Did you know that Planning and Organizing is a competency that you can develop? We define the Planning and Organizing competency as, "Establishing courses of action to ensure that work is completed effectively." Who do you know who is highly skilled at Planning and Organizing?

With practice, you can grow and develop this skill just like other "hard skills" you might be good at like cooking, public speaking, employee coaching, or playing golf.

How do I grow as a leader: Planning and Organizing?

Those with a highly developed skill of Planning and Organizing exhibit the following:

• Works effectively within established systems.
• Utilizes logical, practical and efficient approaches.
• Prioritizes tasks for optimum productivity.
• Develops procedures, processes, and systems for order, accuracy, efficiency, and productivity.
• Anticipates probable effects, outcomes, and risks.
• Develops contingency plans to minimize waste, error, and risk.
• Allocates adjusts and manages resources according to priorities.
• Monitors implementation of plans and makes adjustments as needed.
• Establishes action plans to ensure desired results.
• Allows for practical, systematic and organized conclusions.

Behaviorally, it comes more naturally and requires less focus for some of us to effectively plan and organize. For the rest of us, it is a skill we may need to invest energy into developing in order to be more effective. Our Driving Forces will reward for some skills and not others. If your job or your environment demands something from you that isn't naturally present in your Behaviors or Driving Forces, you can develop it in your Competencies. 

What about you? How developed are you at the competency of Planning and Organizing? What about the people on your team? Is this something you want your team to be strong in?