The Leadership Playbook: 6 Steps to Coaching Yourself to the Next Level

After 25 years of building and leading high-performing teams, I’ve learned that no one can—or should—wait for someone else to develop them. The best leaders coach themselves. That’s why I created The Uprisors Leadership Playbook, a six-step framework that helps ambitious women founders and executives become their own best coach. It blends structure and self-awareness into measurable, lasting growth.

Great leadership isn’t born in a workshop or a one-time seminar—it’s built through consistent reflection, intentional planning, and daily follow-through. This framework is designed to help you do exactly that. Whether you’re preparing for your next promotion, leading through uncertainty, or simply ready to sharpen your edge, these six steps will help you build the habits, clarity, and confidence to lead at your highest level.

Step 1: Assess Yourself

Growth begins with awareness. You can’t coach what you can’t see. Every leader has blind spots—habits so ingrained they go unnoticed until you pause long enough to evaluate them. That’s why self-assessment isn’t self-indulgent; it’s strategy. I take my clients through three assessments that create a 360-degree view of who they are as a leader. StrengthsFinder identifies your innate talents—the things you do instinctively well—so you can build around them instead of trying to fix weaknesses. Gallup research shows that people who use their strengths daily are six times more engaged and three times more likely to report an excellent quality of life. 16Personalities, rooted in the Myers-Briggs framework, reveals how you process information, make decisions, and interact under pressure. It’s the difference between knowing what you’re good at and understanding how you operate. Leaders who understand their style communicate better, flex more easily, and reduce team friction. Finally, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) assesses self-awareness, empathy, and regulation—the human skills that drive influence and resilience. Studies show EQ accounts for nearly 90% of the difference between top performers and average ones. Combined, these three tools provide a leadership blueprint that shows what to amplify, what to adjust, and how to grow with intention. Then I ask one more question: Who is your favorite leader, and why? That answer reveals what kind of leader you truly want to become.

Step 2: Draw Your Personal Vision

If Step 1 is reflection, Step 2 is direction. Vision anchors your energy and turns effort into purpose. Leaders who write down a personal vision are 50 percent more likely to feel motivated and report higher well-being, according to Harvard Business Review. Your vision doesn’t have to be lofty or long—it just needs to be vivid enough to guide your daily choices. I often see three types of visions emerge: one focused on impact (“I want to be the kind of leader who develops others and builds inclusive teams”), one centered on influence (“I want my voice to be trusted in every room I enter”), and one rooted in integrity (“I lead with courage and consistency, even when it’s unpopular”). Each works because it defines how you want to show up, not just what you want to achieve.
To make it practical, I teach a simple formula: Vision = Values + Impact + Identity. Start by naming your top 3–5 values—what principles you refuse to compromise. Then describe the impact you want your leadership to have on others and on the business. Finally, define the identity you want to embody: “Who am I when I’m at my best?” Pull those three pieces into one concise paragraph.
For example: “I am a strategic, empathetic leader who creates clarity out of complexity. I inspire focus and accountability, helping others grow while delivering strong results.” That single paragraph becomes your compass. When tough decisions arise, you can ask: Does this align with my vision? Over time, that clarity compounds. Decisions get faster, confidence deepens, and your leadership brand becomes unmistakable.

Step 3: Set 90-Day SMART Goals

Once your vision is clear, it’s time to make it actionable. I use 90-day SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Ninety days is long enough to accomplish something meaningful and short enough to sustain focus. Studies from the Dominican University of California show that people who commit their goals in writing and track progress are up to 42% more likely to achieve them, and those who work in 90-day cycles are 30% more likely to sustain momentum.
To apply it, start by defining one major objective that directly supports your personal vision. Then break it into 2–3 measurable milestones you can hit within 12 weeks. Each milestone should have a defined success metric—something you can objectively say “done” to. I also recommend a weekly check-in: what went right, what needs adjustment, and what you’ll do differently next week.
For example, one of my clients set a 90-day goal to strengthen team alignment. Her milestones included hosting biweekly standups, implementing a shared KPI dashboard, and delivering one cross-department presentation. Each week she tracked confidence levels and team clarity on a scale of 1–10. At the end of 90 days, engagement scores rose 22%. Goals aren’t just about performance—they’re a structure for focus and accountability.

Step 4: Find an Accountability Partner

Even the most self-disciplined leaders perform better when someone’s in their corner. A study from the American Society of Training and Development found that people are 65% more likely to reach a goal after committing to someone, and 95% more likely with consistent check-ins. Accountability isn’t about control—it’s about connection.
To make it work, choose your accountability partner wisely. Pick someone who understands your goals but isn’t afraid to challenge you. You need truth, not just cheerleading. Establish a rhythm: quick weekly updates (10–15 minutes) to review progress, roadblocks, and next steps. The key is frequency and honesty.
One of my favorite examples comes from a founder who paired with another CEO for biweekly accountability calls. They each shared one win, one challenge, and one next step. The partnership lasted years—and both credit it as a top reason their companies scaled sustainably. Accountability transforms good intentions into execution. It turns “someday” into “this week.”

Step 5: Reward Yourself

Leaders are notoriously bad at celebrating progress. We hit one milestone and immediately chase the next, rarely pausing to acknowledge the work it took to get there. But behavioral psychology proves that rewards reinforce habits—small celebrations release dopamine, which boosts motivation, focus, and creativity. Without rewards, progress can start to feel like pressure.
Many of my clients hesitate on this step. They tell me, “I don’t need to reward myself—I buy things when I want them.” My response is simple: Do you have to continue that? What if you built a little delayed gratification into your success? I suggest putting nonessentials—things you want, not need—onto a list or in a shopping cart, and only buying them when you achieve a goal. Suddenly, the purchase carries meaning. That book will feel so much sweeter, those shoes will look so much better, and that spa treatment will feel so much richer.
The power isn’t in the item—it’s in the association. You’re linking reward with growth, creating a tangible reminder that progress matters. You’re also modeling something powerful for your team: success is something to honor, not just survive. When you recognize your wins, you reinforce motivation in yourself and everyone around you.

Step 6: Pay It Forward

The final step is where growth turns into legacy. Leadership becomes real when you teach it. When you mentor, coach, or guide someone else, you reinforce your own learning. Research consistently shows that teaching improves mastery by up to 90%. Sharing knowledge multiplies impact—you don’t just reach your goals, you elevate others along the way.

I take my clients through this entire process using a structured Uprisors Leadership Playbook template that helps them track insights, goals, and growth every quarter. If you’d like to explore the framework or get a copy of the template, feel free to reach out—I’d love to share it with you. Because once you learn to coach yourself, you’ll never wait for someone else to hand you your next level.

Jennifer DiMotta is the founder of Uprisors, a leadership development firm that helps women executives and entrepreneurs accelerate their growth through structure, strategy, and self-mastery. Over her 25-year career, she has coached thousands of leaders to rise into VP and C-suite roles by combining business acumen, emotional intelligence, and personal well-being into one transformative system.