Leadership & Professional Development - Essay Example

and Section # of Leadership & Professional Development This essay aims analyzing the issues that I am currently facing in my personal and professional life and how development and enhancement of my ‘self’ would assist me in developing these lacking from my life. Introduction & Rationale Within this essay, I would aim towards developing time management skills this year. I find this as a major lacking in myself; there are various reasons for this. Firstly, I am very much tied up with a lot of things and really find 24 hours a very less time in a day – in my opinion, there should be 48 hours in a day. I am taking care of my business since the past seven years. Additionally, I am currently pursuing an advance qualification so it really becomes difficult to balance timings between family, friends, business and studies. According to John (2007), life truly becomes hectic if it is not scheduled in an appropriate manner, and from the current proceedings, I believe one point where I am lacking is time management, and this essay aims at my plan for developing my skill set towards overcoming this weakness. Application of Theory & Critical Analysis Barth (2005) states that time has an ‘irreversible’ aspect or feature associated with it, and at the same time, it cannot be substituted, nor can it be brought back. Leaders are more booked for time than any other individual as they tend to have more concerned parties demanding their respective time. Subsequently, leaders often realize that 24 hours is a very less sum of hours in a day and there is a lot more that is to be done. Subsequently, time management skills gain extreme importance for leaders in scenarios whereby tasks are more and time is less; leaders, like any other individual, cannot stop time nor can they reduce the speed of it, and neither can they enhance the pace of it. Therefore, effective time management is critical in today’s world for leaders. An extreme example of attaining efficacy is that often leaders give more time to ‘time management’ rather than managing the time; they would give more time to creation of priority lists, excel sheets, coding tasks with various colors and so on. This, though enhances the effectiveness of managing time, but at the same time it also takes a lot of time in developing such documentation; leading to individuals realizing that wasting time without such hassle is better than doing so with it. Leadership gains success by means of aspiration and inspiration as stated by Kousez (2003); if a leader cannot manage the time well, then a similar expectation cannot be laid towards the followers of the same. This inspirational trait, researches reveal that if can be developed over a period of time, rather than the earlier thought that this is an in-born talent. In accordance with the trait theory of leadership, qualities such self confidence, orator ship, tolerance and understanding of individuals are the true drivers of leadership skills amongst individuals. Such traits, though in born, but definitely require time and ‘practice’ to grow. Therefore, time management gains critical importance, as for understanding and dealing with individuals, leaders would need time to interact, and till they have that, these traits cannot come to practice. In accordance with the Great Events theory as stated by Kouses (2006), which actually contradicts the thought of the trait theory, states that not the day to day activities but the individual events that mark history of an entity are what define the existence of a leader. Such a spontaneous act embarks the requirement of time management skills within the leaders since if an individual is not able to manage time appropriately, then he would surely miss out the opportunity to make his mark on the given occasion. According to Ortmeier (2009), for leaders, it is critical to be at their best at whatever they do; this implies the presence of a number of tasks existing simultaneously. Similar to the role of a juggler, who juggles with more than three balls in his two hands, a leader should have the ability to juggle with multiple tasks simultaneously. Good leaders are known to maintain a balance between various variables that exist in their routine life for example giving time to family, friends, colleagues and sub-ordinates. Additionally, analyses of situations and quick decision making also strong characteristics of good leaders. So juggling with so many balls at the same time leads to a simple solution and that is good leaders know how to manage their time to the best possible landscape so that all jobs move on, none gets halted and absolutely none complaints about no appropriate time allocation. As a matter of fact, this ‘multi tasking’ skill would allow the leader to be a pre-defined role model for all people close to him and those following him. In accordance with Ortmeier (2009), the transitional theory also related to the concept of time management; transitional theory relates to the idea whereby ‘transition’ takes place, from a follower to becoming a leader or transiting from nowhere towards leadership. However, researchers such as Slowotsky (2003) and Noe (2010) agree to the fact that time management is a critical aspect when it comes to leadership, and leading a ‘team’ or group of individuals. Essentially, it is about managing the tasks in a manner that the both jobs and individuals get their desired time from the leader. For example, the family members get their share of the time, while the workers at factory, for example, also get the time that they want or expect for problem solving. Giving the right amount of time to the right individuals is where leaders succeed as they intent to retain a work life balance scenario, and within the sections of work and life, various variables getting the right amount of timing. I have a firm belief to the fact that utilization of these theories to my practical life, I can bring about a lot of changes in my life. I can develop a great number of traits that actually derive themselves from the concept and phenomenon of time management. At the same time, managing the time slots appropriately would also lead me into capitalizing on the opportunities as and when they arise. Multi tasking or juggling with various tasks, a variant of time management, can lead me into developing and enhancing my leadership skills. And finally the aspect of appropriate distribution of time to all the entities having any sort of an influence on me during my life would be the prime essence of time management, influencing my life to the extent that my time allocation abilities rise on a positive note. Changes in Thinking & Behavior Jefferson (2009 defines professional development as the process whereby professionals (individuals having years of experience) enhance their experience either through academic activities or otherwise. Professional development is truly a process that brings about new thoughts in the minds of an individual. More often than not, an exercise to determine the current standing or the lacking of an individual is carried out to ensure that the individual himself realizes his lacking – there is a significant advantage to that and that is when an individual recognizes where e is lacking then a will to overcoming that lacking comes from within with a lot of might and force, increasing the strive tremendously for overcoming this lack of capability. In earlier days, infact till of late, it was the department manager, line supervisor or the surveys conducted by the human resource department that determined who is to be given training and what are their needs and so on. At present day, the ball has moved to the court of the individual, and that is a more realistic approach. As mentioned previously, individuals recognize their own shortcomings and request professional development programs accordingly that make them grow in that particular regard or context. With reference to the same, changing the thinking process has brought about a change in the behavior of individuals. As mentioned in the assignment previously, I do recognize the fact that I have weaknesses and that mainly comes from my short coming of unable to satisfy the stakeholders in terms of the time they want from me. Once I realize this lacking in myself, it gives me more willingness and courage to look out for opportunities for the sake of overcoming the same compared to how I would have felt about my weakness had someone else indicated the same to me. This fact stands valid at all times as psychology reveals the fact that realization has a significantly higher degree of impact compared to indication by other concerned individuals. With reference to the theory of transitional leadership, whereby, individuals move through a transitional phase to become ‘leaders’ it is critical to note the fact that during the transition phase, leaders gain a lot of competencies, and develop enhancements in various areas of leadership, and polishing the same, makes them a leader. Action Plan For achieving a goal, it is integral to develop and devise a plan of action that can lead towards attaining the ultimate outcome. As illustrated throughout this assignment, I realize that I lack time management skills, which is visible from the dissatisfaction that my family, friends, and colleagues have. They think that I do not give them ample time though they do not realize that I have a great many number of things at my mind running simultaneously, but again, that is the case with many individuals – they have a great many things running in their minds simultaneously yet they attempt to keep everyone happy; it is difficult to do so but many succeed at the same. Therefore, my plan of action would include a two way traffic – one applying time management in its truest sense and the other is making people realize that I do try my level best to juggle the balls around. For achieving the first task, I have planned on attending workshops, seminars and gatherings where the point of discussion is time management and how its effective allocation can yield a better and satisfied life around me. Added to that, I would have a time allocation table, developing a timetable on how time has to be allocated towards clients, employees, family, and friends. I assume there might be selective days were I may not be able to meet the clients or the friends but that to me seems an ok idea if I can give them appropriate time slots according to my schedule. Similarly for achieving the second task, I would like to allocate tasks to my team. For example, I would develop a customer relationships team that would keep me regularly updated on any client issues, would meet up with clients and actively take their feedbacks. I would then reduce my meetings with the customers to three days every week, rather than every day. Added to that, I would increase empowerment amongst employees to ensure that they are aware of my work loads, sharing the same with them so that they are also involved in processes and decisions; it can significantly reduce my work burden. By any means, this exercise should not take more than ‘6’ months to materialize. Conclusion Through the understandings of this module, I realize that today not just for leadership but for any and all individuals, time management is an integral characteristic for an individual to stay happy in life, and others to be satisfied with him. It is crucial to be retained within an individual. Especially an individual at the position where I stand today, as the owner of my own business, having a family and a friends’ circle, the criticality associated with the idea of time management enhances in itself. Works Cited Barth, Roland; Dufour, Rebecca; Eaker, Robert et al. (2005) On common Ground: the power of professional learning communities. Solution tree Collins, Jim and Porras, Jerry (2005) Built to Last. Harper Jefferson, Andrew and Pollock, Roy (2009) Getting Your Moneys Worth from Training and Development: A Guide to Breakthrough Learning for Managers and Participants. Pfieffer Kousez, James and Posner, Barry (2003) The Leadership Challenge. Jossey- Bass Kouses, James and Posner, Barry (2006) A Leader’s Legacy. Jossey- Bass Maxwell, John (2007) The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Thomas Nelson Moskowitz, Michael (2008) A Practical Guide to Training and Development: Assess, Design, Deliver, and Evaluate. Pfieffer Noe, Raymond (2010) Employee Training and Development. McGraw Hill Higher Education Ortmeier, P.J and Meese, Edwin (2009) Leadership, Ethics and Policing. Prentice Hall (2009) Slowotsky, Adrain (2003) The Art of Profitability. Business Plus Read More