Following on from the last post, I have also always felt bad about the fact that I don't like Personal Development Plans (PDPs). The typical PDP seems to assume that people know how they are going to achieve their development before they start the work.
So in a typical three column layout, column one asks you to note what you are working on (these days you are usually asked to note the strength you are working on, not any weakness). Then in column two it asks what you are going to do differently. And in column three you are asked how you will measure the impact. All of which are great things to record... but not easy to do working from left to right.
So, for a long time I ignored the PDP. But recently I had an epiphany while working with a client even more unstructured than me, and I have re-invented the PDP for myself as an LDR - a Leadership Development Record. This is a document that is designed to be completed not up front, but as the coaching continues. It ultimately forms a record after the coaching has finished, to help retain the learning.
It is very like a PDP... but with the columns in a different order. Column one is now about how the change you want to make will be evident (ie we start with impacts you hope for), column two is about when you need to use a strength more or watch for the shadow side of its over-use (ie what you discover through coaching is what needs to change), and column three is about how you make that change (ie what you are going to think, feel, or do differently - again, only as discovered through the awareness gained in the coaching work).
I've been excited by how well this works, so I've put it on my website (coaching model page). Try it yourself and send me your comments.
