Mentoring, teams, and professional development

Learning objectives

• Delegate effectively and resolve conflict between staff members.
• Apply classic motivation theories (Maslow, Herzberg, McGregor) to managing planning staff.
• Distinguish coaching, mentoring, and sponsorship, and describe what makes mentoring work.
• Plan for succession and measure whether leadership development is working.
• Explain how leaders build accountability and inclusive practice into institutions.
• Describe professional development expectations for certified planners, including Certification Maintenance.

Key concepts

Delegation

Delegation develops staff and frees leaders to lead, but only if it's real. Effective delegation gives the person:

• clear expectations: what outcome, by when, to what standard;
• the authority to make the decisions the task requires; and
• accountability: agreed check-ins and ownership of the result.

Match the task to the person's readiness, and increase the challenge over time. Delegating responsibility without authority sets people up to fail.

7 more sections follow in the full lesson.