Professional Growth through Self-Reflection - Essay Example

?Self-reflection is a personal exercise of introspection motivated by the desire to understand and learn more about one’s essence and fundamental nature so they can make well-contemplated personal and professional decisions. This is a critical step towards individuals’ growth, as it helps them to come to terms with the impact of past events and experiences on their current and future circumstances (Saban 2000). One is able to consider how their actions and decisions in the past have contributed to their respective personal goals and career objectives achievements. Once these are identified, an individual can envisage the aspects of their life need to be changed to evaluate their goals fulfilment and set new ones. In the process, they critically analyse strong and weak points as well as asses the opportunities and threats that can improve or compromise their professional achievements. Ignorance of the reflection stage in one’s life is a common mistake based on the misguided notion that reflection is a stupid activity similar to soul searching which is largely subjective. On the contrary, reflection is a very objective and very specific process through which we contemplate our past, earn form our mistake through a deliberate observation of our lives through the disinterested eyes it requires we use. Therefore, one of the models of reflecting one can assume is an imaginary dialogue with younger version of themselves. I selected this particular model so that I could consider my growth in the eyes of the person who originated many of the ambitions I am striving to achieve. My career pathway was very clear to start with, I knew I wanted to work in marketing because I had been inspired and mentored by my father who had been a successful marketer for as long as I could remember. After high school, I applied to study business in college with the intention of majoring in marketing. College has taught me invaluable lessons both from inside and outside the classroom about how to improve my chances of success while am on the business pathway, especially the many skills that I need to acquire so as to improve my employability and make me more marketable in the corporate world. For one, I have come to appreciate the need for taking the initiative in whatever I do, as opposed to waiting to be directed or instructed. Today’s business world requires innovation and creativity, therefore I have learnt to think outside the convectional parameters, and otherwise when by simply doing thing according to the textbooks you will likely only produce mediocre results. Social work is a vital part of my business-oriented pathway considering that business involves interacting with people and convincing them to visit in the product you are selling. This often requires that one presents himself as trustworthy and dependable, in the words of one of my lecturers who introduced me to marketing and finance, when one markets products, he or she has to put themselves in the market first and if the client decides that they are a worth investment, they can risk putting their money on them. Therefore, in addition to my business classes, I enrolled to a few sociology classes; moreover, I spent some of my free time volunteering to do social work and community service in our local church fund drive. These excursions provided me with numerous opportunities to learn interpersonal interaction, when you talk to people even especially when you are not trying to sell them something. I developed confidence and even more importantly gradually learnt how to make people trust me, it not difficult really, all one needs to do is to be sincere and passionate. This is because once people believe what one is saying; they are more inclined to believe him as opposed to when they think you have an ulterior motive. In addition, I have come to realize that business and politics are inseparable, no matter how talented or bright one thinks he/she is, they must recognize the hierarchy that exists. One’s seniors must be respected and even when one sometimes feels they are mistaken, it helps to be patient while contradicting them. Antagonizing ones bosses might get one a superficial and temporarily victory; however, it might jeopardize their ascent in corporate ladder. Most organizations indicate they want someone with problem solving skills in their job adverts; but this to entry level and business students, this is just a corporate cliche. However, these are skills that one must learn to incorporate into their business practice since they will find themselves in a situation where they need to prove themselves by solving a real problem and their effectiveness will be the determining factor on whether they will be employed or promoted. This way, I was able to develop my negotiation skills and learnt how to control conversations by remaining in charge by presenting myself as the source of solutions, in this case Roberts Green’s 48 Rules of power proved a hardy companion. However, this does not mean that to be a good businessperson one must be Machiavellian to the extent that Green suggests, while you must be shrewd and aggressive to survive the often-brutal competition, a line has to be drawn at some point. Business ethic is a critical aspect of the job and as my economics professor often claimed “one must put customers satisfaction before the sale”. This is because it is not ethical to take advantage of customers, since for a business to thrive it requires stability that is only gained when customers return to buy stuff not to complain and return it. Unethical behaviour is also potentially harmful to the business itself and by extension the stakeholders because it can have a negative effect on the firm’s reputation in the long run (Svensson & Wood 2008). When I was in college, I vividly recall one of the most significant experiences when I was required to make a presentation alongside five other students based on a field research on small-scale businesses in the local town. We were required to go out and interview about 10 up-and-coming entrepreneurs and make comparisons among them so we could identify if they had anything in common that made them successful. For this project, we worked as a team brainstorming, preparing and analysing questionnaires, we also divided different aspects of the study amongst ourselves with each of us being assigned a specific task. I was required to carry out a reconnaissance visit to all the business premises making appointments because the other members felt I had good interpersonal skills, which would make it easier for me to negotiate successfully interviews opportunities with the companies for our group. I played my role diligently as did each of the other members. When we finally completed the study, we realized that out of the ten businesses we had researched on, only one was operated by a business school graduate; in fact, in six out owners of the ten, businesses owners and managers did not have college degrees, the others were in non-related professions. Therefore, we cross-examined the skills that these individuals had that made them stand out from the business community despite their lack of theoretical knowledge. We realized that despite their differences in approach and business ideas, they were all innovative thinkers and had taken serious risks with some even quitting well-paying jobs to become entrepreneurs. Another common factor was their sense of business ethics, one of our interviewees, a former dentist turned fast-food retailor told us the value of ethics in business can never be overstated. We were informed that as long a business is dealing with people, they had to respect the needs not only of their clients, but also very seriously take to consideration their social corporate responsibility. While business school may provide the theoretical knowledge in business and leadership, when one is in the actual world, they discover that classroom abstractions can be meaningless at times and one has to really apply them and think beyond their convectional latitudes. I made personal comparisons with the target business and this helped me to reflect on some of my strengths and potential weakness. I was made painfully aware of the fact that I do not like taking risks; however, I promised myself that I should be more daring albeit within the limits of reason. However, I was grateful for my interpersonal skills and innovation which if the success we had witnessed in the field was anything to go by I had a lot of potential as an entrepreneur. From the experience, I also came to appreciate the value of teamwork, and as a result, in our group we synchronised our activities and managed to compete and analyse our study in good time. Ultimately, effective teamwork is critical for any organisation to be efficacious, each member can be assigned a task based on their strong areas so the team can maximize collective strengths while minimising weaknesses. I was the leader of the group not by election or appointment, but simply because my leadership skills often had the other members looking up to me when it came to making crucial decisions. I had learnt to conduct myself with confidence and retrospectively I realized that as long as I was self-assured and bold in my actions, I would stand out often qualify for leadership roles by default. I do not believe that one is born a leader, but instead hold that leaders are made by their actions and ability to manage their own lives as well as earn the respect of their peers (Elmuti, Minnis & Abebe 2005). In my spell at Regents, I believe I have gradually come to embody these leadership qualities and intend to keep honing them so that by the time I join the corporate world or strike out as an entrepreneur, I will not be starting from the bottom. My internship was with a corporate firm that specialized in selling electronic especially computers televisions and media hardware’s systems to a diverse range of local and international clients. I was shadowing Mr. Kirk one of the senior managers and his team, typically I was required to sit in on the meetings with clients, listen quietly, take notes and fetch him coffee and carry out any other tasks asked required of me. One day on the way to the office, I shared an elevator with three men who were talking excitedly about the upcoming premier league season. I did not know much about soccer, but I could not help but to admire their passion and enthusiasm, from their conversation, I could tell two of them were fans of Chelsea FC, while the other two were apparently Manchester city diehards. I quietly listened as their friendly teasing and then zoned out to other matters. Two hours later, I was sitting in the boardroom with Mr. Kirk’s team and we were set to make a presentation to international clients who had expressed interest in ordering over a hundred high definition flat screen TVs for several of their nightclubs and restaurants across Europe. To my surprise, these clients were the three people I had been standing behind in the elevator earlier. The presentation seemed to start on the wrong foot from the onset, Mr Kirks light talk routines seemed to confuse the clients rather than amuse them. By the end of the first 30 minutes it was clear we were not making the right impression and we would most likely lose the account. However, I decided to take the initiative to try out something of my own; I exited the boardroom and entered the viewing room where the clients were scheduled to watch a demonstration of the televisions they were buying. Instead of HD clips of the, London, New York and Paris sky lines we normally used for TV demonstrations I downloaded the latest English premier league highlights featuring Chelsea and Manchester United and loaded them. By the time he realized what I was doing he wanted to stop me, but I looked at him in the face and whispered “I got this,” Mr Kirk visibly upset whispered something to one of his assistants and walked out angrily. I knew contradicting a senior partner was probably going to be the last thing I did in my internship. However, when the presentation begun I could tell the clients were enthralled as I heard on of them saying he could almost smell the grass as he re-watched his team lift their trophy. Needless to say, they decided to buy from us and the call came when Mr Kirk was lecturing me in his office for “ignoring protocol and trying to stereotype English clients with football and costing us a crucial account.” He would probably have fired me if he had not been interrupted by the good news. With the benefit of hindsight, I would probably not take such a risky gamble today; however, I learnt the value of taking the initiative and acting even when you are not supposed or scheduled to, as long as you are resourceful. Risks are essential in business and I believe those who make it in this pathway often have to take them, otherwise they may end up in the mediocre and obscure firm world of safety. A vital lesson that I learnt was that one should try to learn much about perspective client needs as possible although in my case, it was purely accidental. Nevertheless, I now understood why business spend so much in customer relations and studies trying to determine their wants and preferences, most business websites use cookies which they use to get such information. While I do not recommend that one should spy on clients, it is important they try to get as much background on them as possible. One way to do this is by engaging them in social discourse and actively listening to them as opposed to focusing on doing all the talking so as to convince them to buy from you. At the end of the day, when you know what your clients likes or dislikes, you have crucial information that can help you in profiling them and designing and appropriate sales pitch with his or her primary needs in mind that significantly increases ones chances of success as a marketer. In conclusion, this reflection was an invaluable opportunity for me to self-examine and determine which of my experiences in the past that have contributed to my growth as well as recognise and rectify my weakness and capitalize on my strengths. When I was seventeen years of age, I took a lot for granted, I assumed I would finish high school join a decent college and after earning my degree get a good job and lead the archetypical successful middle class life. Certainly, at that age, all one sees is the big picture and the minor details that are often instrumental in shaping one’s life and career are often ignored in favour of the grandiose and ambitious. A popular maxim has it that historians remember the victory but forget the blood sweat, torn limbs and death, similarly teenagers dream of careers and success by forget the all-nighters pulled in coffee induced stupors, the struggle work through school and internships and the myriad challenges that one has to face before they achieve their dreams. Through reflection, I believe I can understand myself more clearly and my career path is more definitive, which I believe, will facilitate in my personal and professional growth. References Elmuti, D., Minnis, W. & Abebe, M. 2005, "Does education have a role in developing leadership skills?", Management Decision, vol. 43, no. 7, pp. 1018-1031. Saban, A. 2000, "Professional growth through self-reflection and writing", Education, vol. 120, no. 3, pp. 512-518. Svensson, G. & Wood, G. 2008. A Model of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 77, no. 3, pp. 303. Read More