A leadership development plan sets out where you are now, the leadership role you want next, the specific skills and experiences that will close the gap, who will support you, and when you will review progress. The best plans are short, based on what the next role actually requires, and focused on experiences as much as courses. This guide is written for women building a leadership career, but the method works for anyone.
Assess current responsibilities and goals
Start with an honest picture:
- Current role: what you lead, how many people, what budget, which decisions you own
- Strengths: what colleagues rely on you for, with evidence
- Next role: the specific role you want in 12 to 24 months, not just "more senior"
- Requirements: what that role needs. Read job descriptions, and ask people who hold similar roles
- Constraints: time, caring responsibilities, location, anything that shapes what is realistic
Be specific about the goal. "Head of Operations for the UK business" gives you something to plan against; "a leadership role" does not.
Choose skills and experiences
Most leadership development happens through experience, supported by feedback and learning. For each gap, choose one or two actions:
| Gap | Experience | Learning or support |
|---|---|---|
| No budget responsibility | Take ownership of a departmental budget or a funded project | Finance for non-finance executives training |
| Limited senior visibility | Present a project update to the executive team | Feedback from a mentor on the presentation |
| Narrow functional experience | Join a cross-functional project or a secondment | Conversations with leaders in other functions |
| Influence without authority | Lead a change that needs buy-in from other teams | Stakeholder mapping; see our influence exercise |
| Confidence in negotiation | Negotiate a supplier or resourcing decision | Structured practice on a course |
Aim for no more than three development goals at a time.
Agree support and measurable review points
- Your manager: share the plan and ask for specific opportunities.
- A mentor: for advice and feedback.
- A sponsor: someone senior who can put your name forward. See mentoring vs sponsorship.
- Review points: every quarter, check what you did, what evidence you have, and what to change.
Make goals measurable enough to review: "Present to the executive team twice by June" rather than "increase visibility".
A leadership development plan template
| Section | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Next role and timeframe | |
| What the role requires | |
| My strengths, with evidence | |
| My top three gaps | |
| Development goal 1: action, support, measure, date | |
| Development goal 2: action, support, measure, date | |
| Development goal 3: action, support, measure, date | |
| People supporting me | |
| Review dates |
A worked example
The following example is fictional.
Amara is a customer service team leader with eight direct reports. Her goal is to become Customer Operations Manager within 18 months, a role that manages three team leaders and a £2 million budget.
- Strengths: her team has the highest satisfaction score in the department; she has trained four new starters.
- Gaps: no budget experience; little contact with senior leaders; has not managed other managers.
- Goal 1: co-own the department's training budget with her manager this financial year. Measure: prepares the quarterly budget report by Q2.
- Goal 2: lead the cross-team project to reduce call transfers, reporting to the operations director. Measure: presents results at two leadership meetings.
- Goal 3: act up as manager for a peer team during their manager's leave. Measure: completes a four-week cover with feedback from the team.
- Support: her manager agrees to Goal 1; a senior manager in another function agrees to mentor her; she completes a leadership programme to work on influence and negotiation.
- Review: quarterly with her manager.
Nothing in this plan guarantees promotion, but it gives her evidence against every requirement of the next role, and makes her ambitions known.
Related reading
- Women in leadership subject guide: development plans, mentoring and sponsorship, influence and the course
- Development and influence practice pack: a worked behaviour goal, stakeholder map and review
- Women in leadership in the UK: barriers and practical steps
- Your first 90 days as a new manager
A women's leadership development programme such as LSBUK's Women in Leadership course can support the learning side of your plan, with work on leadership identity, influence, negotiation and a personal development strategy alongside a peer cohort.
The bottom line
Name the next role, find out what it needs, and plan experiences that build evidence against those needs. Keep it to three goals, get support, and review every quarter.