| Course | GM585 Mentoring and Coaching |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Development plan |
| Length | About 930 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MS in Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for GM585 Unit 5
Her Words in Every Goal: A Unit 5 Development Plan Built With an Audit Senior
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
GM585: Mentoring and Coaching
Unit 5 Development Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The accounting firm, the senior and every figure are composite and illustrative; the theory and research cited are real.
How the Plan Was Built
Dana and I met twice in October, for an hour each time, after the coaching session in which she set out to review her associates' work instead of rewriting it. In the first session she described the work she wants in three years and listed what she does well and what gets in her way. In the second we turned that into goals and practices. Sentences in quotation marks below are Dana's. Everything else is mine, written from our notes and checked with her before this version.
Richard Boyatzis describes intentional change as a series of discoveries: the ideal self, the real self, a learning agenda, experimentation and practice, and resonant relationships that support each step (Boyatzis, 2006). He argues that lasting change starts from a person's own vision of the future, not from a list of weaknesses, because the vision supplies the energy the effort needs.
Ideal Self
Dana's three-year picture: "Running a mid-sized engagement on my own, with staff who want to stay on my jobs. Leaving most evenings by seven, not eleven. Being the senior people ask to work with, the way I asked to work with Rachel."
Real Self
Strengths. Her last review notes say her technical work is the strongest of her promotion class. A staff survey from the summer rated her 4.5 of 5 on "explains things clearly when asked." Her own list: "I'm fast. I catch things. Marcus has improved a lot working with me."
Gaps. Review notes say she rewrites rather than reviews, and her timestamps show work after ten at night on 14 of the last 30 working days. The same survey rated her 2.9 of 5 on "gives me a chance to fix my own work." Her own list: "I don't trust the newer associates. I plan the job in my head and nobody else can see it."
The gap Dana named herself, that she plans the job in her head, became the second goal, because it was hers before it was the plan's.
The Learning Agenda
Goal one, in Dana's words: "Send it back with notes instead of fixing it." The practice is to return each associate workpaper with review notes written as questions, and to sit with the associate for five minutes on the first one of each type. The sign of progress is the share of workpapers returned with notes rather than rewritten, which the engagement software records. At the start it was about 20 percent. The people who would notice are her associates and the engagement's reviewing manager. The date for review is the end of February, after busy season.
Goal two, in Dana's words: "Get the plan out of my head." The practice is to have an associate draft the planning memo for one section of each engagement, with Dana reviewing it, starting with the January interim work. The sign of progress is the number of planning memo sections drafted by staff. At the start it was none. The people who would notice are the associates who draft them and the partner who reads the memos. The date for review is also the end of February.
Goal three, in Dana's words: "Leave by seven most nights." The practice is to finish her own review queue by six on four days a week, moving anything unfinished to the next morning. The sign of progress is the number of evenings each week she leaves by seven, which she will track herself and which the building badge record would confirm. The people who would notice are Dana and her partner at home. The date for review is the end of March, so that the measure covers busy season and the weeks after.
Experimentation and Practice
Dana will try each practice on one engagement first, the manufacturing client she supervises, before extending it. Boyatzis, Melvin Smith and Ellen Van Oosten argue that new behavior must be practiced repeatedly, to the point of mastery, and that small experiments are less threatening than a full change at once (Boyatzis et al., 2019). Starting with one engagement lets Dana see the effect before her whole workload depends on it.
Resonant Relationships
Dana chose a senior manager from the advisory group, Elena, who is outside her reporting line, to meet with once a month. Elena was a senior who struggled with the same habit and does not rate Dana's performance, which matters because Dana can admit a bad week to her without it reaching a review. Kathy Kram's research found that relationships outside a person's reporting line often supply the psychosocial support a supervisor cannot (Kram, 1985).
What I Can and Cannot Promise
I can promise to protect the extra time the first goal takes in its first month, by moving one of Dana's review deadlines on each engagement by a day. I can promise to tell the partner about her progress in specifics, not general praise. I cannot promise that meeting these goals will lead to promotion to supervisor next year. That decision depends on the firm's needs and on partners I do not speak for, and Dana should hear that from me now rather than discover it later. The plan is worth doing because it serves her three-year picture, not because it guarantees the next title.
References
Boyatzis, R. E. (2006). An overview of intentional change from a complexity perspective. Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 607-623. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710610678445
Boyatzis, R., Smith, M. L., & Van Oosten, E. (2019). Helping people change: Coaching with compassion for lifelong learning and growth. Harvard Business Review Press.
Kram, K. E. (1985). Mentoring at work: Developmental relationships in organizational life. Scott, Foresman.
The Purdue Global GM585 Unit 5 instructions
GM585 Unit 5 asks you to create a development plan with another person, usually someone you manage or mentor. Explain how the plan was built: how many conversations, what each produced and which words are theirs and which are yours. Use a framework from the reading, such as Boyatzis's intentional change theory, which starts with the person's ideal self, sets it beside an honest picture of the real self and then builds a learning agenda. For each goal, give the practice, a sign of progress that someone other than you could observe, who would notice and a date for review. Include a supporting relationship outside your reporting line where possible. Close with what you can and cannot promise, especially about promotion. Six pages is typical, and the theory and any mentoring research belong in APA 7 references.
How the GM 585 Unit 5 example is put together
The plan describes two October sessions and marks the senior's words in quotation marks. Boyatzis's five discoveries frame it. Dana's ideal self quotes her three-year picture. Her real self sets strengths, including a 4.5 survey rating on explaining clearly, beside gaps: work after ten on 14 of 30 days and a 2.9 rating on letting staff fix their own work. The highlighted sentence notes that her own words became the second goal. Three goals follow with practices, signs and dates: notes on workpapers from a 20 percent start, staff drafting planning memo sections and leaving by seven four nights a week. Experiments start on one client, citing Boyatzis, Smith and Van Oosten. Elena, a senior manager in advisory, provides a resonant relationship, with Kram on support outside the reporting line. The manager declines to promise promotion.
Where the points sit in the GM585 Unit 5 rubric
GM585 instructors look for a plan the person clearly helped write and goals someone else could verify. Recording whose words are whose earns credit because it shows collaboration rather than claiming it. A framework applied in order, with the ideal self first, shows understanding of why change lasts. Each goal should have a practice, an observable sign, a named observer and a date. Using records such as review notes or survey results for the real self earns more than impressions. A supporting relationship outside the reporting line shows awareness of what a manager cannot provide. Honesty about what cannot be promised, especially promotion, protects trust. Boyatzis's Journal of Management Development article, Boyatzis, Smith and Van Oosten's Helping People Change and Kram's Mentoring at Work provide the references in APA 7.
GM585 Unit 5 help: mistakes that cost points
Many GM585 Unit 5 plans read as performance reviews: the manager lists weaknesses and assigns goals. Others use the person's words but give goals no observable signs, so progress cannot be judged. A common gap is the ideal self: plans that skip it start from deficits and tend to lose energy. Some writers promise promotion, which the manager rarely controls. Hold two conversations, write the person's own picture of the future first, set honest strengths and gaps from records beside it, turn their own phrases into two or three goals, each with a sign someone else could see, add a supporter outside your line and say plainly what you cannot promise.
Get a GM585 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Describe the person the plan is for, what they say they want, and the evidence you have about their strengths and gaps, whether the person is real or your section supplies a case. Enclose the Unit 5 prompt and rubric. Expect a first plan in 24-48h, free, with the person's voice kept distinct from the manager's throughout. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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GM585 Unit 5 questions, answered
How can a plan show it was built with the person?
By recording authorship. Quoting the person's own statements of aims, noting which suggestions came from the manager, and keeping a suggestion the person declined as declined all show collaboration without claiming it. A short account of the conversations that produced the plan helps too. A plan in which every goal sounds like the manager's review form usually reads as written for the person.
What is intentional change theory?
Richard Boyatzis's account of how adults make sustained change: discovering an ideal self, seeing the real self honestly, building a learning agenda, experimenting and practicing, and relying on trusting relationships throughout. It suits development planning because it starts from what the person wants rather than from a deficit list, which tends to produce plans people actually follow.
Should the plan include a promotion goal?
It can name the aim, but it should not promise the outcome. A manager rarely controls promotion decisions alone, and a plan implying otherwise sets up disappointment and weakens trust. The stronger version states the capabilities a promotion would require, builds goals toward them, and says honestly who decides and when the decision is usually made.
Where can I find a free GM585 Unit 5 sample paper?
This page carries a full GM585 Unit 5 development plan built with an audit senior using Boyatzis's intentional change theory, with three goals in her words and APA 7 references.
Why include a goal about leaving by seven?
It was the goal the senior cared about most, and it came from her own picture of the work she wants. Intentional change theory holds that the person's vision supplies the energy for change, so including her goal made her more willing to work on the others.