The Personal Development Programme (PDP)

A personal development programme is a method of systematising your approach to your own development.

It is also an organisational programme that is intended to provide a definite structure for those people in the organisation who want to improve their productive (and earning) capability.

A personal development programme is also a method of ensuring that your people are not standing still, but are instead advancing, in terms of their skills, knowledge and performance.

When at work, you need to be thinking about how, over time, you could be continually improving your performance. The way to improve your performance, over time is to improve your list of goals, your plan of action, your knowledge and your skills.

And in addition, you need to consistently apply the knowledge and develop your self-discipline to ensure that what you are learning is a part of your daily habit patterns of thought, feeling, speech and action.

You need to be methodical and consistent in your approach to personal development. Personal development is not something that you do one day, and then give up the next. Personal development is a long range habit.

It is about committing yourself to a disciplined, consistent, intelligent system of never ending improvement.
It is the one sure fire way that you can ensure that your future is secured.
How can you get involved in a programme of personal development? Here are the steps:

1. Set your goals for the future

In order to develop yourself you need to have a purpose.
You need to know why you are working so hard.
Your goals will supply the motivation.
It is important to write your goals down.
Take your future seriously. Ask yourself "Where do I want to be, one year from now"
Once you know where you want to be, now are in a better position to know what you need to do.[personal Banner]

2. Formulate your written plan

In order to achieve your goal you must formulate a detailed plan of action. A goal without a plan is useless. A goal with a detailed written plan of action is a powerful agent for change.

3. Make a list of skills that you need to acquire

In order to achieve your goals and follow through on your plan, you need to improve your skills. But the question is what skills?
The skills that you need to develop are determined by the goal you wish to achieve and the plan you have written.
All goals and all plans will require that you improve your skills.

For example:

If you want to be a sales person, then you need to develop your sales skills.
If you want to be a leader, then you need to develop your leadership skills.
If you want to be a manager, then you need to develop your management skills.
If you want to be a technical wizard, then you need to develop your technical skills.

You should write a list of skills that you need to develop and take this list seriously.

4. Make a list of the knowledge that you will need to gain

The goal that you have written down, at step one, will require that you gain knowledge.
Knowledge is power. You must gain knowledge. If you have not yet achieved your goal, then one reason is that you do not yet know how to achieve your goal.

If you knew exactly how to achieve your goal, then you probably would have done it by now.
So make a firm commitment to gain the knowledge that you need.

How should you gain the knowledge?

Answer: read all the books you need to read

Every industry is the application of a specialised field of knowledge. And every specialised field of knowledge possesses its own library of sacred texts.

Your industry depends upon the specialised knowledge that is contained in its "sacred texts".

If you are a surgeon you need to have read Grey's anatomy.
If you are a biologist you need to have read Charles Darwin.
If you are an economist you need to have read Marx, Keynes and Adam Smith.

Read the books you need to read.
All leaders are readers.
Anyone who will not dedicate sufficient time to study is not a serious contender for the high honours.

How else can you gain knowledge?

Answer: observe others and learn from the best.
Look around you and you will see living examples of good practice,

But, don't just look: instead, observe and examine.

If there is a person at your place of work who is out performing the others, then observe and examine that person. The following is true about that person:

• Either he / she is doing things the others are not doing.
• Or; he/she is not doing things that the rest are doing.
• Or some combination of the two; he is doing some unique things and, at the same time, he is avoiding some common mistakes.

If you watch carefully you will discover both sets. Then your job is to engage your mind and do the unique things that the model is doing. And stop repeating the common mistakes that most people are making.

5. Make a list of your strengths and play to them

Everyone has a set of natural talents. A natural talent is an ability for which nature has endowed you with an aptitude.
Most people have more than one natural talent and it is important for you to recognise your natural talents and play to them.
You may as well go with the flow; and be brilliant those things for which nature has selected you for.

6. Make a list of your weaknesses and work to eliminate them

Similarly, everyone has a set of natural weaknesses. A natural weakness is an ability for which nature has endowed you with a paltry supply of genetic aptitude.
Everyone has a natural weakness of talent; most people have more than one natural weak point.
It is important for you to recognise your natural weak points and then; to work like crazy to overcome them.

Don't give up without a fight.
The struggle for survival requires that you play to your strengths and eliminate your weaknesses.

For more information about personal development training visit our course page.