My Leadership Development Plan

I’m posting selected segments from my leadership development plan, developed from January 2012 to May 2014 in part to show others what a successful leadership development plan looks like, and in part to hold myself accountable on the claims I’ve made. Some of this information could be outdated and my interests are also subject to change. I would like to thank Louise Morman and the Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute of Miami University for their instrumental help in my development. Note that I’ll be posting various pictures from my time throughout the article and have links to outside resources, like Myers Briggs and Strength Finders Results. Enjoy!

Purpose Statement

Leave a lasting impact on the environment and people of the world through merging creative ideas with hard work and ingenuity.

Post-Graduation Plans

My dream after graduation is to eventually own my own company. I’m not sure what industry I’d like to operate in, whether it be computer related, or hardware related, but I know I’d like to be consumer facing, and making others’ lives easier.

I feel that role in the world will bring me the most happiness. There’s no map on how to get there—and if there is—I certainly haven’t gotten ahold of it. However, I’m doing my best to navigate this space and am following my intuition.

After graduation I’m going to work for Epic Systems in Madison, WI. This is a great place to start my career and I really think it was the best opportunity I found to gain the necessary skills and relationships for entrepreneurship. The company is full of young risk-friendly employees who I hope will be willing to follow me into the unknown. Additionally Epic is providing a substantially larger salary than many other companies for entry-level positions, which I see as an opportunity to build capital prior to beginning the capital-intensive process of business startup.

Unfortunately the industry I am going into for these next few years has many quirks. It is quite behind the times compared to many other industries and has a much higher barrier to entry, so I am nervous that will make life difficult if I choose to pursue an opportunity within the medical field.

The way I ultimately see my plans playing out before leading to my ultimate goal of business ownership is as follows:

I will spend years 1-3, work in Madison, WI with Epic, building relationships and a name for myself as a high-performing, responsible and vigilant individual. During this time I will do my best to save capital, while also still enjoying my life (including a splurge on a motorcycle!). I intend to take machine shop classes at University of Wisconsin or a small community college during the workweek. I’d like to do this to learn the manufacturing and prototyping process should I decide to go into a physical product-based company. In other words, I will spend this time gaining a broad set of skills that could prove useful to business ownership.

After this period I will make the decision on how to start my company. I honestly foresee a transition time in which I may return under my parents’ roof (if they’ll have me) and become very serious, focusing on my company. This is a difficult call however as I am unsure as to how important my relationships built in Wisconsin will be in the starting of my business. If I deem them to be integral, I will likely buy a small house for myself, and start the company out of there.
If (when!) the firm starts to take off, I hope to move the company to the West Coast, at which point I will begin to settle down.

My ultimate dream is to own a company that is filled with empowered employees that can then take the company to the next level without me. I’d like to then spend my days with a modest but steady income from the company I founded, and work out of a large workshop, inventing devices that I feel will help others in their day-to-day lives. I could do this in the quiet of my ranch, and come into town when I am ready to start discussions of selling the product to various firms.

This would be my dream.

Letter From 80 Year-Old Self

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW,
Washington, DC, 20500

Dear Taylor

I hope this finds you well. I write this to you in reflection of my life, and want to give you some pointers and advice for the remainder of your brief time here on earth.

There is a saying that says something along the lines of “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” I never want you to forget this. One of the great things about the people in this country, especially and including yourself, is the desire to better our lives, and the lives of our children. Many cultures around the world do not have that fire burning the way the citizens of the United States of America do. This desire is a good thing. It has fostered the development of our country from 3.7 million square miles of mountains, forest and desert into a sprawling and industrious nation, serving as the gold standard of the world.

However, I realize I have spent much of my life enduring difficulties and sacrifices in order to find success in our community, believing only then could I find happiness. I want you to know that this is not how it works. You don’t have that long here on earth (and no, they have not found a fountain of youth yet!). You need to spend them in enjoyment, loving what you do. With this note, I’m going to paraphrase a quote from one of our idols (even if he was an ass), Steve Jobs:

“Each morning look at yourself in the mirror and ask: ‘If today were the last day of my life would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ If the answer is “no” too many days in a row, you need to change something.”
~Steve Jobs

So, it’s all about happiness. My last few notes are going to be how to create happiness. First, follow your dreams. The world truly is your oyster, you are one of the most talented people in this country, and there is no reason why someone else should be out taking what you want. You have the ability to do what you want. Secondly, stay creative, appreciate the arts, and occasionally enjoy a good book (with a warm tea!). You never know where arts will impact your life—whether it be a conversation maker with an influential individual, or a discovery of a new passion. Finally, don’t sacrifice your health for anything. If (god-forbid) you find yourself middle-aged, sitting all day in a cubical and overweight, leave. Leave and never come back. Human beings were not meant to live like that. Health is an integral part of happiness, and being healthy will positively impact every aspect of your life.

I wish you the very best in your future and please remember what we discussed!

Sincerely,

Taylor

SWOT Analysis

Date: May 1, 2014

Subject: SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

Leadership: the action of leading a group of people or an organization. A leadership position is often seen as one of the highest callings someone can achieve in their professional lives. In order to get a good job and be successful, we are told to “take leadership roles in our organizations”. The interesting thing about leadership though, is that not everyone can be one, else there would be no one to lead. That has been something that has really opened my eyes since the start of this course.

In a typical classroom, some students will take the lead on projects and others will follow. However in our class, almost everyone wants to lead, and this is what has had a big impact on me. I began to think about the question posed in our HBR Leadership book, why should anyone be led by me? There is a classroom full of leaders all vying to stand out, make an impact and take charge, why should any of these people want me to take charge rather than doing so themselves? With that thought, I will begin my SWOT analysis.

So why should people follow me? To be honest, I don’t think people should always follow me, because I won’t always want to lead. Some individuals always want to be in charge regardless of whether they care about the outcome, and that’s where I think I have a leg up. I’m authentic and I care about the things I work on. Everything one does makes a statement, and to me, when I choose to work on something I want people to know I care enough to see it succeed.

I have a great intuition, am able to envision an amazing outcome and put my ideas out on paper for others to understand and agree with what I want to do. This is a key character trait that I value very highly. Intuition is really not something that can be learned, some people either have an eye for design, or some people don’t. I am lucky enough to blessed with the ability to see opportunity. I know what will work and what doesn’t. That ability, to think of a product, service, even method of doing things out of thin air is unique and will allow me to not only establish my credibility but to keep any company pushing forward, inspiring and innovating. These are all factors that make me a leader. I’m involved because I care, and I have the abilities, namely my intuition, passion, and creativity to be able to motivate others and send them in the right direction.

Everyone has weaknesses, and I am not an exception. In my leadership development plan I mentioned habits I want to improve upon. One of my biggest issues, especially here at college is time management. We have spent a decent amount of time in class discussing how to better manage one’s time in addition to posting a number of resources on the linkedIn and Niihka pages. To be honest none of the ideas mentioned were particularly enlightening or surprising insights into time management that I wouldn’t expect. What has been an enlightening insight is Posner’s and Kouzes’ Truth About Leadership. In the ninth chapter they mention discipline. In it they discuss how deliberate practice is not fun, but required. If something is to be learned, it is to be practiced repeatedly until it becomes a habit. This is what has really helped me with my time management skills. I now budget my day so that I do work at a certain period of time, I eat at a certain period of time, and I relax at a certain period of time. By no means have I eliminated this problem but being disciplined in how I use my time has certainly been helpful. A second thought that I mentioned wanted to improve upon is my impulsiveness. While being impulsive in itself is not a negate attribute, I feel that I need to be more balanced in my decision-making. Sometimes it is actually beneficial to use one’s intuition to guide oneself, and more often than not, I happen to be right. However, on occasion I am able to look back and see that had I waited for more information to be revealed or thought about the situation more analytically, that I would have been able to make a better choice.

In terms of opportunities, I feel that I have excellent opportunities in my future. I have positioned myself in a field that is growing tremendously and has some of the highest growth predictions. The United States is the center of the technological and computer science innovation in the world. I see this trend continuing for quite some time now as more and more aspects of our lives become digital. With my creativity and my intuition I think I will be able to find a dream job in which I am able to envision future fields ripe for digitization (i.e. college textbooks, autonomous vehicles, etc.) and help guide a team of technical workers into making my vision a reality. Computer networks, which seem to be in every aspect of our lives, will be so much more ubiquitous than they are today and I intend to be one of the pioneers that guides them into helping us work, shop, and live.

While I am extremely optimistic about the industry I am in, I am concerned about my role in it. I do not enjoy programming, and I do not wish to do it for more than a few years, if at all. I wish to find (or create!) a job where I can innovate, rather than implement. I don’t know if these jobs exist, or if they do how senior an individual has to be in order to have them, but I know if I will be required to program as a part of an innovative cutting edge industry, then my success will certainly be threatened. Another small threat from the industry is the possibility of outsourcing. Many programming jobs are beginning to be outsourced to India, however these are the exact jobs I don’t want so hopefully this will not impact me.

Leadership is all about getting people to follow you. In my opinion, this is done by being authentic, passionate, well liked, and capable. People have to believe in their leader. They have to believe he or she will take them in the right direction and that he or she cares about their organization. I have a number of strengths that will lead others and myself in the right direction. My weaknesses are manageable and if handled correctly can be learning experiences that I used to my advantage later. I have chosen an industry that provides few threats and many opportunities. Please tell me how you feel I am progressing as a leader.

Thomas Edison

Continuous Learning

Key insights from LinkedIn Posts

1. How to Say No Gracefully, Greg McKeown – LinkMy key insights from McKeown’s essay is that one does not need to provide reasons, or excuses to say no, nor does one need to provide an apology. Saying no to people is a very difficult thing for me, and his essay provides a great template for doing so. First, affirm the relationship; second, thank the inviter for the opportunity; and third, decline politely and firmly.
2. A very bold cover letter from an undergrad trying to get an internship – LinkThe biggest thing I’ve taken from the note actually came from reading the responses of the employees within the company as they forwarded it from person to person. It makes me realize that they are people too, and they want to read something interesting as well as cut through much of the “padding” in a resume, to get to the core of the individual. With that in mind, I do my very best to be upfront, honest, and occasionally blunt in order to be perceived as a straight shooter–which I feel has worked out very well thus far.
3. Habits of the World’s Wealthiest People – LinkThis is a very interesting infographic. It shows different habits between the wealthy and the poor, and my biggest takeaway was to maintain a regime, or routine as in drafting the routine I can define time to exercise, goals for the day, etc. etc.
4. 6 Reasons Why “Sorry” Must Be Stricken from your Vocabulary – LinkThis is a great article essentially making the claim that “sorry” is used too freely in today’s language, and instead of apologizing for our mishaps, we should take extra care to avoid creating them in the first place.
5. Bill Clinton on leadership – LinkI personally believe Bill Clinton is one of the smartest people on the planet, and as such it is very interesting to hear his views on leadership.
6. How to Spark Creativity in Your Workplace – LinkThis is a great article with some easy and interesting tips on how to spark creativity in the workplace.
7. The $100 Startup – Link This article provides some interesting tips on how to get your company off the ground with very little to no money.
8. Insights from Daniel Goleman’s Focus – LinkI like this group posting on our LinkedIn page because it provides everyone’s insights from his TED Talk on Focus.
9. 5 Secrets of Public Speaking from the Best TED Presenters – LinkSome interesting tips on public speaking.
10. How to Identify the One Thing You Were Born to Do – Link I love this article, it provides a very interesting process to identify what it is that you should spend your very brief time on this planet pursuing.

Recently Read Wall Street Journal Articles

1. Dec 9, 2013 — Differences in How Men and Women Think are Hard-Wired, Robert Hotz – Link
2. Mar 12, 2014 – It’s Time to Crack the Code, Angela Chen – To build apps and Websites, Kids and Executives Go to School; Getting to know Ruby
3. Mar 12, 2014 – Lawmaker Claims CIA Spied on Senate Staff – (About Diane Feinstein)
4. Mar 12, 2014 – President’s Approval Rating Hit’s New Low, Patrick O’Connell
5. Mar 12, 2014 – Media Industry Grows Increasingly Worried About Comcast – TWC, Shaline Ramachandran & Amol Sharma

Development Plan