Kailyn Rae Harris

Personal Development Plan

University of Illinois Leadership Center





















 Personal Mission Statement

As a business major, I find myself often lost in the mist of assignment, homework, and

responsibilities. So much so that I found that my creativity was slowly being drained out of me.

While sitting at the table of the first Innovation workshop, I didnt realize how much one

workshop would change my life. I was given the opportunity to think again; to imagine new

possibilities. I realize that I needed an outlet outside of academia to develop myself mentally

and spiritually. Innovation was just one of the many skills I have neglected. In this moment, I

realized I needed practice and develop all the other skills too that are required to be a leader. It

was then at the Innovation workshop I knew I need to join the University of Illinois Leadership

Certificate Program.

Joining the Leadership Program has made me reflect on my core value and the very

definition of being a leader. Often people are in love with the idea of being the leader but dont

quite understand what it looks like. I believe being a leader is more than a delegating task. Its

the act of help a group arrives at a particular destination that accomplishing a set out task or

goal. A boss and a leader is not the same thing. A boss delegates work to be done. A leader

works and shows the team how its done. Every leader uses their core value as a compass on

how they operate with their team.

Two of my main core values as a leader are diligence and effectiveness. The definition of

diligence is careful and persistent work or effort. Leaders face challenges day to day. Its the

job of the leader to push against the current when it come. However, this can only be done if

the meticulous effort is put in. This leads me to effectiveness. Effectiveness is defined as the

degree to which something is successful in producing the desired result. Im a person who likes
things to be done well. I believe in working hard but not wasting time. As a leader managing the

time, it a key element to the success of a project and effectiveness addresses time management

directly.

My life goal is to be the Board Chairwoman and owner of a Multimillion Social Media

Corporation. To build any company from scratch and have a team that willing to work with you

in the beginning stages will take a lot of leadership. You must have a vision for the company, be

able to develop other leaders, and prioritize the important things. Taking this entrepreneur

path, leadership skills will be essential. Additionally, one life goal is to compose music on the

side for the entertainment industry. In order to do this, its important that I have well balanced.

As a leader, I will need to develop a fully functioning team so that I can divide my attention

efficiently.

TWO Significant Learning Goals

I am currently in the process of working one my two life goals. My social media company

is the beginning stages. I have a core team of 3 people with sub-teams consisting of 12 people. I

have procured a CEO for when I turn this business venture into an LLC. By May 15th, I desire to

add two more passionate people to my core team. One specialized in phycology and the other

in linguistics so my CEO has the resources he needs to take the company to the next level. In

order to achieve this, I need to improve my strategic networking ability as well as influential

power. Therefore, my learning goal is by May 15th Ill effectively network and influence 2

people to join my company that has phycology and linguistics skills that want to passionately

serve the company and assist the growth thereof.

 My second goal is music orientated. Since I want to write music for the entertainment

industry especially, movies, I believe my musicianship must improve. In the spring semester, I

have 3 opportunities; 1) to write music for an Acapella group 2) Receive training on Choir

directing 3) Take private Composition Lessons. I must capitalize on this while Im taking 6

classes, working on a business venture, and having a normal social life. Time management has

been a strong skill of mine. However, stress management has not. As a leader, I believe being

able to keep a cool head throughout adversity it essential and is a skill I want to learn.

Therefore, its my goal by the end of the 2017 Spring Semester to have taken advantage of all 3

music opportunities, achieve a 4.0 semester GPA, and keep my social life and business company

thriving.

11 Skills and Attributes

Skill/Attribute Leadership Objective Evidence

Personal/Self

Reflection I believe that I need to do -I will journal every other

more self-reflection while
Im undergoing different things I could to better
projects. I want to
evaluate how Im doing -I will seek out feedback
things and ways I can
improve on a natural,
emotional, and spiritual
level.
Self-Management I am one person and
sometimes I commit to
the job of two people. I
deal with high amounts of
stress because I am trying
to be Super Girl. I need
prioritizing the things I
do, evaluated, and rank
my activities on a scale so
I know how to spread
myself between activities.
Interpersonal/Team
night and indicate two
from others and people Im
close to once a week
-Go to Insight
-Create a list of things to do
every week and categories
and prioritize each item
-When Im doing an activity
take note of emotional and
intellectual reaction. Am I
happy? Is this properly
prioritized?

Relationship Management I work with a lot of - I will attend the

people and sometime my leadership workshop,
relationship is all working Impact.
instead of personal. I - I will make a list of 5
want to take my work people I want to have
relationships and make a personal
them personal when I can relationship with
crack jokes and know beyond work
environment
 how they are outside of - I will spend quality
the work place. time with these 5
people
Another is networking. I
want to be able to build
and sustain purposeful
relationships. I need
business partners and a
lot of my friends are
graduating. I want to stay
connected beyond just
being some ones
Facebook friend.
Communication I want to communicate - Go to Intersect
with my team and others
when we run into
challenges. Sometime I
neglect to deal with
conflict but I want to start
dealing with things before
they become an issue.
Organization

Innovation Creativity takes time. - Brainstorming every

Every week I want to take other week
a moment to think outside - Compose 4 new
the box and to be pushed pieces of music
beyond my normal limit - Have my work
creativity critic

Community/Society

Service-Minded I use to volunteer a lot. - Participate in 2

However in the last year service events in
or so I havent put a lot of 2017 spring semester
time into giving back to - Go to Integrity
the community