"In the past a leader was a boss. Today's leaders must be partners with their people..."

--Ken Blanchard

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A blank form with instructions is helpful. It is better than no form at all. However, when it comes to development planning, most people will look at the form, read the instructions and scratch their heads. Often, what is most useful is to see examples of well thought-out development plans — something tangible to go by. That is the purpose of this directory.

Use this directory to find a development plan that focuses on a development need that is similar to the development need you or your employee want to work on, and then modify the sample plan to fit your specific situation.

As you look at the plans in this collection, you will notice that they are not static documents that you create at the outset of your development effort and check off activities as you go along. Rather, they are dynamic documents. When you first embark on a development effort, you are usually searching for good information to help you understand more fully how you can become more effective on a particular skill or put a certain body of knowledge to use. Once you have discovered useful information, you need to return to your plan and figure out how to put this newly found knowledge to use in your job.

Again, keep in mind that these examples are not mere checklists that you can copy and follow. Once your development efforts get underway, you may end up taking very different paths in completing the plan than the fictitious individuals in these examples.

The directory has started out small. As we collect new examples of effective plans, the directory will grow. If you have used a plan to develop a specific capability, and the plan worked really well, please share it with us. Or, if there is a development need that you would like some assistance with, let us know the details of the need and we will consider working up an example that addresses your need. (Please be aware that we are not able to create a plan for every request!)