Tips for developing your leadership skills

• Create a personal development plan that specifies the skills you would like to acquire and steps you will need to take in order to obtain them.
• Enroll in formal leadership development programs that are offered either through your organization or through an outside training company.
• Ask to be assigned to challenging projects that will provide new and unusual problems to solve.
• Get involved in a variety of assignments; don't just do the same tasks over and over again.
• Observe how others you admire approach and solve similar problems.
• Don't be afraid to take risks -- you'll probably learn more from failing once than from succeeding all the time.
• If possible, elect to join rotation programs in which you can be exposed to different functional areas of your organization. These programs can help you develop your technical, business, and communication skills.
• Find a colleague or executive who has the experience you want to gain and see if he or she would be willing to mentor you.