve	Enlist the reasons for having such goals
Plan of Action	What?	How?
What do you intend to do to achieve your goals?	How do you intend to implement your plan of action?
Time Frame	Goal	Deadline
Mention the short/long term goal you want to achieve	Mention the deadline within which you want to achieve that goal
Feedback	From Whom?	Remarks
Mention name of person who has given feedback	Mention comments and inputs provided by her/him

This leadership development plan template can be modified to suit your needs and your goals. This was just a basic template to give you an idea about it. Remember to keep your plan before you at all times, so that you never lose sight of your goals. Good luck!