Personal Mastery Paper Instructions
(a) The past.
Remember the past leadership experiences and leadership role models you’ve had; consider how
these experiences influenced the formation of your own personal leadership attitudes, ideas,
capabilities and behaviours. These memories may be either positive or negative experiences of
leadership.
a. Identify a childhood memory of leading, or being led.
b. Identify an adolescence memory of leading, or being led.
c. Identify a young to middle adulthood memory of leading, or being led.
(b) The future.
Imagine the type of leader you aspire to become, using George’s (2016) authentic leadership
model as a framework for clarifying your vision. Consider three leadership contexts in
articulating your personal vision:
a. Begin by exploring your personal vision of your self-leadership—that is, describe your vision
of the life you want to create for yourself and how you will take responsibility for generating this
life for yourself.
b. Then, consider how you might extend your leadership, by coaching others in their own self-
leadership and collaborations with others.
c. Lastly, imagine how you might lead in organizational/social contexts. End this section with
one example of a SMART leadership development goal.
(c) The analysis.
Analyze your present self-development as a leader by
(a) your potential strengths as a leader,
(b) the obstacles you might face in achieving your leadership development goal, and
(c) options you have to help you successfully achieve your goal. In your analysis, identify one
way your personality (based on your Birkman report) can
(a) be a potential strength,
(b) an obstacle to achieving your goal, and
(c) expand your options to achieving your goal. Lastly, assess if you are generating sufficient
creative tension (or not) as a leader in your life in order to achieve your goal.
(d) The synthesis.
Define how you intend to resolve the creative tension you are creating as a self-leader,
connecting your past and future to your present.
(a) Specifically, outline your way forward—that is, your plan—to achieving your leadership
development goal.
(b) Identify the commitments you must make and the supports you need to achieve your
leadership development goal and ultimately your vision of becoming the leader you aspire to be.
(c) Also, outline the feedback structure, or success cycle system that you need to put in place to
make continuous improvements towards achieving your goal and vision.
(a) The past.
Remember the past leadership experiences and leadership role models you’ve had; consider how
these experiences influenced the formation of your own personal leadership attitudes, ideas,
capabilities and behaviours. These memories may be either positive or negative experiences of
leadership.
a. Identify a childhood memory of leading, or being led.
b. Identify an adolescence memory of leading, or being led.
c. Identify a young to middle adulthood memory of leading, or being led.
(b) The future.
Imagine the type of leader you aspire to become, using George’s (2016) authentic leadership
model as a framework for clarifying your vision. Consider three leadership contexts in
articulating your personal vision:
a. Begin by exploring your personal vision of your self-leadership—that is, describe your vision
of the life you want to create for yourself and how you will take responsibility for generating this
life for yourself.
b. Then, consider how you might extend your leadership, by coaching others in their own self-
leadership and collaborations with others.
c. Lastly, imagine how you might lead in organizational/social contexts. End this section with
one example of a SMART leadership development goal.
(c) The analysis.
Analyze your present self-development as a leader by
(a) your potential strengths as a leader,
(b) the obstacles you might face in achieving your leadership development goal, and
(c) options you have to help you successfully achieve your goal. In your analysis, identify one
way your personality (based on your Birkman report) can
(a) be a potential strength,
(b) an obstacle to achieving your goal, and
(c) expand your options to achieving your goal. Lastly, assess if you are generating sufficient
creative tension (or not) as a leader in your life in order to achieve your goal.
(d) The synthesis.
Define how you intend to resolve the creative tension you are creating as a self-leader,
connecting your past and future to your present.
(a) Specifically, outline your way forward—that is, your plan—to achieving your leadership
development goal.
(b) Identify the commitments you must make and the supports you need to achieve your
leadership development goal and ultimately your vision of becoming the leader you aspire to be.
(c) Also, outline the feedback structure, or success cycle system that you need to put in place to
make continuous improvements towards achieving your goal and vision.
