Planning Professional Development

Planning professional development for you and maybe even your team members. That's what we're going to be talking about today on this episode of How to Lead, the podcast for CEOs and founders and leaders of all sorts who want to find the perfect balance of empathy and authority.

I'm Kate Waterfall Hill and I'm a leadership coach with over 30 years of experience in business and leadership development. Before we start the show, here's a quick reminder that if you want to learn how to become a better leader, sign up to my free weekly newsletter, or grab a copy of my book, how to lead, or even sign up to one of my coaching programs and get my personal support with your leadership challenges. All the information can be found at waterfallhill.co.uk. So let's kick off once again with my alter ego, Linda, the bad manager, and see how she approaches planning.

“Yes, Jason. You want me to do some planning with you for next year? I don't really like planning. Well, no, because then that means I've got to put my intentions and my goals down on paper somewhere, and then I might be held accountable for it. Don't like it. No, I'd rather just wing it. Yeah, I quite like a crisis.

Just battling against unforeseen circumstances is more fun. I've got lots of experience, as you know, and I do tend to work better on intuition, gut feel. Well, most of the time it works. No, I'd rather do some firefighting. Be reactive. I don't really like thinking systematically, planning for the future, trying to decide actionable next steps.

No. Feels a bit overwhelming, and actually, to be honest, I don't really like change. No, I like things as they are, and the trouble with planning is that it often reveals that you do need to change something. You know, a process, a

Comfortable. And anyway, I haven't got time. I haven't got time to do any planning, haven't got time to think about the team and what we might be doing next year, certainly haven't got time to be thinking about my own professional development or anything like that. Have you seen how many emails I get on a daily basis?

No. I need to stay here at my desk, just worrying about the day to day operations, don't want to look into the future. It's all very well doing some planning, but then it means you've got to predict the uncertain future. I don't want to be made to look stupid by getting it wrong, do I? I just don't really get why planning helps.

I know people say it reduces stress and generally it leads to better outcomes, but no, it's not for me. It's a bit of a waste of my time. Not an investment, no.”

Linda's quite nicely revealed her tendency to avoid planning at all costs in case it shows her up. So rather than thinking of planning as an investment in her future, she views it as a waste of time. Let's talk about what actually works. Take a moment right now if you could, whether you're driving, walking or sitting at your desk.

Just take a moment to reflect on your leadership in 2024. What moment stands out? Take Perhaps it's a conversation that made a real difference, a decision that shaped your team's direction, or maybe even a mistake that taught you something valuable. Next, let's consider your impact.

This time next year, what do you want your team to say about your leadership? Not the corporate speak, not the polished performance review language, what actual difference do you want to make in people's working lives? You might realize that your biggest impact isn't going to be the projects that you or your team deliver, but in how your team grows in confidence.

Your goal for 2025 might be creating more opportunities for your team to step up and lead, even if that means you need to step back. Now let's get specific about how to plan for your own professional development and you can use this framework to support your team in developing their own development plans too.

I'm going to share a simple three part planning framework that really does work. Part one, your foundation. I'd really encourage you to think about these questions. What one leadership behaviour, if you improved it, would make the biggest difference to your team? Where do you spend most of your energy and is that where you create the most value?

What conversations might you be avoiding that really do need to happen?

Take a moment to really sit with these questions. You can even pause the podcast if you need to. To recap, what one leadership behaviour would make a big difference, where do you spend most of your energy, and is that where you add value, and what conversations are you avoiding?

Part two. An action framework. This is where we get really practical. Again, it's in three parts. So first of all, daily habits, then weekly, then monthly, taking them step by step for daily habits. What's your morning leadership routine? Perhaps you could choose one new daily practice, perhaps a 10 minute team check in or spend some time reflecting in a journal.

Perhaps plan out your big three tasks to start every day and schedule it for the same time each day. Next, a weekly rhythm, maybe Monday, Wednesday, Friday. So you spend some time on Monday doing some strategic thinking. You could maybe block out two hours every Monday. And then on Wednesdays, you put those aside for development conversations with your team.

And on Fridays, you spend half an hour or so reviewing and planning for next week. Then, on a monthly basis, you have some other commitments. Maybe one strategic project review, one team capability assessment, And one personal development activity.

Now, looking ahead to 2025, I really encourage you to protect these fundamentals. put aside some strategic thinking time. When will you actually do your best thinking? If you don't put time aside, it probably won't happen.

Next, your development conversations. Who really needs your support to grow? And then your own energy management. What practices keep you at your best? So in your calendar, perhaps you could look right now and block out some time for those three things.

Strategic thinking time, I suggest two hours every week and make it non negotiable. Also development conversations, monthly is quite a good cadence to schedule time with each of your team members. And then reflection time, spending 30 minutes every Friday to review and adjust.

I'm going to refer now to one of my favourite books, James Clear's Atomic Habits. The best way to make new habits stick is to stack them onto existing habits. Also to start small, just try one new practice a month.

Track your consistency and reward yourself if you achieve a goal in terms of habits.

And then lastly, share your commitments with your team and the people around you, and then they can support you in your endeavours to change some habits. I always encourage members of my Leadership Accelerator Program to block out time for strategic thinking every week. No meetings, no emails, just time to think about what really matters.

It really can transform your leadership from reactive to intentional. Here's a crucial question for you. What are you going to stop doing in 2025? Leadership isn't just about adding new practices, it's also about choosing what to let go. Maybe it's micromanaging an otherwise capable team member. Maybe you're stifling them a bit so they're underperforming because of it.

Maybe you need to stop saying yes to every request. What's your thing? Have a think about what you could stop doing that would actually improve your leadership potential. And now let's talk about measuring progress. I'd really encourage you to set aside generic goals and think about specific observable changes.

So what would you like your team to be doing differently? How will decisions be made? What will your meetings look like? And how will problems be solved? again, create three levels of success markers for this. So let's have a look at what you might want to achieve by the end of quarter one, say.

Let's have some indicators here. At the end of quarter one, would you like to see that you've got some new habits forming and your team are starting to notice changes and the initial feedback is gathered and it's good. And then by mid year, your practices are more established and more consistent.

Your team are actively engaging differently and you can see measurable improvements in key areas. And then by the end, Maybe it's sustainable changes are completely embedded and are business as usual. Your team is performing at a higher level and your leadership style is transformed.

It's pretty unlikely that you're going to be able to do all these changes, even though some of them might be small tweaks on your own. It's really important that you get some support because leadership can be lonely, but it doesn't have to be. So ask yourself these three questions.

Who gives you honest feedback? Who challenges your thinking and who supports you when things get tough. these aren't just nice to haves, they're really essential for your growth. So a support structure is really important. And again, there's three elements I suggest you build in here.

So one is your challenge network. So maybe one mentor above you, one peer at your level, and maybe one team member who will give you honest feedback. Secondly, your learning system. So what are you going to focus on each month in terms of a skill elevation? What reading or course can you take that would be aligned to your goals?

And could you do some reflection journaling or note taking practice to boost your skills? And then thirdly, your accountability framework. You can do this on your own or with an accountability partner, but it's a really good idea to have a weekly self check in using again, these three questions. What did I learn this week?

Who did I develop? and where did I make space for strategic thinking? So we've got a lot of things to do here, but here's your immediate action plan for this week. Today, if you can, take some time to block out your strategic thinking time for the next few weeks, maybe even months.

Put it in your diary as a regular commitment. Also schedule your development conversations. Have those again in your diary and stick to them. And then choose one daily practice that you want to embed in your life that you do every single day that will become a habit quite quickly. And then you can move on to tomorrow.

Set up your tracking system. Identify your support network. And write down those success markers, the things that are going to tell you that you've achieved what you wanted to. And then the day after tomorrow on day three, share your commitments with your team, set up monthly review reminders and schedule your first reflection session.

So there you go. Just in three days, you will have made some plans to make some plans and be more strategic, spend more time with your team and really elevate your leadership skills. before we wrap up, here's your immediate next step. Take 30 minutes this week. If you can, book it right now and answer these three questions.

What's the most important change you need to make in your leadership? Who needs more or less of your time and attention? And what's one habit you'll build to support these changes? Remember, watching others grow is one of leadership's greatest rewards, and your development directly impacts their opportunities.

Your leadership impact is just way too important to leave to chance. Start with one small change, make it consistent, and then build it from there. So just to summarize what we've covered, because we've covered a lot today, reflect on what you'd like to change about your leadership approach, whether that's being more strategic, spending quality time with your team, focusing on where you add the most value, or tackling a tricky conversation or situation that you know you need to have or resolve.

Then set up some daily, weekly and monthly actions and turn them into habits that you just do without thinking. Work out how you're going to track and measure your progress so you can celebrate success. And also formalise your support network. Get some people around you who'll help. That's all for this week.

If you've enjoyed this episode of How to Lead, please do follow for more leadership insights. And remember, if you want a guide by your side, do get a copy of my new book, which accompanies this podcast. It's also called How to Lead. And if you'd like my personal support, take a look at the link in the show notes for more information about my one to one coaching and group mentorship programs.

There's never a better time than the start of the year to take your professional development seriously. please like, leave a review and share with your fellow leaders to help spread the word.

Team management doesn't have to be frustrating. You too can enjoy being an authoritative yet empathetic leader. It just takes a decision to be more intentional about your interactions with others. And having some great tips for how to influence positive change is always handy. And of course, having a good guide by your side.

So until next time, listen more, advise less, lead well.