Julia Roberts describes how she used a personal development plan to make the leap to a senior executive role in health care

Personal development plans (PDPs) guide individuals in personal and professional career enhancement (Bullock and Jamieson 1998). While formats vary, the key component is self-analysis of strengths and weaknesses. This article describes a nurse administrator’s successful use of a PDP to progress her career from a mid-level manager position at a small, rural hospital to a senior executive level position at the USA’s second largest Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facility. The PDP used VHA’s eight core leadership competencies: personal mastery, systems thinking, organisational stewardship, creative thinking, technical skills, interpersonal effectiveness, flexibility, and customer service. These core competencies mirror the VHA’s 360° self-assessment tool supported by the National Center for Organization Development (US Department of Veterans Affairs 2014).