| Course | MGT 424 Leadership |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | Personal leadership development plan |
| Length | About 1,047 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MGT 424 Module 8
From Assistant to Store Manager in Eighteen Months: A Personal Leadership Development Plan Built on Feedback
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
MGT 424: Leadership
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
From Assistant to Store Manager in Eighteen Months: A Personal Leadership Development Plan Built on Feedback
I am an assistant manager at Summit Outfitters, a composite regional sporting goods chain, in its Boise, Idaho, store. I supervise 22 associates across footwear, camping and bikes, and I share responsibility for scheduling, merchandising and customer service with the store manager. I have been in this role for two years after four years as a sales associate. My goal is to become a store manager within eighteen months, when the chain plans to open two new stores in Idaho. This plan uses feedback and research on leader development to identify what I need to learn and how I will learn it.
What the Feedback Says
Last month, the store manager, six associates and two assistant managers at other stores completed a 360-degree review of my leadership. They rated me highly on planning, product knowledge and reliability. Several associates wrote that I am fair and always willing to help on the floor. The lowest ratings were on delegating and handling disagreements. Comments included that I redo associates' work instead of explaining what I wanted, that I build the weekly schedule myself late at night and that I avoid telling people when their work falls short, then become frustrated. The store manager added that I know little about the store's profit and loss statement, which store managers own.
How Leaders Develop
Looking across a quarter century of studies, Day et al. (2014) concluded that leaders are built slowly, mostly on the job, shaped by an individual's readiness to learn, the challenges they face and the feedback and support they receive. Formal programs help, but the experiences that stretch people, combined with reflection, produce most growth. This suggests my plan should center on new responsibilities, not only on courses.
Knowing Myself
Avolio and Gardner (2005) described authentic leadership as rooted in self-awareness, understanding one's values, strengths and weaknesses, and in self-regulation, aligning one's actions with those values. They argued that authentic leaders are more likely to earn trust because what they say and what they do match. The feedback shows a gap between a value I hold, respect for my associates, and a behavior, redoing their work, that tells them I do not trust them. Closing that gap is as much about self-awareness as skill.
Learning From Experience
Ashford and DeRue (2012) argued that experience teaches leadership only when people engage with it mindfully. They recommended approaching experiences with learning goals rather than only performance goals, experimenting with new behaviors, actively seeking feedback and reflecting systematically on what happened. I will use this cycle for each goal.
Three Goals
| Goal | Stretch experience | Feedback source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delegate meaningful work | Hand the weekly schedule to the footwear lead; give two department resets to associates with only a brief | Associates involved; store manager | Start next month; review in three months |
| Address disagreements and poor performance directly | Hold the next three performance conversations myself within a week of a problem; lead a team discussion on holiday shift swaps | Store manager observes one conversation; associate survey | Over six months |
| Learn store finances | Review the monthly profit and loss statement with the store manager; build next year's labor budget draft | Store manager; district manager | Monthly; budget draft in nine months |
Connecting to the Course
Situational leadership suggests that my footwear lead, experienced and committed, needs delegation rather than the direction I now give everyone. The research on leader behavior shows that my strong task behavior is an asset but that consideration, including trusting people with real work, affects satisfaction. Kotter's distinction between leading and managing reminds me that a store manager must set direction as well as run operations, which is why the finance goal matters. And the readings on ethical leadership remind me that addressing poor performance fairly and quickly is part of treating everyone with respect.
A First Experiment
Following Ashford and DeRue, I will begin with one small experiment rather than trying to change everything at once. Next week, I will give the footwear lead the full weekly schedule with three constraints written down, tell her I will not revise it unless it breaks a rule and ask her afterward what was hard. I will record what I felt when I saw choices I would have made differently, since that discomfort is exactly what the feedback describes. If the schedule works, I will hand over the camping and bike schedules the following month to the leads of those departments as well.
Reflection and Review
Each Sunday, I will write a short note on one situation from the week related to my goals: what I tried, what happened and what I would do differently. Every three months, I will review progress with the store manager and repeat a short version of the associate survey. At twelve months, I will ask for a second full 360-degree review.
What I Will Stop Doing
Development also means giving up habits. I will stop building the schedule at night, stop redoing resets after associates finish them and stop waiting for a "good time" to raise a performance problem. Each of these habits feels responsible in the moment, but the feedback shows they leave associates feeling distrusted and leave me exhausted. Naming them makes it easier to notice when I slip back.
Support I Will Ask For
The store manager has agreed to act as my mentor, meeting monthly. I will also ask the district manager whether I can shadow a store manager at another location for two days during inventory week, an experience that would show me how an experienced manager handles the full range of the role.
Risks to the Plan
Busy seasons may tempt me back to doing everything myself. To prevent that, the schedule handoff will be permanent, not a trial, and the store manager has agreed to remind me if I take it back.
Conclusion
This plan builds on what others see in my leadership: strong planning and fairness, weak delegation and avoidance of conflict, and little financial knowledge. Research on leader development, authentic leadership and mindful engagement points to stretch experiences, honest feedback and regular reflection. With three focused goals and dates, I can measure whether I am ready to lead a store in eighteen months.
References
Ashford, S. J., & DeRue, D. S. (2012). Developing as a leader: The power of mindful engagement. Organizational Dynamics, 41(2), 146-154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2012.01.008
Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315-338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001
Day, D. V., Fleenor, J. W., Atwater, L. E., Sturm, R. E., & McKee, R. A. (2014). Advances in leader and leadership development: A review of 25 years of research and theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 63-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.004
MGT 424 Module 8 instructions, in plain terms
The final paper in Aspen's MGT 424 often asks students to write a personal leadership development plan that draws on the course and on honest self-assessment. Your classroom's Module 8 prompt determines what to include; the example is one composite writer's plan. State a clear leadership goal. Summarize evidence about your current strengths and weaknesses, ideally from feedback rather than self-rating alone. Use research on how leaders develop. Set a small number of specific goals with the experiences, feedback and reflection that will build each skill. Connect your plan to theories studied earlier in the course. Put dates on each goal and set out when you will look back at the plan and revise it.
How the MGT 424 Module 8 example is put together
The plan is written by an assistant manager at Summit Outfitters' Boise store, responsible for 22 associates in footwear, camping and bikes. A 360-degree review from the store manager, six associates and two peers rated her highly on planning and product knowledge but low on delegating and handling disagreements. Day and colleagues' Leadership Quarterly review emphasizes development through experience over time. Avolio and Gardner's Leadership Quarterly article describes authentic leadership as grounded in self-awareness and self-regulation. Ashford and DeRue's Organizational Dynamics article describes approaching experiences with learning goals, experimenting, seeking feedback and reflecting. A table sets three goals: delegate the weekly schedule and two department resets, lead difficult conversations directly and learn store finances. Each has a stretch experience, a feedback source and a date, and the plan links back to situational leadership and leader behavior.
Reading the MGT 424 Module 8 grading rubric
Development plans are graded on honest self-assessment based on evidence, goals that are specific and few, use of research on how leaders develop and clear links to course theories. This example begins with 360-degree feedback rather than self-description. Day and colleagues' review grounds the plan in experience-based development. Avolio and Gardner's authentic leadership shapes the self-awareness work, and Ashford and DeRue's mindful engagement explains how each experience will produce learning. The table gives each goal an experience, a feedback source and a date. Links to earlier theories show integration across the course.
MGT 424 Module 8 help from the desk
Personal development plans often list many vague goals, such as becoming a better communicator, based only on how the writer sees themself. Use feedback from others, choose two or three goals and make each specific. Another weakness is relying on courses and reading; research shows leaders develop mostly through challenging experiences with feedback and reflection. Name the experiences you will seek. Identify who will give you feedback and when. Connect your goals to theories studied in the course. Be honest about weaknesses without being harsh. Finally, set dates and a review schedule, since a plan without checkpoints is easy to forget. Name the habits you will stop.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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MGT 424 Module 8 questions, answered
What does MGT 424 Module 8 usually ask for?
Aspen's MGT 424 ends with personal leadership development, so a plan drawing on the course and on self-assessment is typical. Read your classroom prompt.
How do leaders develop?
Day and colleagues' review indicates that leaders develop mainly through challenging experiences over time, with feedback and reflection.
What is authentic leadership?
Avolio and Gardner describe leadership grounded in self-awareness, self-regulation and consistency between a leader's values and actions.
Where can I find a free MGT 424 Module 8 sample paper?
The complete plan above, by an assistant store manager, sets three development goals based on 360-degree feedback and research on leader development.
What is mindful engagement?
Ashford and DeRue's approach to learning from experience: set learning goals, experiment, seek feedback and reflect on what happened.