My PLP (as an example)

Personal Leadership Plan

Tia Rooney

November 9, 011

Content:

1. Cover Page---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

2. Content-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2

3. Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-4

4. Personal Vision Overview--------------------------------------------------------------------4-5

5. Personal Goals ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5-6

6. My Leadership Brand-------------------------------------------------------------------------6-8         

7. Action Plan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8-11

8. Barriers and Constraints--------------------------------------------------------------------11-12

9. Conclusion------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12

Introduction

The summer voices the Belle & Sebastian lyric “color my life with the chaos of trouble,” seems to wholesomely depict the agenda my life denotes.  Adventure, risk and new experiences define who I am and the chaos contained by my life. The idea of meeting new people and exposing myself to the adversity in which we live fascinates me and portrays the “chaos of trouble” I look for in everyday moments. Having an open mind to the diversity and beliefs of others can only make an individual more intelligent, and it is within the absorption of misfortune and diversity that I hope to grow as an individual. I have been so fortunate in this life to have loving and grounded parents that taught and praised creativity, strong moral standings, individualism, and integrity. Yet the path to achieve these standards has been full of wrong turns, speed bumps and minor infractions. However, I have become wise as a result of my mistakes. My mistakes have led me to become the individual I am today; defining the way I look at life both past, present, and future.

Originally I declared Nursing as my major, seeing as my whole high school academic selection had been based around preparation for some kind of career in Medicine. Additionally, I have worked for three years as a Certified Nursing Assistant; most recently I worked at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital in Labor and Delivery. It was the most amazing year of my life and I got to help in many deliveries, proving that the medical field interested me. However, weeks before school started I realized that while nursing interested me, I knew it wasn’t what I felt passionate about. Law school had always been on the back of my mind and my father encouraged me to take a risk and try something new. I will graduate MSU after four years with a double major, both in Political Science and English. After getting my undergrad, I will attend law school specializing within Healthcare law.

College has taught me so much more than simply academics and I feel blessed everyday to have the opportunity to be here, immersed in the energy and diversity Montana State University provides. My motto still holding true, ” color my life with the chaos of trouble” I hope that I can continue to “color” my life with new opportunities, experiences and lessons. Bozeman is a beautiful place and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.

Personal Vision Overview

           

In my most perfect world I am able to travel often and abroad. I immerse myself in cultures that are foreign to me and have the financial freedom to provide the same possibilities for my family. Using my resources and medical connections, I travel to third world countries to help set up woman and AID health clinics. These clinics will educate and treat struggling nations about AIDs and AIDs prevention.

 I work as an In-House Lawyer for a hospital with the luxury of working at home 2-3 days a week. My professional life is a success because I am sought out by prestige hospitals and have the opportunity to choose where I want to work. I am respected both for being good at what I do as well as being morally and emotionally legit. I keep work at work and home at home. I am organized and appreciated for my ability to manage several tasks or jobs at once. I live in a community that is safe and full of energy and involvement.

I am married and have children. My job allows for me to be at home several days out of the week and I feel I maintain equilibrium between work and home. It is important to me to be as involved in work as in my children’s lives. I am able to juggle being involved in my children’s community just as equally as being involved in business matters. I feel complete fulfillment and am happy in both aspects of my life. I know that I have reached this place because my business life and personal life do not feel like two separate tasks, but rather incorporated matter that coexists in harmony.

I am a loyal friend and surround by family and friends that make me a better person. I am a positive leader because I help others find their own leadership strengths while identifying and improving on their weaknesses. I am creative and resourceful but know when to ask others for help. I have integrity and uphold my morals. I don’t put others in situations that I myself wouldn’t want to be in, and more importantly, I don’t assign tasks to others that I wouldn’t be able to accomplish.

My Personal Goals

1. I will pass the LSAT with a 160 or above (scale ranges from 120-180), and achieve a GPA of 3.5 or better upon graduating from MSU in the Spring of 2013 in order to be accepted into Law School at University of Montana or the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) in which case I would attend University of Washington School of Law.

2. I will take the Bar Exam after law school and pass with a score of at least 140 by 2016.

3. I will travel twice each year to third world countries to set up Women Health Clinics that promote AID awareness and help treat disease starting in 2017. Until then, once a year I will work with extended local and national organizations that envision my same mission to help and serve others.

My Leadership Brand

For me, observing the top ten attributes I want to convey is not the hardest step; but rather discovering how these attributes complement each other to form one leadership style. I will grapple with the compatibility between attributes; more specifically, how being broad minded and committed, integrative and visionary, communicative and organized, inspiring and engaging, and developing and being honest, all work together to create a leadership mold I wish to emulate.

The first two aligning attributes, being of broad mind and committed, embody a sister relationship with dedication to embracing diversity. Being broad minded would allow me to seek out diversity and welcome a variety of different ideas and values into my organization. A team is only as successful as the multiplicity of minds that represent the whole. of broad mind walk hand in hand when incorporating diverse work styles and traditions.

The third and fourth attribute deemed important to achieving cross-cultural leadership embrace the proactive and imaginative qualities required to characterize integration and vision. Being an integrator means more than bringing unity to a team; it would also require me to be proactive when problems arise. I can achieve unity by having solutions for such foreseen conflict.

The fifth and sixth attribute highlighted in this paper are incorporating both organization and communication skills into my leadership style. Communication can translate into efficient meetings, effective organizations and positive working relationships between individuals or divisions. Without the ability to express your vision through verbal or written word, an organization is sure to fail. Thus, in order to lead cross culturally one must be able to form transparent communication passageways that allow for constant improvement. There are two forms of communication that I want to emphasize: collective communication and presentational communication.

The seventh and eighth trait I wish to embody in the assembly of cross-culture leadership is the ability to inspire and engage. Everyone wishes to be inspiring and while I too wish to have such an effect on my organization or team, I have to admit I do not know how to approach defining “how to be inspirational.” The best I can do is look into my own life and identify what made my role models inspirational. In material form, my hero’s and sheros (as Maya Angelou would say), are confident in their own leadership styles and embody a strong sense of humility. They know what their attributes to leadership include and they capitalize on the opportunities those attributes provide. The humility part is what gets me. Those who I look up to and put up on my personal pedestal never seem to realize how much of an impact their leadership possesses.  While I think it is important to know how to lead, those that I look up to seem to know the difference between understanding their styles and berating their attributes to others.

The final ninth and tenth attribute require an adjacent partnership in helping others discover their leadership styles; being a developer and being honest are both attributes I wish to represent through leadership. Being a developer means helping others to uncover their leadership styles. It is key to help Identify their strengths and work with them on their weaknesses.

I have found that contrary to before when I had trouble finding the connections between attributes, I now understand how they can all work together in forming one “power mold.” These attributes will work as a floor plan in my journey to leading others and growing as an individual. While I may not display all of these attributes at once, I have found a way to break up the attributes into sister pairs that will help me tackle the task of leadership step by step. I know that when I am being broad minded I must also be committed, when I am acting as an integrator I must also act as a visionary, when I practice communication skills I must also practice organization, when I inspire I must also engage and when I am developing a team I must be honest.

           

Action Plan

1. Get accepted into University of Montana School of Law and/or the

            WUE Program by 2013

Goal	Responsible Party	Date Due	Help Available	Resources Needed
Pass the LSAT with 160 or higher	Tia Rooney	Summer 2012	LSAT Preparation Books, LSAT class	A summer dedicated to studying (time, Books, Online class
Graduate MSU with a GPA 3.5 or higher	Tia Rooney	Spring Semester 2013	Study Groups, Learning services (writing center), MSU Library	Time, organization, motivation, study tables and written study goals
Acceptance into University of Montana School of Law	Tia Rooney	Fall of 2014	Networking, Jean Faure, Kristen Juras,	Application, community involvement, leadership experience, Internship
Apply for the WUE Program	Tia Rooney	2013	Information about the WUE program online	Knowledge of the program, high GPA, community involvement, leadership experience
2. Pass the BAR Exam with 140 or higher 2016   Acceptance into Washington School of Law	Tia Rooney, Acceptance into the WUE Program	2014	Letters of recommendation	Living with Jim and Sue Rooney, Leadership experience, community involvement, knowledge of the school.

Goal	Responsible Party	Date Due	Help Available	Resources Needed
Attend a law school that prepares me for the BAR Exam	Tia Rooney, University of Washington School of Law or University of Montana School of Law	2013-2016	University of Washington School of Law or University of Montana School of Law	Application Acceptance, work hard through law school
Take BAR preparatory classes	Tia Rooney	2016	Available Classes	Money, Time, Focus
Pass the BAR with 140 or higher	Tia Rooney	2016	Law School, Preparatory classes	Time, Focus, Studying

3. I will travel twice each year (starting in 2017) to a third world country (specifically Africa)             to improve and expand Women Health Clinics while promoting AID awareness.

Goal	Responsible Party	Date Due	Help Available	Resources Needed
Work within Healthcare Law	Tia Rooney	2016	Networking, Hospitals in Washington or Montana	Law School, Passing the BAR
Gain funding through sister hospitals	Tia Rooney, Hospitals	2016	Hospitals willing to help financially fund travel and project costs	Money, Investor support
Team up with other Non-profit organizations with similar objectives	Tia Rooney, other organizations	2017	Organizations dedicated to helping through medical support	Interested investors, support, finance, knowledge of similar organizations with similar objectives
Time off work to travel	Tia Rooney, Employer	Continuous	Employer, vacation time	Cooperative Employer
Find and Research Health Clinics in Africa dedicated to help improve and expand medical services	Tia Rooney	2016	Knowledgeable Resources	Research, communication between other similar organizations that share a parallel vision

3 Continued. Until then goal: Once a year I will work with extended local and national organizations that envision my same mission to help and serve others.

Goal	Responsible Party	Date Due	Help Available	Resources Needed
Serve others	Tia Rooney	2010	Breaks Away	Phoenix, AZ
Serve others	Tia Rooney	2011	Service Saturday	1st Saturday of every month
Serve others	Tia Rooney	2012	CAP Mentor	Hayden- Longfellow Elementary
Serve others	Tia Rooney	2013	Breaks Away	San Francisco, CA
Serve others	Tia Rooney	2013-2017	Local / National Organizations	Time away, knowledge of existing programs built to help/serve others

Barriers and Constraints

The largest barrier I foresee will be balancing a successful career with being a successful parent. There are these professional goals I want to accomplish, but I know I want to have a big family and be a present mother through their childhood. 

A constraint that is related to this barrier is going to be taking maternity leave from work when I am ready to have children.

I envision two very different lifestyles. I want to invest all my time and energy into my work and essentially be married to my work. On the other hand I want a large family with the ability to stay at home and raise my children. Finding the right time in my career to start a family will be a challenge I will need to overcome.

Additional constraints will be: passing my LSAT, getting into a good law school, and eventually passing the BAR exam.

Another barrier I will need to face is finding the time and resources to travel to Africa and help expand and improve Woman’s Health Clinic’s.

One barrier that the whole world is fighting against is expensive costs to help slow down the HIV/AIDs process. Moreover, the world is still without a cure to fight and stop the virus HIV from HIV causing the disease AIDS.

Conclusion

While I have known from early on I was interested in the medical field and working within heath care, until now I didn’t realize how I would apply my passion. Through the US202 Leadership Foundations I have discovered that I can use my degree’s to attend Law School and learn to practice law within the health care specialization. I will become an in-house lawyer for a hospital and then use my resources to begin working on my third goal; or as I call it now, my purpose in life. I will use my career to help bring aid to women in Africa through the expansion and improvement of Women Heath Clinic’s. I want to raise AID’s awareness and help improve sanitation in current clinics and hospitals to lower the risk of spreading disease. Until I have the time, energy and recourses to implement this goal on a large scale, I will help my community both through my state and nation. I perform such actions through one large-scale time commitment each year to serve others by means of pre-existing organizations. Through this PLP I have come to realize my purpose in life is to help others, and my passion lies in the wake of health care.