Your Path To Success:

How to Create a Successful IDP

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Session Overview and Outcomes

Discuss the IDP Assignment & format. Discuss the basics of your academic and professional development, leadership aspirations, and passions for civic engagement. Develop your 5-10 year plan. Learn how to create a SWOT Analysis. Learn how to develop SMART goals.
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Goals of the IDP

Help you identify:
What you want to learn/achieve during your semester. How does this connect to your 5-10 year plan? Does it? Action steps to put you on the path of accomplishment. Tools so that you can measure your progress.

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Main Components of The IDP

Self Analysis: 5-10 year plan & SWOT Analysis Creating semester goals Analyzing your progress (throughout the semester) Reflecting on your experiences and formulating future career plans
Capstone Reflection

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IDP Format
Academic and Professional Development
Goal
Action Step Action Step

Goal
Action Step Action Step

Leadership Civic Engagement

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Academic Development
Identify your strengths and areas of improvement. Reach out to faculty who are familiar with your work and ask them where you could improve academically. Identify any additional training you might need.

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Professional Development
What are your most valuable skills, abilities, and areas of expertise? What areas do you still need to do work on? What is your preferred work environment?

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Leadership
What does it mean to be a leader? What are the most important skills/characteristics a leaders should possess?
Which do you already have? Which do you want to develop?

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Civic Engagement
Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes
Ehrlich (2000, p. vi) http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_aascu_defi.html

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IDP Prep: Self Analysis

Step 1: Identify where you see yourself in the next 5-10 years. Step 2: Identify your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats as they relate to this plan.
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Think About Your Future!

In pairs, discuss your answer to the following question:

In an ideal world, in 5-10 years I will be/I am

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IDP Prep: SWOT Analysis

Helpful
To Achieving Objective

Harmful
To Achieving Objective

Internal

Strength

Weakness

External

Opportunity

Threat

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Why is goal setting important?

Youll most likely be asked to set goals at all of your future jobs The achievement of these goals is often tied into performance evaluations and bonuses/raises Learning how to set realistic benchmarks will help you ensure that you are on the right path in all your endeavors

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SMART Goals (Action Steps)

S pecific M easurable A ttainable R ealistic T imely

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Examples of SMART Goals

Goal: To comprehend the policies and politics involved in international humanitarian aid.
Action Step: To attend two events per month pertaining to humanitarian aid located at leading think-tanks or universities (SMART or un-SMART) Action Step: To attend three events per week pertaining to humanitarian aid located at leading think-tanks or universities (SMART or un-SMART)

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Below Average Examples of SMART Goals

Academic and Professional Development
Ask professor about how the World Bank finances foreign investments in developing countries and how foreign governments should deregulate their
economies.

Leadership
Maintain good communication skills and build trust and confidence among my co-workers and managers.

Civic Engagement
Attend at least two non-mandatory events a month that can provide more detailed information about this civic engagement project.

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Tips and Tricks of Goal Setting

1. Have several goals, this way you will always have something to focus on. 2. Edit your list!! Revising your list is essential to your success. 3. Life throws us curveballs and we must adapt our goals to fit our current need. 4. Write your goals down and put them somewhere you will often be reminded of them.
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Tips and Tricks of Goal Setting

5. You know the old adage There is more than one way to skin a cat? It applies to achieving your goals as well! Come up with alternative action steps in case you run into any obstacles. 6. Set deadlines and stick to them! 7. Identify roadblocks to achieving your goals and how you will overcome them. 8. Identify resources that you will need such as money, skills, people, technology, etc.
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Resources
Strengths Finder 2.0 By Tom Rath Go Put Your Strengths to Work By Marcus Buckingham What Color is Your Parachute? By Richard Bolles The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People By Stephen Covey

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Questions??