Critical Self Reflection on Professional Development to Date - Case Study Example

REFLECTION Part One: Critical self reflection on professional development to date Introduction My name is Ammar Aubad Salim Ghawas Alkathiri. I am a 28 year-old male Omani national with professional training in the field of management. This report is made up of two parts: a personal reflection of my professional development up to date and statements about my personal branding. The first part about critical reflection is based on the Gibbs’ reflective cycle. I use this cycle to reflect on what I consider was the most critical thing that occurred in the course of my professional development. The second part of the report is about statements that are related to my professional summary and aspirations. They are based on an actual job opportunity that is available in the Sultanate of Oman, my home country. Description of what happened As part of the process of my professional development, I was required to keep a professional development plan. This was a document that I used to identify the areas of my professional life that required attention and develop strategies that would help me to address the said areas. To do this, I was required to identify my strengths and weaknesses. This meant that I had to evaluate aspects of my professional behavior that would negatively affect my professional life as well as those that would help me in my professional life. Based on this, I had to identify and set clear goals and targets to help me overcome my personal weaknesses and improve my personal strengths. Therefore, in the course of my professional development so far, I have discovered that goal setting is one of the most important things that I have to rely upon in my professional life. Initially, I believed that goal setting was not a necessary attribute in my professional life. However, since I started keeping my professional development journal, I have discovered that effective goal setting is the most critical thing that I need to help me in my professional life. This discovery has been the most critical thing that has happened to me in the course of my professional development so far. My feelings about what happened At the beginning of the process, I felt that the most important things that I needed to do were to identify my personal weaknesses and strengths. I felt that identifying my weaknesses was the key to helping me know the things that I do which may make it difficult for me to progress in my career in the future. I also believed that mapping my strengths would help me to identify the things that would potentially help me to move forward in my career in the future. My thinking was that professional development was simply developing a plan that would help me to overcome my weaknesses while at the same time taking advantage of my strengths. However, so far, I have discovered that overall professional development is based on setting goals and targets. I have discovered that I need to set goals and targets on how I am going to overcome my weaknesses. Similarly, I have discovered that I have to set clear targets on how I am going to use my personal strengths for my own professional development. Currently, I feel that once I master the art of setting goals and targets properly, I will be in a position to monitor my professional development progress as well as my future development at the place of work. Evaluation of my experience There are several things that were good and bad about the experience. One good thing that happened is that I finally discovered that effective goal setting is an important discipline that I need to master. I discovered that for me to succeed as a professional, I need to set not only long term objectives, but also short term goals. Even in theory, this approach is supported. For example, Latham (2013, p. 139) states that individuals set goals for themselves based on the need to achieve specific objectives within the short and long term and for specific tasks. On the other hand, Eikenberry (2011, p. 246) observes that goal setting is one of the most important virtues that an individual can have in one’s professional life. Therefore, my discovery of the need to set both long and short term goals that are based on specific tasks that need to be accomplished was in line with what has already been established in academic literature. The main thing about the discovery that I think went wrong is that it took me a long time to discover the importance of and actual manner in which I am supposed to set my own goals. I think that I delayed to master this skill. It would have been better if I had discovered this long ago and put it into use during my early years in higher education. Analysis of my experience There are several things about goal setting that I discovered from the experience. The first one is that the best goals are usually set in such a manner that they are specific, time-bound, achievable, realistic and measurable. According to Rouillard (2003, p. 3), it is only when objectives are set within this standards that one can be sure that he or she is using the goal setting approach in the most effective manner. I have learnt that the goals which I set for myself must meet all these criteria. Second, the discovery of the importance of goal setting in my own life has helped me to understand that goal setting is an important activity that requires a considerable amount of investment. In theory, I it has been stated that it is necessary for one to devote time and other resources to the activity of setting goals (Farcht 2007, p. 50). Therefore, to me, I have learnt that goal setting is not merely something that one engages is as a means to an end but rather, it can be treated as an end. Third, Wilson and Dobson (2008, p. 60) observe that goal setting is a necessary trait that can help one not only manage his or her life, but also manage others as a leader. What this means to me is that I can use goal setting to manage my career prospects as well as manage other people with whom I will be working later in my professional life. Conclusion There are several things that I could have done with regard to setting goals for my professional development. However, one important thing that I think I should have done better is related to the entire process of tracking my personal development. What is important to note is that all these things are related to the fact that the essence of keeping a journal was to track the manner in which I have been developing as a professional. This was supposed to help me identify specific areas that I need to improve in as well as those that I need to focus my attention on. Therefore, the entire process has been based on setting specific objectives for my personal development. What I failed to realize is that the entire professional development process should have been seen as a major goal setting activity. I should have viewed the entire process that I undertook as part of the module as a goal setting process that was meant to help me move from one state to another. Had I seen it this way, I would have treated the entire process is a far much better way that the way I did. Action plan Given a chance to go through the process again, I would attach the greatest level of importance on setting goals. I would treat the entire professional development process as a major goal. My main objective would be to change my professional outlook so that I became a better personal and professional. I would then use the SMART approach in setting specific objectives for specific tasks that I would want to accomplish. This approach would make the entire process more efficient and successful. Third, I would use the process to help me change my personality as well as equip me for leadership. This is so sine I have discovered that leadership is an important thing in my professional life and that the earlier I develop the required traits, the better. Part Two: Personal Branding Annotated LinkedIn page The following are screenshots showing my LinkedIn profile. Management of personal social media presence There are several things that I will do as part of my approach to managing my social media presence. The basic approach will be to ensure that I use my social media presence to build and maintain a form of personal brand. Indeed, this approach appears to be what is advised. For example, Dutta (2010) argues that a professional can use the different social media platforms to build a personal brand. A personal brand can be built by posting specific attributes about an individual that can be used to market the individual to potential employers (Dutta 2010). In my case, I will use my profile on LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media platforms to market my skills and experience to potential employers. The other tactic that I will use to develop and manage my social media presence will involve networking with as many professionals as possible. Networking with other professionals means that I will have to join very many groups that are composed of professionals. Joining such professional groups will keep me in the loop about what is happening in the industry and also keep me informed of general trends in my professional field. Personal statement in support of job specification The following are the specifications for the job that I am applying for. The position was advertised on the following link: http://om.neuvoo.com/view/?lang=en&k=Public+Sector&r=50&id=4552w5fwtm The job title is as follows: Public affairs specialist, US Embassy, Oman, Muscat. My personal statement My name is Ammar Aubad Salim Ghawas Alkathiri. I am an Omani national, born on 30th June, 1987. Professionally, I hold a bachelor’s degree. In addition to this, I am in the process of completing my master’s degree. My professional orientation is in management. I am interested in applying the basic principles of management that are used in the private sector to address the problems that are said to characterize the public sector. I have experience working in the public sector. I am working as an administrator in the Office of the Minister of State & Governor of Dhofar in the Salalah festival department. Therefore, my strong background in education, coupled with sound experience in the public sector in the Sultanate of Oman make me a suitable candidate for this position. Part Three: Professional Development Review of November 2015 personal development objectives My personal development objectives of November 2015 were based on addressing my personal weaknesses while improving my personal strengths. I identified several key personal strengths. The first one was my ability to think critically. I realized that my ability to think critically can be advantageous to me later in my professional life. The second personal strength that I identified is the ability to keep time. This trait can be useful in helping me to manage my affairs as a professional. Third, I realized that I have the ability to follow details. Being attentive to details was one of the things that I realized would be beneficial to my professional life. On the flipside, I realized that I was not very good when it comes to collaborating with others. I realized that I tend to work all by myself rather than taking advantage of the synergy that exists when individuals collaborate when working on a task. I also realized that I tend to get out of focus and gather details that are not required to help me accomplish my tasks. These weaknesses, therefore, become my focus areas in the personal development plan. Personal action plan going forward There are several things that will now inform my professional development going forward. The first one is that I will still focus on increasing my ability to work with others. Going forward, I intend to ensure that I am able to collaborate well with other individuals when I am handling my work. I believe that collaborating well with individuals will help me to benefit from synergy and, in the process, help me to work faster and more efficiently. Secondly, I intend to channel my energies in ensuring that I am more focused in the way I approach my work. This will help me to completely overcome the problem of thinking too much whenever I am faced with a task. This approach will help me to ensure that I only collect the information that I need to tackle my tasks and avoid collecting too much information that I do not need in order to accomplish my objectives. Lastly, my focus is now on refining the manner in which I set my priorities and goals. Going forward, I focus on approaching my personal as well as professional life with the strategy of setting goals. My focus is on ensuring that I use the SMART goal setting approach to help me accomplish all my tasks. I believe that once I fully master this principle, I would have attained considerable personal development. Conclusion In this report, I have reflected on my personal development and presented statements about my professional attributes and interests. I have reflected on my realization that goal setting is the most important thing that I need to focus on in the process of developing my personality. I believe that this realization was the most critical event that occurred to me in the course of undertaking the module. My reflection on the event has been based on Gibbs’ reflective cycle model. I have also provided statements about my professional training, background and career aspirations. I have provided a brief description of how I intend to manage my social media presence. Lastly, I have reviewed my professional development so far and highlighted the areas that I need to focus on going forward. References Dutta, S 2010, ‘Managing yourself: what’s your personal social media strategy?’ Harvard Business Review, viewed 31 March 2016, . Eikenberry, K 2011, Remarkable leadership: unleashing your leadership potential one skill at a time, John Wiley & Sons, London. Farcht, J 2007, Building personal leadership: inspirational tools and techniques for work and life, Morgan James, New York. Latham, GP 2013, New developments in goal setting and task performance, Routledge, Mason. Rouillard, L 2003, Goals and goal setting: achieving measured objectives, Cengage, Sydney. Wilson, SB & Dobson, MS 2008, Goal setting: how to create an action plan and achieve your goals, American Management Association, New York. Read More