Personal Mission Statement - Term Paper Example

? Personal Mission ment My professional and educational life is governed by a mission and a target which I have set for myself and my actions and thinking is always in accordance with it. In a changing global scenario each and every individual should think about the issues faced by the Earth and mankind and should strive for resolving the problems as per one’s expertise and skills. Being a professional I will try my best to create an environment around me in which exchange of ideas and knowledge is easy and frequent. The ultimate aim of my life is to promote sustainable practices to save this planet and its resources for future generations by utilizing minimum amount of resources. For achieving my targets I will follow a professional path to attain leadership position in an organization. Life Balance Goals Being a leader in any type of professional organization whether it is a manufacturing company or a services consultancy, I will lead the organization by presenting myself as a role model to be followed and I will motivate and guide my team members by setting positive and productive examples. I would change the mindset of the members of my organization by creating an awareness and sense of understanding of changing scenarios in this world. For being a successful manager I will create a sense of responsibility and sense of involvement in the members of my organization by giving the workers and staff recognition and rewards and by channelizing the benefits of the success of the organization towards the individuals who made the success possible, to make them own the company. I believe in individual success based on collective and organizational success. For being a successful professional I will learn to analyze and understand what my seniors and sub-ordinates demand from me and I will utilize my skills and natural abilities to deliver what is demanded of me. I believe that internal satisfaction is more important than apparent success. Considering the above mentioned ideas and beliefs I have identified five life balance goals: 1. I will stay enthusiastic, passionate and motivated towards my professional life and will follow a set of moral and ethical values which will serve as a guideline and deciding factor in my professional as well as my personal life. 2. My personal and professional life will be interrelated to each other and I will select a career and organization according to my beliefs and interests. I will depict my beliefs in my social interactions. 3. I will always proceed with a flexible approach which can be adjusted with the changing scenario. 4. I will try to create a learning environment around me in which exchange of knowledge is possible and I will try to learn new skills from my colleagues and teammates and will share my experiences and knowledge with them. 5. I will try to grow by developing my technical skills and expertise. 6. I will chalk out a clear plan for my daily routine and will analyze the day’s work and interactions at the end of each day and will plan the next day in accordance with my analysis. Ethics A set of beliefs and values which are based on one’s own perception of the environment and behaviors around him based on past experiences are known as ethics. These ideas and beliefs govern the social behavior of individual and serve as a guideline which helps the individual to distinguish between right and wrong practices and behaviors. Cultural and social environment have remarkable effects on the ethical values of individuals and societies. I think that ethics are beliefs and ideas which vary from person to person and totally depends on the way that particular person perceives things happening around him. The social structure and the behavioral aspects of a society affects the thinking of an individual that is why the ethical values depend on the social and cultural background of a person however ethical beliefs of a person depends highly on the way of thinking of an individual. Associating ethics with a group or a society is a very common practice but all the members of a society do not necessarily have the same ethical values because it is a personal phenomenon which varies with varying perceptions and thinking. Leadership Leadership means guiding the organization towards the established targets and goals by motivating the followers through appreciation and recognition for their efforts. Leaders are the people who assume the frontline role in any task and teach the employees and workers, through examples, the path to success, they set a target, give a direction and motivate and guide the people for achieving that target. Leadership is not a born trait and is a quality which is not confined to managers and high ranked officials in an organization. Any team member can assume the role of a leader with his enthusiasm and zeal to achieve the set target. Leadership does not require any particular skill or expertise, any person who is focused to achieve the target and can become the motivating and driving force for his teammates is deemed as the leader of the team. Service Service is an act of help or assistance which is not based on any personal interest and only depends upon one’s devotion to the cause of assisting mankind to ensure peace and harmony in the world by which one can achieve personal satisfaction and peace of soul and mind. Serving someone means helping and assisting him in any type of work and gaining self satisfaction and peace of mind for one’s own self. The phenomenon of service is totally related to internal satisfaction and a person can only serve the mankind truly if he is devoted to the cause from the core of his heart. Character Character is a collection of traits and qualities of an individual’s nature, behavior and attitude towards other individuals and environment. It is a quality which separates a person from others and depends upon the experience of a person in life, his education, his culture, society, health and environment. Character is a quality of an individual which depends upon his education; this education includes formal education as well as the informal things which a person learns during his experiences while interacting with people in the society. Sexual Harassment in Workplace Sexual Harassment in Workplace is an issue of paramount significance in the current scenario of working environment. Sexual harassment is defined as continued unwelcome sexual advances from a colleague at work which can be in the form of requests, verbal or physical sexual interaction against the wishes of a person. The issue becomes critical when the employee who is harassed face discrimination at workplace and the issue of sexual harassment is related to work affecting individual’s performance. The rejection to sexual advance result in delayed promotions and lack of rewards and in some cases leads to the loss of job (Lightle, 2010). There are various different ways in which employees are sexually harassed at workplace, these include: 1. Depiction of sexually indicative objects and images at workplace. 2. Use and sharing of sexually indicative literature, videos and music at workplace. Some individuals deliberately place sexually explicit content in files and emails which are to be sent to some particular colleagues and then try to discuss such acts with them. 3. Unnecessary physical contact at workplace which includes touching, kissing, grabbing and other bodily contacts. 4. Inappropriate comments on one’s sexual orientation and beliefs about sexuality. 5. Continued insistence for dating and flirting after rejection. 6. Inappropriate jokes and frequent foul use of language at workplace. 7. Lack of action in case of any reports of sexual harassment by any staff member results in the encouragement of such a negative activity and encourages the wrongdoers. The role of managers and leaders in such a situation is very crucial because prompt action in case of any reports of sexual harassment is very necessary and the mangers and leaders have create a mechanism of check to ensure any such activity does not take place in their organization. Sexual harassment if not checked and dealt with properly deteriorates the whole working environment of the organization and organizational culture resulting in decreased productivity and failure of the organization as a whole (Stockdale, 1996). The managers and leaders of the organization should note and ensure that: 1. Harassment at workplace can also occur between two individuals of same sex therefore one has to be vigilant all the time. 2. Many employees are too shy or frightened to report any incident of sexual harassment therefore the leaders and managers should ensure that communication between employees and managers is easy. 3. Sexual harassment at workplace has detrimental effects on whole organization therefore a proper mechanism of check and punishment should be devised to eradicate this practice. 4. Managers should personally involve themselves into such situations. Discrimination at Workplace and Prejudicial Employment Practices Discrimination at workplace occurs when an employee has to face inappropriate treatment and a particular attitude is developed by his colleagues and managers towards him due to his religion, ethnicity, race, cultural background or physical impairment. The circle of such discrimination is extended towards the employees who oppose such destructive trends. Discrimination is practiced in a variety of ways which include monetary limitations in the form of lesser salary or lack of bonuses, lack of recognition and appreciation for the efforts by the managers and staff members, social rejection by the organization in the form of refusal to interact and communicate with one particular individual. Discrimination is of various types based on gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, color, ethnic background, religious belief, nationality, age etc. Discrimination always adds to the stress levels of an employee who is not able to work properly in an environment in which he is not provided with equal opportunities (Blackwell, 2008). The various different types of discrimination are as follows: 1. Direct Discrimination: In this type of discrimination the employers directly bars certain sections of the society from getting a particular job, this can be based on religion, gender or ethnicity etc. The employers sometimes have legitimate reasons for doing so for example it would be a direct discrimination if a cook’s job in a Chinese restaurant is opened only for Chinese cooks but still this will be classified as direct discrimination. 2. Indirect Discrimination: Indirect discrimination is a type of discrimination in which certain individuals in a same community are affected differently by any condition of a job. 3. Harassment: Harassment at workplace is very common and is very often based racial or ethnic background of an individual. Calling people names because of their origin and cultural background, making fun of one’s beliefs and moral values based on religion is happens very frequently at workplace. Sexual harassment is also one kind of discrimination at workplace. 4. Victimization and Bullying: Victimization means the non uniform treatment of staff members and workers by the managers and authorities. The colleagues sometimes try to degrade their teammates in front of the managers and while doing so sometimes exploit the ethnical or religious background of the individual who is being bullied. The role of managers and leaders is again very important and they should discourage all kinds of discrimination at workplace. This can be done by providing equal opportunities of employment to all groups of individuals and prioritizing merit. The managers should devise a strategy by which they can ensure that all the applicants of a job or employees and workers in an organization get equal opportunities of growing and developing their skills. The conditions put forward while opening a job should be considered very carefully and must only be in accordance with the requirement of the job and it should be noted that there should be no discrimination against any group of individuals of the society. Case Study Analysis Problem: In the given case study, Steven had put some serious allegations on his colleagues at work in front of the new manager Kirsten. Steven claimed that people were getting benefits on the basis of favoritism and not on the basis of talent and hard work. Kirsten wanted to take some serious action in this regard to ensure discipline in her team. Hence, she wanted Steven to give her some meaningful information rather than putting random allegations on her staff members. Now Steven is stuck in a difficult situation. He never created a well – conceived case against any of the managers he observed while he made the statement before Kirsten. Hence, he had very little to say and that even without substantial evidence. Even if he had it, he did not want to get his image tarnished before his colleagues for helping the new manager against the staff (Baguley, 2003). Input: The important facts influencing the decision can be stated as follows: 1. Steven had been working in the organization for several years and had good relationships with the staff members. Kirsten was, on the other hand, a new manager and the whole incident happened on the very first day of her job at the organization. 2. Kirsten had a reputation of being a talented and firm manager who will exercise her authority to maintain discipline (“a no-nonsense type of manager”). 3. Kirsten talked to Steven in a very strict tone in the office. The tone communicated the gravity of the situation to Steven. 4. Steven has to make one of the two choices. Either he has to provide concrete information to Kirsten to take action against one of his colleagues or he has to face action himself. The details of their discussion earlier at the reception show that it was a one-to-one conversation in which other employees were not involved. Moreover, it occurred in a lighter mood and hence Steven could not imagine the consequences of his statement which he later had to face. Solution: The following three solutions can be feasible in the given situation: 1. Steven can discuss his observations with Kirsten and tell her about the managers who were giving advantage to the employees on the basis of sheer favoritism. This will allow him to get closer to the new manager and he will make the most out of the situation. However, there is a chance that Kirsten does not find his arguments convincing. In that case he has to face severe repercussions from the manager. His colleagues will also be angry with him on the apparent betrayal of the office ‘friendship’ (Haynes, 2002). 2. Steven can apologize for his arbitrary remarks at the reception and tell Kirsten that he will talk to her on the issue if he made any such observation in the future. If Kirsten accepts his apology, this will allow him to continue to follow his previous code of conduct at office (“the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of survival”) which has endeared him to everyone and allowed him to lead a peaceful career. However, if Kirsten does not accept it, this can result into grave consequences for Steven. 3. Steven can give a few general remarks about how important it is for their organization that the merit should be followed in promotions and benefits. Then he must ask Kirsten for a detailed meeting later where he can share his observations and recommendations. This will buy him some time to prepare a balanced response to the situation that has arisen in the office. In this way he will neither risk his position in the colleagues nor its impression on the new manager. He can, then, identify those persons whose behavior is actually causing trouble for the organization. However, if Kirsten senses his move and asks him to give a point blank reply, Steven will have no option but to choose one of the first two solutions. Choice: Steven should try to remain as generic as possible and try to end the conversation by expressing his firm resolve to work for the betterment of the organization. He can then devise a proper reply to Kirsten’s query in which he does not have to suffer any loss. Operation: Steven should leave Kirsten’s office without giving any specific comments about his colleagues and should set up a meeting with Kirsten to discuss the issue in detail later. 1. Steven should tell Kirsten that he really appreciates her resolve to ensure discipline and merit in the organization. 2. Steven should then give a few general comments about how important it is for organizations to have satisfied work force for whom performance is the only criterion for progress (Maxwell, 2002). 3. He should then explain to Kirsten how complex and deep-routed the problem is which he mentioned at the reception. 4. He should then ask for a detailed meeting to discuss his observations and share his recommendations. Course Summary: This course has been a very good learning experience for me. According to my opinion, as I have mentioned previously in the paper, personal ethics is not a set of codes which everyone can be made to follow. It is a code of conduct which a person develops on its own on the basis of his experiences and observaion. While studying this course, I was made to realize how important it is for me to have a well – defined set of personal ethics. I was made to critically analyze my own experiences and the hypothetical situations mentioned in the course. And during these exercises, I was driven to choose what the best answer to the situation at hand was, ethically. Hence, I could develop my own set of personal ethics and I could also know that these shall work for me during my career.   References Baguley, P. (2003). Teams and Team-Working. Teach Yourself. Blackwell, L. (2008). Workplace Discrimination: the role of similarity and attributions in individual and organizational outcomes. University of Oklahom. Boland, M. (2005). Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. SphinxLegal. Dipboye, R., & Colella, A. (2005). Discrimination at Work: the psychological and organizational bases. Routledge. Ellames, D. 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