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Reprinted with permission from HUMAN RESOURCE
PLANNING, Vol. 26, No. 4 (2004). © 2004 by The Human
Resource Planning Society, 317 Madison Avenue, Suite
1509, New York, NY 10017, Phone: (212) 490-6387,
Fax: (212) 682-6851.
The
Power of a
Development
Plan
Robert A. Stringer, Randall S. Cheloha, Mercer Delta Consulting
10 HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING
The Power of a Development Plan
Robert A. Stringer, Randall S. Cheloha, Mercer Delta Consulting
Agood development plan is not a simple
document. To be powerful, it has to be built
around a development model grounded in
real-world experience. It has to be carefully
crafted to fit the needs of the person being devel-
oped. It has to include job assignments that build
leadership skills. And it has to be supported by the
organization and integrated into a development
philosophy that views planning documents as the
beginning of the development journey, not the end.
HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING 11
create discipline and motivation? In order to
answer these questions we need to explore
how leadership development happens—not
in a theoretical way, but in the real world.
How Leadership Development
Happens:A Real-World Model
Our experience—over a combined total of
almost 50 years of consulting, executive coaching,
and leadership training—tells us there are three
major components to leadership development:
awareness, motivation and skill-building. But
many “old-fashioned” development plans are
almost totally focused on skill-building and pay
little attention to awareness-building or motiva-
tion. As illustrated in Exhibit 1, these three
dimensions must be sequentially engaged in order
for a person to learn.
Because creating awareness of the need to
develop is the number one priority, “awareness-
building” must be the dominant theme of any
good development plan. In reality, it is generally
forgotten or overlooked.
Motivation is also a missing ingredient in
most old-fashioned approaches to development
planning. The typical leadership-development
plan assumes the executive “gets it” and wants to
change. Yet, Leslie and Van Velsor (1996) point
out in their study of executive failure at the
Center for Creative Leadership that most derailed
executives, even in the face of strong contrary
data, are confident that what worked for them in
the past will continue to work in the future. They
In 2001, the Corporate Leadership Council
published its much-awaited study of the most
effective leadership-development strategies.
Entitled Voice of the Leader, this study closely
examined 17 different development interventions.
The two most influential development actions
turned out to be 1) the amount of decision-making
authority a person was given, and 2) the existence
of an individual development plan.
That the existence of a development plan would
be named as the second most important stimulus
for development may seem surprising. What is so
important about having a development plan? Why
is it so powerful? How could line and staff execu-
tives give such weight to a simple document?
The answer is that a good development plan is
not a simple document. To be powerful, it has to
be built around a development model grounded in
real-world experience. It has to be carefully crafted
to fit the needs of the person being developed. It
has to include job assignments that build leadership
skills. And it has to be supported by the organiza-
tion and integrated into a development philosophy
that views planning documents as the beginning of
the development journey, not the end.
Individual development plans are a critical part
of any effective leadership-development system at
two levels. At the organizational level, these plans
ensure that the next generation of leaders will
have the skills and experiences required to define
and implement the corporation’s strategies. At the
personal level, they force future leaders to focus
on what needs to be done in order to grow. When
done right, the individual development plan
becomes a contract future leaders make with
themselves and the organization about the things
they want to do or to become. The plan creates
discipline and a good plan creates motivation.
Two recent best-selling books on leadership
highlight this point. Bossidy and Charan (2002)
looked at the investments made by major corpo-
rations in their people processes, including the
identification and development of leadership tal-
ent. The most successful development strategies
emphasized building plans that focused on the
skills and behaviors needed to execute the com-
pany’s strategy. Even when organizations identify
the correct activities in their development plans,
they frequently fail to implement them effectively.
This same failure was noted by Collins (2001). It
turned out to be one of the factors differentiating
“good” companies from the “great” ones.
What does a good plan look like? How does it
How Development Happens
EXHIBIT 1
Awareness
(“I’m Not Perfect”)
50%
Motivation
(“I Care
About It”)
25%
Skill-Building
(“I Want
Some Help”)
25%
12 HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING
simply were not motivated to alter their behavior.
The ability to work through this denial frequently
differentiated the executives who got back on
track from those who failed. Many high-potential
managers know they have weaknesses but simply
do not believe they need to fix them.
Only when there is sufficient and ongoing
awareness of the need to develop, and clear and
continuous motivation to develop, can future
leaders effectively focus on building those skills
most valued by the corporation.
Plans that Work: Characteristics
of Effective Development Plans
If Exhibit 1 describes how development
actually happens in the real world, how do you
use this framework to create individual plans
that really work? What do they look like? What
features do they have? Although there
is no preferred format or template for
an effective leadership-development
plan, all good plans share certain
characteristics:
Highly Personalized (and
Personal) Plans
We have asked successful leaders
over the years about the major
influences on their development as
leaders. Not surprisingly, the vast
majority do not mention books they
have read, seminars attended, or
consultants who have coached them.
Instead, they talk about jobs they
have had, people, and relationships.
Often they talk about a leader who
was their boss, or someone they observed, or
a particularly stressful experience. They may
describe a heartbreaking failure, a great boss,
or a horrible boss, but their image of success is
based on a real experience and a real person.
Effective development plans capture that
imagery and describe aspects of the ideal leader
in terms that make sense for the individual. This
kind of highly personalized development goal
cannot be imitated or copied from another plan
or another person. Nor is it represented in the
typical leadership competency model, unless
that model is carefully tailored to individual
situations and needs. It applies only to the
individual who starts from one place (with an
acknowledged set of strengths and development
needs) and wants to end up at another.
Personalization starts with pinpointing a
person’s unique set of development needs. We
are always amazed by the number of develop-
ment plans that are not based on even a cursory
assessment of the individual. It’s as if the doctor
takes a patient’s word he has pneumonia without
ever using the stethoscope, or worse, assumes all
her patients have pneumonia. A good develop-
ment plan should be based on a systematic
assessment of personal strengths and weaknesses,
and it should include development actions that
uniquely apply to the person involved.
Plans Focused on Specific Development
Needs, Not Just Summary Issues
Where most development plans fail is not in
their inaccuracy but in their tendency to deal only
with the surface symptoms rather than what lies
behind or beneath the observed behavior. Unless
the plan pulls together the known
information in a specific way that
has meaning for the individual, the
development actions are likely to fail.
For example, if the issue is that the
manager is not “letting go,” the typi-
cal development plan will suggest
increasing delegation. That is fine
as far as it goes. But a good develop-
ment plan should dig beneath the
surface and deal with why the indi-
vidual cannot delegate. Is he afraid
of change? Does he have such a large
ego that he believes that no one can
do the job better? Or is he a realist
and accurately understands that his
subordinates are not up to the task
and will fail? If the development
plan does not address the real issues and consider
these issues in terms of current and potential
future circumstances, it will miss the mark.
Practical Plans
There are many different dimensions to practi-
cality, but the one to focus on is what will actually
work and be meaningful for the future leader.
While a plan that has 20 critical issues to address
might win points for comprehensiveness, it will
not motivate a person or create disciplined action.
Most of us, if we are lucky, can work on a maxi-
mum of one or two things at a time. We can agree
to “lose weight,” “improve our disposition,” “ask
questions rather than tell people,” “delegate
responsibility and authority.” But chances are
we are incapable of doing all of them at once.
Unless the plan
pulls together the
known informa-
tion in a specific
way that has
meaning for the
individual, the
development
actions are likely
to fail.
HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING 13
Plans Relying on On-the-Job Learning
Experiences
Leadership is learned by doing or by watching
someone doing. Morgan McCall, in his book
High Fliers (1998), repeatedly documents the
developmental impact of work experiences. He
points out that job experiences that are challeng-
ing, risky, stressful and visible—where success
and failure are real possibilities—are the most
developmental. Michael Lombardo and Robert
Eichinger, in The Leadership Machine (2001),
emphasize that people learn most of the skills
they need on the job and list four kinds of
experiences that teach the most: 1) key jobs,
2) important other people, 3) personal hardships,
and 4) training courses.
Formal training programs that emphasize
awareness-building and teach skills that can be
immediately applied to a person’s on-the-job
situation are the most valuable kinds of courses.
This explains the success and popularity of train-
ing built around 360-degree feedback.
Plans “Owned” by the Person Who
Wants to Develop
Unless the development plan has complete
commitment and buy-in from the individual, it
is likely to become a file folder—just another
tracking mechanism for Human Resources.
Without agreement and ownership, the probabili-
ty that the plan will ever be followed is low. On
the other hand, future leaders who helped create
the plan will understand and accept the issues the
plan deals with and will feel more responsible for
taking the actions the plan spells out.
Living Documents
A good development plan places the future
leader in business situations that provide learning
opportunities that address development needs.
These opportunities cannot be experienced by
reading a book or attending a seminar. Good
development plans include a wide array of on-
the-job experiences, task force assignments,
“working with” assignments, and high visibility
opportunities to try out new skills. Leadership
development is about learning emotional limits,
tolerance for risk and innovation, and ways to get
beyond who you are and what you do well today.
They are living documents because they have to
be lived in order to work.
The best development plans are called “living”
for another reason: They are dynamic, not static
documents. They are “alive” and not made of
stone. If new skill requirements are identified,
if circumstances change, or if unplanned-for
opportunities arise, a good development plan
will be modified to acknowledge and take full
advantage of the new situation.
Two Successful Uses of Full-Time Jobs to Develop Leadership
EXHIBIT 2
Several years ago, Pepsi-Cola Company implemented what was considered one of the world’s
best leadership-development programs. Pepsi regularly assessed future leaders using a customized
list of “Pepsi Success Factors.” High-potential individuals were then rotated through a series of
two-year assignments. Pepsi valued a success factor called “leadership impact.” This competency
involved the ability to make an immediate and positive impact on others—a combination of self-
confidence, communication, and presentation skills. High potentials who needed to develop this
success factor spent time in Pepsi’s New York headquarters. These stints were filled with high-
visibility projects where individuals made numerous executive presentations, were exposed to
senior management, received lots of personal feedback and coaching, and generally were “sized
up under fire.”
Another organization known for its people-development programs is Citigroup. Citigroup’s
leadership-development strategy was closely linked to its long-term business strategy. The bank
identified a group of high-potential future leaders and labeled them “corporate property.”
Corporate headquarters orchestrated these men and women’s careers. Citigroup made sure its
future leaders progressed through jobs of increasing responsibility and complexity. It carefully
arranged for younger high-potential managers to be stationed outside of their country of origin—
when possible for four years and in two separate assignments—before they were in their early
40s. This aggressive use of full-time jobs to develop future leaders is why so many ex-Citigroup
bankers run major financial institutions around the world.
14 HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING
features, the process companies use to build
development plans makes them work. In our
experience, there are six process steps to follow:
1. Start with the highest-potential future leaders.
While everyone can develop new skills, start
building good development plans for a limited
number of future leaders—those judged to
have the highest potential. This will not only
maximize the company’s return on invest-
ment, it will make the entire development
planning process more manageable.
2. Use multiple assessment techniques. Do not
count on only the manager’s assessment of a
person’s strengths and development needs.
Utilize a wide range of data and assessment
processes to zero in on the specific behaviors
or attitudes that need to be improved or
changed, including self-assessment, peer
assessment, independent third-party assess-
ment, and instrumented assessments. There
are many useful assessment instruments,
including customized 360-degree surveys,
standardized personality tests, intellectual
capability screens, and web-enabled tools.
These instruments can analyze almost any
imaginable attribute or skill. The challenge
is not in collecting the data, or even in col-
lecting the right data, it is pulling all of the
Plans that Strongly Emphasize Coaching
and Personal Feedback
Most individuals need someone to talk with
about what they are doing, what is working, and
what is not working. Good development plans
should include one or more “sounding board” and
coaching relationships. In our experience, one of
the most powerful stimuli for leadership develop-
ment is this kind of personal coaching.
Referring back to our real-world framework
for development summarized in Exhibit 1, clearly
one of the most critical aspects of a coaching
relationship is awareness-building. Future leaders
need to stay grounded in reality. They need
someone to provide them with honest feedback.
Unfortunately, as studies at the Center for
Creative Leadership (Kirkland & Hart, 2001)
have shown, the higher you progress up the
management hierarchy, the less likely you are to
receive candid feedback about your leadership
style and its impact on others.
Creating Good Plans:The Power
of the Process
Creating good development plans requires time
and effort, and high degrees of sensitivity and col-
laboration. Along with the right characteristics or
A Case in Point
EXHIBIT 3
The case of a general manager candidate with an explosive temper (call him Paul) illustrates
how the characteristics of an effective leadership-development plan can come together.
Although Paul’s outbursts had lessened over the years, they occasionally emerged during his
quarterly business reviews with his boss. His boss and the COO believed Paul had great potential,
but both were uncomfortable not knowing when (and whom) his temper might strike next. They
were doubly concerned about the GM’s temper because one of the company’s espoused core values
was respect for others, and Paul was not viewed as “walking the talk” when it came to this value.
To address this issue, Paul’s manager, Lee, informed him about his strengths and weaknesses,
they worked together to create a personal development plan, and the company hired an executive
coach to work with him on his temper. As part of the development plan, Lee gave Paul short-term
assignments that required him to be calm and statesmanlike. Lee provided Paul with regular
reviews with personal feedback, and senior management was briefed about his development
needs and his plan. The plan, and the coaching that went with it, had to be carefully balanced.
Paul had significant strengths. He was intelligent, highly motivated, and had a strong record
of turning around failing businesses. On the other hand, his temper threatened to undermine
all of his positives. The development plan—combining increased levels of personal feedback,
highly visible attention by his manager and by senior leadership, a meaningful array of stress-
ful situations that required Paul to be level-headed, and an external coach—had the desired
effect when put into action. Within 10 months, Paul demonstrated he had learned to manage
his temper and avoided having his career derailed.
HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING 15
assessments together in a way that makes
sense to the person being assessed.
3. Feed back assessment results and discuss
career paths. A person’s strengths and weak-
nesses should not be kept a secret. Results
of the assessment should be shared with the
individual. If multiple assessment techniques
are used, it is even more important to give
the person an opportunity to understand and
accept the results. The best source of feed-
back and advice is the person’s manager,
assisted, if necessary, by a trained counselor.
Feedback meetings must include a frank and
candid discussion of the “so what” question.
What are the person’s career ambitions?
Where does he/she want to go, and how fast
does he/she expect to get there? What career
options are available (today and in the fore-
seeable future)? These kinds of conversations
are critically important and should precede
and then become a part of each person’s
development plan.
4. Collaboratively design six-month, one-year,
and three-year development actions. The
future leader, his/her boss, and Human
Resources all need to collaborate to create
a series of development action steps and
options that make sense to the company and
to the individual. The plan should contain a
few immediate actions, as well as intermedi-
ate and longer-term activities.
5. Agree on a reconnect-reassess-and-re-plan
timetable. No matter how complete or sophis-
ticated the original development plan turns
out to be, it will have to change. Development
is not predictable, and the future leader
deserves and should expect regular “touch
base” sessions with his/her manager. In some
companies, development-planning timetables
are integrated into a twice-yearly people
review process.
6. Be prepared to run interference for the future
leader. Development happens when future
leaders are trying to do things they have never
done before. Risks must be taken, but these
risks must be mitigated and managed. Wise
supervision of the implementation of a good
development plan may involve running inter-
ference—creating an environment that is
more accepting of mistakes, more understand-
ing, and more supportive. The possibility of
negative personal consequences is a large
part of the learning process, but development
should be more than an act of survival.
Ongoing coaching, mentoring, and involvement
on the part of the boss will help ensure the
success of a good plan.
Leadership Accountability:
Developing Future Leaders
We have left out one of the most important
guidelines companies should follow to build
powerful individual development plans: Hold
bosses accountable for the development of their
direct reports. Line managers must play an ongo-
ing and central role in the leadership development
process. Good leaders develop future leaders.
How can they do this? What are the most
important day-to-day actions leaders can take to
support leadership development and make good
development plans work? We strongly recom-
mend they go back to the basics outlined in
Exhibit 1. The action implications of this
approach are summarized in the following
checklist of leadership “to do’s.”
Leader Actions to Create Awareness
Building and maintaining awareness of the
need for development is often the most important
action a leader can take to develop the next gen-
eration of leaders. Potential leaders need to know
how they are performing on the job and what
their strengths and weaknesses are. No develop-
ment-planning document can spell out all of the
opportunities for awareness-building, so leaders
must be proactive. The following seven actions
each let a person know he/she “is not perfect”
and needs to change and develop:
Creating Awareness of Job Performance
1. Provide objective feedback on performance
(that is, feedback that is independent from
subjective observation or comment).
2. Give personal positive performance feedback.
3. Give corrective performance feedback.
4. Arrange for the person to get confirming
feedback—either from another credible
person within the organization or from
customers, vendors, or external sources.
Creating Awareness of Skills or Competencies
5. Give personal feedback on strengths and
weaknesses and important skills that are in
need of development.
6. Arrange for expert assessment of the person’s
strengths and weaknesses.
7. Arrange for other assessment opportunities
(e.g., participating in a training program with
feedback, a 360-degree assessment process).
16 HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING
Leader Actions to Motivate Change
Often people are aware of the need to develop,
but are not motivated to change. They have not
answered the question: “Why should I change or
learn new skills?” A good development plan will
answer this question, but the boss must continually
reinforce the message. The following five actions
help to build a motivational fire under people:
1. Establish and communicate clear and measur-
able standards of what constitutes outstanding
performance.
2. Establish and communicate clear criteria for
promotion to a higher level job and career
advancement in the organization.
3. Communicate how valuable he/she is to the
company and the company’s performance
expectations, including the conse-
quences and career implications
of poor performance.
4. Arrange for similar kinds of con-
versations with those in positions
of higher authority or members
of the HR function who might
be perceived as having special
expertise or an influence on the
person’s career.
5. Provide significant financial and
non-financial incentives to moti-
vate the person to learn and devel-
op new skills.
Leader Actions to Build New Skills
People who are aware and motivated still
need to acquire new skills in order to grow and
be successful. People learn new skills mostly by
doing. They also learn by watching and working
with people they respect. Such skill-building
options should be spelled out in the development
plan, but leaders can play a vital role in making
the plan happen and ensuring the future leader
gets as much learning as possible out of each
developmental assignment. Based on our research
on leadership, the following eight actions are
effective ways to enhance a person’s skill-build-
ing experiences (see Stringer, 2002).
1. Provide personal coaching—focused on giv-
ing the future leader helpful tips or alternative
ways of doing the work, including “how to”
guidelines.
2. Arrange coaching from others—either inside
or outside of the organization.
3. Have the future leader work with a role
model—a person who possesses the skills
that need to be developed—and then periodi-
cally discuss what is being learned from the
role model.
4. Arrange for the future leader to engage in new
and different on-the-job experiences that do
not involve a job change—such as task-force
assignments, serving on a committee, or
working on a “fix it” project. After each of
these assignments, have the person describe
what he/she thought was the most valuable
aspect of the experience.
5. Have the person work on a project that
requires a highly visible “deliverable”—one
that will be evaluated and has clearly identifi-
able consequences—then sit down privately
to go over what went well and what did not.
Be absolutely candid in your assessment.
6. Proactively work to move the
person to a new job that is
clearly outside of his or her
comfort zone—one that is a
significant stretch. Meet two
or three times with the person
during the initial 90 days on
the new job. Be a sounding
board. Provide practical
advice and counsel during
the tran–sition to reinforce the
value of learning new skills
and meeting new challenges.
7. Arrange for the future leader
to attend internal or external training.
8. Be a friend. Whenever you become aware the
future leader is under stress or going through
a personal hardship experience—either on
or off the job—be a source of stability and
wisdom. Help the person put his/her experi-
ences in perspective. Offer occasional advice,
but, more importantly, offer your friendship.
The best way to ensure the success of a
company is to invest in its future leaders by
developing the skills and attitudes of people who
have leadership potential. There are hundreds
of actions a conscientious leader might take to
develop the next generation of leaders. Start by
building a few good individual development
plans. The focus on individual plan-building,
rather than dramatic or expensive development
programs or company-wide initiatives, will make
the task of leadership development more manage-
able and rewarding. If these plans are supported
by enlightened line and staff management, we
guarantee they will produce results.
People who are
aware and moti-
vated still need
to acquire new
skills in order
to grow and be
successful.
HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING 17
Biographical Sketches
Robert A. Stringer is a partner with Mercer
Delta Consulting, LLC, and a member of the
firm’s leadership capabilities group. He is the
former president of Sherbrooke Associates, Inc.,
a consulting firm that provided strategic planning
and executive development services. And previ-
ously as senior vice president of Harbridge
House, Inc. and of The Forum Corporation, he
was responsible for the design, development,
marketing, and delivery of management and
leadership development programs and services.
Bob has extensive experience in the design and
implementation of management development
programs in the United States and abroad.
As a principal of Louis A. Allen Associates, he
supervised development contracts with major
U.S. corporations and financial institutions.
He was also on the faculty of the Harvard
Graduate School of Business Administration.
Bob has co-authored four books: Motivation
and Organizational Climate with George H.
Litwin, Men in Management with J.B. Kassarjian,
Strategy Traps and How to Avoid Them with Joel
Uchenick and Leadership and Organizational
Climate.
He received a bachelor’s degree (with honors)
from Harvard College and an MBA (with distinc-
tion) from Harvard Business School.
Randall S. Cheloha, PhD, is a partner at Mercer
Delta Consulting, LLC, a management consulting
firm. He works in the leadership capabilities
practice, where he consults on leadership devel-
opment and organization development. He is
experienced in executive assessment, succession
planning, and coaching. He has worked exten-
sively during his 15+-year career with a number
of CEOs, board directors, and senior HR profes-
sionals on CEO succession.
Randy's clients have included Aeromexico,
American Electric Power, Best Buy, Carey
International, Dover, HON Industries,
International Paper, Marsh & McLennan,
McCormick Spice, Nebraska Public Power, Pep
Boys, Progress Energy, SAP America, Siemens
Medical, Unisys, and Xerox. He has delivered
workshops and presentations on leadership devel-
opment and succession planning for national
audiences at HR and industry conferences. He
has published articles on leadership development,
job satisfaction, and CEO succession planning.
Randy holds an MS in industrial/organizational
psychology from Pennsylvania State University
and a PhD in clinical psychology from the
University of North Dakota.He is a licensed
psychologist in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and
Connecticut.
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