Pre-exercise 2 – Leadership goals

About this exercise

Building on Pre-exercise 1, set the leadership development goals you want to work on. You’ll use the DIRECT competency framework to see where you are now, then turn that into a few concrete goals – which you’ll bring to the first session and record in the matching form.

Before you begin

About 20–30 minutes and a way to take notes. Your notes from Pre-exercise 1 are handy but not essential.

Steps

1. Rate yourself on the DIRECT competencies (table below), from 1 (not skilled/experienced) to 5 (very skilled/experienced). Skip any not relevant to your role, and add any missing ones under “Other”. DIRECT was first built for research software engineers and is expanding to other dRTP roles.
2. Choose three goals to develop your leadership.
3. Draft an action plan for each, using the template below, then check each goal against SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).
4. Record your goals in the matching form and keep them to bring to the first session.

DIRECT competencies

Definitions of each competency are on the DIRECT framework site.

Category	Competencies
A. Software engineering & development	A1 Web & mobile development · A2 software engineering methodologies & tools · A3 software/CS concepts & theory · A4 software design & architecture · A5 UI/UX design
B. ICT infrastructures	B1 HPC · B2 web · B3 cloud · B4 general systems infrastructure
C. Information & data technologies	C1 Data engineering & management · C2 data science
D. Professional skills	D1 Personal skills · D2 interpersonal skills · D3 teamwork & collaboration
E. Leadership & management	E1 People & team · E2 leadership · E3 project management
F. Domain expertise & research	F1 Domain knowledge · F2 research skills
G. Communication	G1 Verbal & written communication · G2 community & outreach · G3 training
H. Other	Add competencies specific to your role

Action plan template

Field	Your plan
Competency area	e.g. E2 – Leadership
Development goal	What you want to develop
How it can be achieved	Concrete steps
Support / resources (incl. people)	Who and what you need
How progress is measured	What success looks like
Time limit	By when

Worked example (E2): “Gain experience developing strategy by helping with the institutional data-stewardship business case” → ask the two colleagues leading it for a way in, and enrol on an organisational-change workshop → measured by appearing in the business-case author list and completing the workshop → within 6 months.

Reflection

Why does it help to share your goals with trusted peers?

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References: the DIRECT framework (digital Research Technical Professional competencies); ELEAD learning action-plan template.