Personal Management Skills - Essay Example

? PERSONAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS Table of Contents Table of Contents Personal Aspirations 2 Personal SWOT Analysis 3 My Strengths 3 My Weaknesses 4 Opportunities 5 Threats 6 Personal PEST Analysis 6 Political Factors 6 Economic Factors 6 Social-Cultural Factors 7 Technological Factors 7 My Action Plan 7 References 9 Personal Aspirations My ultimate goal is to be a prominent political leader in the country. This is through the application of knowledge, skills and experience in leadership and management as the facilitator of the attainment of this goal. My objectives are to attain training and experience in leadership which would put me at a position of achieving what I aspire to be. This is the most suitable way of overcoming the limitations and challenges in my current skills. Through training, I will expand my knowledge in political, economic, social cultural and technological factors which determine the attainment of my goals and objectives. I aspire to gain more experience in leadership through seeking management positions in a reputable organization. Love, (2005, p. 42) explains that experience gives leaders connections and resources which enhance achievement of the target aims and objectives. Through work experience in leadership, I will acquire connection with prominent and influential people. Moreover, work experience will help me attain the financial resources which are required for effective attainment of goals. My personal aspirations are based on the knowledge that a leader requires personal management skills such as communication, interpersonal relations, proper time and resource management. Additionally, I am aware that there are political, economic, social-cultural and technological factors in the environment which influence the success of leadership. Personal SWOT Analysis My Strengths According to Boone & Peborde (2008), planning, resource management, communication and organizational skills are required by a leader. Additionally, an effective leader should have ability for self development and overcoming challenges. My personal strengths make me suitable for leadership because apart from been excellent in managing people, I am a very responsible person and this enables me to effectively manage both financial and human resources. Riley & Mulford (2007, p. 81) points out that ability of a leader to take responsibility in the management of financial resources demonstrates that he or she would be relied upon in leadership. I am a serious individual when it comes to work and I act professionally in execution of all duties that I am responsible for. My experiences in leadership roles make me confident that my personal management skills are adequate for a leadership role. In University I was a leader of our student association for a period of one year. In this period I applied my personal strengths to effectively lead a group of eight executives My time management skills and adaptability are among my core strengths which proved to be very important in my leadership experience in University. As a president of the students association, I was able to make timely arrangements for meetings and projects. It is through my admirable adaptability that I was able to interact with students from diverse backgrounds and accommodate their different ideas. According to the assertions of Cameron (2002), leaders need to be flexible so that they would adapt to the divergent opinions of their followers. In my leadership experience I was enabled to apply my abilities and strengths to control, align and coordinate many activities associated with student activities. However, I consider my ability to learn fast as the most lucrative strength which helped me to be a successful leader of the student’s association. This is because, I started as a novice leader but gained management and leadership skills very fast through quick leaning especially in professional communication and relationship with other officials and members of the association. My personal management skills have been a strong point in my leadership experience and this has made me an achiever because those who I have been privileged to lead consider me as a person who efficiently achieves what people expects. According to Whetten & Kim (1998), an effective leader must apply his or her management skills to ensure that all duties and responsibilities are performed in addition to facilitating projects work related activities. Through my life experiences in high school, university and church, I have successfully made many connections which I consider valuable in my future leadership ambitions. My Weaknesses When I review my personal management skills, I realize that I have few weaknesses which I need to overcome so that my ambitions as a successful leader can be attained. I find it challenging to express my opinions fully especially within a group of diverse individuals. This is because the differences in perception among people normally lead to disapproval of some thoughts and opinions. This becomes very discouraging especially when a leader believes that the opinions given are authentic and evidence based as illustrated by Pedler, Burgoyne & Boydell (2007). When I was working for an Israel Food Company, I realized that as a supervisor, delivering my opinion to the subordinates was hindered by differences in perception. As a result I would not fully express some of the opinions that I had in mind. According to Cottrell (2003), training in skills of self expression and effective communication is necessary for all leaders as a way of overcoming the challenges which are associated with expressing opinions to the followers. On close review of my management abilities, I realize that giving a well constructed speech in delivery of thoughts is challenging to me. This is the likely reason why I sometimes find it difficult to deliver my opinions in totality to the audience. Among my weaknesses is that I tend to be impatient sometimes which makes it hard to pay full attention to the opinions of others. Boone & Peborde (2008), demonstrate that a leader requires a lot of patience so that followers are enabled to contribute their views on various issues. Lack of this ability shows a weakness which should be overcome through training and experience in management. Opportunities There is a chance for enhancement of my leadership skills through training. This will contribute to overcoming my challenges and weaknesses in management. Through learning, I would get an opportunity of mastering my management skills. The labor market is a venue for gaining experience in management that will enable me to master my leadership skills. Riley & Mulford (2007, p. 84) illustrates that leaders are able to achieve more if they are able to learn quickly and thus enhance their management skills and personal abilities. When I was part of the SDA church’s executive committee in Israel, I realized that there are many opportunities for leaders. Cottrell (2003) says that anyone who is skilled can be an effective leader in any field as long as he or she makes use of the available opportunities available for further training and development. My passion for achieving complex tasks and attaining goals which may seem challenging is an opportunity which I treasure. This is because I could utilize it in achieving my ambitions and aspirations for leadership. My aspiration to be a political leader in the country could be realized because I believe that I am able to meet challenging goals. Additionally, there are opportunities for gaining experience and thus my effectiveness in leadership. Through further training, I would enhance my personal management skills and promote intellectual growth through which my strategic goals and objectives would be reached. Threats According to Boone & Peborde (2008), training people on management skills requires adequate time to ensure that effective leaders are produces by the training program. The threat which I face in my pursuit of my dreams is my inability to spend additional time in training. This would hamper my aspiration for expanding my knowledge in the management and thus leadership. Personal PEST Analysis Political Factors I experienced the political force in the development of one’s career early in my life when I was an icon of a campaign in Israel. The campaign was advocating for the enactment of laws that would help non-Israelite children to be provided with legal documents by the government. The campaign put pressure on the government through the mass media which ended the deportation of talented non-Jewish children. Now I realize that political framework will affect my ambitions of being a prominent political leader because the laws of the government will determine my qualification for the position. According to Jenkins & Leaker (2010, p. 42), the labor market in England is affected by government regulations which determine the education requirements for various leadership positions within the public and private sectors. Economic Factors Economic implication of the labor market in England is evident especially in the poorly performing world economy. When I worked for Temco Services as a supervisor, the two tears experience I had taught me how the dynamics of economics affect the labor market. Business organizations fail to employ more staff because of the costs related to compensation. According to Pedler, Burgoyne & Boydell (2007), the economic hardships may cause a company to cut down on its workforce and the management team to reduce its expenses. The economic factor therefore may hinder my aspiration for getting leadership positions in large organizations as a way of increasing my experience in leadership. Social-Cultural Factors The social cultural factor is a strong force in leadership. Jenkins & Leaker (2010, p. 38) explain that demographic trends and ethnic factors may influence what kind of leader is elected in a specific society. Since my aspiration is to be a political leader, the social cultural environment in England will impact on my candidacy because it is the public which have the mandate of electing their leaders. Therefore, I plan to apply my experience, leadership and communication skills effectively convince the society that I would be a good leader. Technological Factors Riley & Mulford (2007, p. 87) points out that technological advancement in the modern world has improved leadership and management of organizations and institutions through the use of information systems. Therefore technology will facilitate the application of my management skills to enable me to attain more experience in leadership. However, the application of technology has affected the labor market because less manual labor is required because computer systems are used to effectively manage and control business operations. My Action Plan To attain my goal, I have reviewed my abilities and the external factors which would have an implication on achievement of my goal. My action plan is to widen my knowledge and experience in management which will help be to be qualified for the political leadership role which I aspire to attain. In addition, I plan to make use of the opportunities in the labor market to overcome my weaknesses. My action plan is based on the awareness that political, social cultural, economic and technological factors are the external forces which will determine the route of my success. My strengths are useful to me as a stepping stone to making this action plan lead to successful achievement of my goal in life. I have faith in my abilities and I am ready to overcome the hardships in the environment in making my dream come true. References Boone, L.W. & Peborde, M.S. 2008, "Developing Leadership Skills in College and Early Career Positions", Review of Business, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 3-13. Cameron S., 2002, Business Students Handbook, Financial Times, Prentice Hall, USA Cottrell S., 2003, Skills for Success: The Personal Development Planning Handbook. Palgrave Study Guides, Palgrave Macmillan, USA Jenkins, J. & Leaker, D. 2010, "The labor market across the UK in the current recession", Economic & Labour Market Review, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 38-48 Love, J. 2005, "Becoming a Strategic Leader", Training, vol. 42, no. 9, pp. 42. Ochalla, B. 2004, "Improve Your Management Skills", Credit Union Management, vol. 27, no. 8, pp. 6-6 Pedler M., Burgoyne J & Boydell T., 2007, A Managers Guide to Self Development, McGrawHill, London Riley, D. & Mulford, B. 2007, "England’s National College for School Leadership: a model for leadership education?", Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 80-98 Whetten D. A. & Kim S., 1998, Cameron Developing Management Skills, 4th Ed., Addison Wesley, Boston, USA Read More