Coach Dan Foster

In the past, I’ve written about the need to have a personal development plan as a part of your strategy for becoming a better leader. Last week, at the Building Champions Experience, I had the opportunity to attend a breakfast with author and speaker, Michael Hyatt. In his presentation, Michael made the case for how a personal development plan will help you go further faster in your career and personal life. Here are my takeaways from Michael’s presentation:

Best selling author, Patrick Lencioni was the keynote speaker this morning at the first full day of the Building Champions Experience. Today’s theme was all about being more intentional and purposeful in your business. Patrick spoke on two of his best selling books, the Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Getting Naked.

Tonight the Building Champions Experience (BCE) kicked off with a powerful and emotional presentation from Building Champions’ CEO, Daniel Harkavy. The theme of BCE 2011 is Contribution and tonight Daniel shared five lessons he has recently learned about “giving back” regardless of whether your current reality is positive or negative. In order for us to be contributing and making a difference, Daniel encouraged us to do the following:

The most successful professionals I know are lifelong learners. They always seem to be reading books, studying best practices, networking with successful people, and applying what they learn to their own life. For many, the idea of finding time to focus on their personal development is almost a joke. Managing the high priority relationships, deals, and deadlines can take all of your time, leaving you with just enough energy to crawl into your pajamas, turn on the TV, and crash on the couch at the end of the day. I’ve learned that having a detailed plan to help you be intentional in your pursuit of personal development is essential to your overall success in life.

The final day of the Building Champions Experience was all about Priority Management, Reflection, and Accountability. The room had many emotions flowing through it when I arrived. People were excited for another great session, sad to be leaving friends, but also happy to be headed home to loved ones and routine. We had spent the better part of the past three days focused on identifying our personal priorities (Life Plan) and our business priorities (Vision Plan). It was time to focus on how to manage all of these priorities with everything else going on around us. Here are my takeaways from the final day of the Building Champions Experience 2010.