Personal Development Plan - Coursework Example

UNIVERSITY NAME DEPARTMENT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN STUDENT NAME COURSE NAME & CODE SUPERVISOR NAME SUBMISSION DATE Introduction The key to a successful career plan and development revolves around the periodic evaluation and review of the five year plan in relation to changes in individual’s interests, the industry, the course being studied for and field of employment (Wigfield & Eccles, 2002, p.21). Reaching the point where you know what you want to achieve in your career can take time so your initial plans will probably be reworked several times. The important thing is to take your strategy as far as you can by comprehending your aptitude for certain jobs and gain an understanding of what employers in your chosen field are looking for. In life, one has to strategically plan everything he or she does to keep abreast with the daily demands result from work or family. Even though, the sporadic changes in spheres of life do affect our plans, we should take a leap of faith and not give up in planning our undertakings. Thinking of where we are in career path today, we have to plan constantly everything we do, for example, plans for dinner, weekends, vacation, desired position of responsibility and organization to work for. Proper planning yield success in life when reality dawns and we appreciate our best decision we have made regarding our career, business, family and future. Current abilities It took me almost three months of soul searching on what I could do to unleash my best and develop a formidable career path. Having consulted those who are close to me and analyzed myself critically, I settled on personal leadership competency, which entailed empowerment. Based on the test of performance I carried out, I discovered that I tend to empower my group mates or co-workers. This is apparent regarding the way I work with other people, something that is evident starting from my cooperation with my group members in this course, also from previous ones. The fact that I tend to trust others and persuading them to accomplish what they are intended to do within a specified time seem an overhaul in my empowerment competency in personal leadership. Aiming to become a Procurement Manager, I have to be proficient with building trusting relationships, act swiftly, decisively and evade temptations of functional imperialism (Makowski & Clauss 2011). According to auditor Mr Lim, procurement officers must be well instilled with the principles of fairness and transparency (Channel News Asia 2012 b). On top, Mr Tharman concluded the root of the procurement-related lapses was due to officers failing to follow existing procurement regulations (Channel News Asia 2012 a). Therefore, to be a successful Procurement Manager I have to take into account all these issues. Potential applications Employee empowerment is an element of modern management styles. When I become a manager, I plan to use this style to allow my staffs have discretion over their jobs. Regarding my immediate plans for development, I have already begun, and will maintain to increase the level of interaction with others and make decision that is impartial to all parties. This consists of directly addressing the wants and concerns of people and read books that will guide me to become a leader. I have already synchronized a chronic meeting for the councilors for the events we have planned so far. These meetings are held fortnightly, and are used as a chance to talk about common issues, and I have to make sure I listen and consider other fellow councilors’ opinions. The books that I have read and going to read are, Lead by example: 50 ways great leaders inspire results, Good to Great, Developing the Leader within You and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Lead by example: 50 ways great leaders inspire results has taught me that if I want to succeed in my new role I must study the history and background of the society where I originate from. I need to know what the community feel and learn from them so I can be an instrument of change and this book is giving me some of the history that people do not always share or may not be able to articulate and some of what explains the current reality of the town (Baldoni 2009). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People educated me about the habit of “seek first to understand, then to be understood” may be the most important concept that I struggled to learn. Hence, I must constantly remind myself of this concept on a daily basis (Covey 2004). I have yet to complete reading “Good to Great and Developing the Leader within You.” Based on the Blake and Mouton’s Leadership Grid, I should work towards the direction to become a team management area, thus, I can polish on this skill by attending a two-day seminar on management principles. This agenda focuses on the practical understanding and application of management principles. The program will educate the basics of management from various angles, such as organizational life, self management, and others. Management needs judgment, and participants should expect to grapple with uncertain situations that do not have clear solutions (Andrews 2012). As a result, I will have a better understanding of my strengths and blind spots, recognizing the connotation of behaviors and actions, setting up practical skills for influencing others and addressing strenuous managerial situations. While for long term empowerment plan, I plan to get a job in the pharmaceutical field and take up a procurement position, work for six years before pursuing Master of Science in Supply Chain Management. I trust that this program is perfect for me as an integrated program which coalesce topics from business and engineering will provide me with a wide-ranging skill-set for designing, operating and planning contemporary supply chains in Asia with a global circumstance. Completing this course would equip me with the knowledge of information, global logistics, technology and industrial engineering to take on a challenging career in the supply chain industry (Prier, McCue & Behara 2010). Having developed my action plan, I anticipate in achieving my goal of acquiring a position of Procurement Director within the next twenty years. Besides, I can take the Blake and Mouton’s leadership grid test again to check if I have achieved to be a team management who is capable to adjust leadership style to suit behavioral necessities. My strengths and weakness The identification of my strength and weakness is very integral part of this personal development plan. CMC competency model and DISC personality test were important tools that helped me explore my strengths and weaknesses. Regarding CMS model five dimensions which include self management, leading others, task management, innovation and social responsibility were considerable to unearth my competency and weakest point, whereas under DISC model, dominance, influence, steadiness and compliance were determining factors. Based on CMC model assessment, my core strengths in self management in relation to my leadership skills as an international banker include time management, goal orientation, organization skills and good work ethics, while in leading others they entail interpersonal awareness, communicating, influencing, developing and motivating others. As a banker, I strongly believe cooperating, persuading, inspiring and empowering others. In task management have been favorable and believe that as an international banker, my acumen under this dimension will enhance task knowledge and help eliminate barriers that may hinder effective performance. My creativity and innovation is a unique feature as it will enhance ability to visualize, predict and develop ideas. Grieves (2010) asserts that changes and existence of multiple, diverse and complex environment for a number of organizations requires creative and innovative foundations to boost their operations. As a leader in international corporations will use a stakeholder approach commit to serving broader goals, in addition to economic and financial interests, and serve, interest of the public. According to Suman (2009) DISC personality test stands for dominance, influence, steadiness and compliance. My results showed that I am incompetent in the compliance and steadiness area where I scored 21 and 7 percent respectively. I scored 35 percent in dominance and 37 percent in influence which shows that I can be very influential when it comes to decision making. It seems my natural supportive, listening and empathic behavior makes me a good coach, someone to turn to when they are in need of advice. Sincerely speaking, I strongly agree with the test results however surprised with compliance and steadiness scores which I expected will be high. Effect on my engagement or performance on the module My feeling at each stage of learning process was varying based on the task at hand, as each called for a given level of empowerment that a group needed. I sometimes came to learn that my empowerment plan is comprehensive and detailed but it lacked the ability to retain colleagues (employees) and handle diverse situation. Base on my tests results and the development plan, colleagues feels that I am overly confident about my strengths and have the tendency to neglect them in the long run. Another suggestion given by the professional is that I should find a figure that is already successful and distinctive as a good leader to mentor me. This person could be my potential boss or senior colleague in my future company. My empowerment of colleagues is premeditated to raise the occurrence and value of discussions about performance and professional development among managers and team members with the intention that competence is developed, commitment occur, and turnover among gifted workers is abridged (Miller et al 2012). It is alluring to overuse my strengths. As a result, it is crucial to intervene myself before my strengths turn into a weaknesses. I require assistance from people I trust with equal dashes of humility, practice and self-awareness. Adding on, I will start to collect feedback from others about myself to establish areas I am lacking in and formulate improvement. Significance of other’s feedback The highlights of other’s feedback in this professional development will help to nurture my skills and talent to become a responsible person in life and stay humbled. It will help me to grow and recognize the necessary steps to undertake to become a successful person. Leadership is widely considered to be an important element within the organization. For organizational change to be realized, leaders must communicate to management team or followers their worth and potential so that they can identify with it. This is a common behavior of effective leaders who support and motivate people to develop personal leadership, rise above barriers, recognize their potential, and goals and work towards attaining them. Thus, I will highly welcome feedback from those around me to share their views and opinions on my personal development. Conclusion Empowerment is vital in any personal leadership plan as by itself would not assist me to construct an enviable future. Noticeably defined aims are essential for me to make and evaluate excellent fallout. Hence, the empowerment in leadership development structure produced must align with the qualities needed to be a procurement manager and also help myself understand what the organization expects from me through my leadership role. As envisaged in present world, when employees feel they have the power to do something, they become more initiative and consequently more productive. One key thing regarding my empowerment competency is that, given that I empower others, I at the same time expect much from them. I highly believe that in my future profession, I will use empowerment in combination perhaps with staff training and awareness. Hopefully by doing so I am able to develop into a more comprehensive leader and reach my desired appointment of procurement manager within the next five years. References Andrews, M 2012, ‘Managing Yourself and Leading Others’, Harvard Division of Continuing Education: Professional Development, viewed 18 August 2012, < http://www.dce.harvard.edu/professional/programs/managing-oneself.jsp>. Baldoni, J 2009, ‘Lead by example: 50 ways great leaders inspire results’, Amacom, New York. Byham, WC, Smith, AB & Paese, MJ 2002, Grow your own Leaders: How to Identify, Develop, and Retain Leadership Talent, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Central Michigan University 2004, ‘Leadership Competency Model’, viewed 02 August 2012, . Channel News Asia 2012 a, ‘Govt to tighten rules on its tender processes’, viewed 16 August 2012, . Channel News Asia 2012 b, ‘21 govt bodies found to have lapses in managing public funds’, viewed 16 August 2012, . Covey, SR 2004, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, Free Press, New York. 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