Mission and Personal Values in Building a Career - Research Paper Example

?Topic: Career Design Vision, Mission and Personal Values Introduction Developing a vision, mission and personal values is very important especially in building a career because it serves as the foundation for a long term success. These three serve as the guiding light individuals to use in making course of actions as well as decisions in life and career. It provides purpose and clear idea of where one is going to in life and inspires direction to be able to compass actions towards achieving personal goals and objectives (Hansen, 2011). A career vision helps define where an individual wants to be in the future. Knowing one’s personal vision is like creating a mental picture or image of the future self. In other words, it is the image of the future an individual seeks to create. Career vision statement determines and describes the career that an individual wants and the career that completely satisfies and fulfills him/her. One’s career vision statement should be as much as possible inspiring, motivating and energizing because it serves as guide in making future choices (Jones, 1998). Meanwhile, personal mission provides a direction where an individual is going now; basically it describes the overall purpose of one’s vision. The personal mission statement serves as the roadmap because it helps an individual to establish steps, strategies or course of actions to take in order to achieve and fulfill the vision he/she formulated for himself/herself or something to turn the vision into practice or reality (Green, 1999). Personal values would serve as the guidelines on how an individual conduct or behave towards achieving his/her vision and mission. The personal values should be solid and firm so that one would be able to face challenges and steadfast that arises along the way in attaining such career and life vision (Jones, 1998). Creating personal vision statement Developing personal career vision statement is never easy. However, it is a must for any individual to formulate or develop his/her own because without this, an individual is just driving aimlessly and without any final destination. This career vision statement will then serve as guide and motivation to what future he/she wants to achieve and fulfill (Green, 1999). Actually, there are several ways or steps to create a vision statement and it’s up to an individual which one he/she wants to modeled his/her own statement framework. Because what really matter is that this statement could able to give career and life purpose; set a clear expression of future career; and it provides focus and direction as well as inspiration and motivation (Jones, 1998). According to Cranford (2011), a certified Career Coach, he proposed a four basic steps or procedures in creating/formulating/ developing a career vision statement. And these include the following: step ahead, look away, see the steps forward, and put it on paper. Step ahead. Creating a vision is not easy, and it takes a lot of effort and time. It cannot be done or accomplished overnight. Hence, one must take time to reflect and envision what he/she really want to be or to attain and fulfill in the future. And this can be made possible if he/she will provide enough time for himself/herself to think, internalize and understand his/her inner self in order to identify and know his /her own strengths, weaknesses and personalities, which will determine the career he/she wanted to pursue. Taking time to reflect also illuminate what’s most important to an individual. Sometimes finding a quiet place or anywhere away from distractions or interruptions could help a lot in making decisions as to what his/her career vision could be. In order to achieve the vision, it is also important that this vision should come from or the result of the reflection done by an individual and should not be influenced or the decision of other people (Jones, 1998). Look away The next thing in visioning a career is to create a mental picture or image of your future self. It is the time to imagine and placing yourself in the future. In this way an individual could envision what he/she really wanted to be in the future, his/her ideal career or lifework, or even the type of family he/she wants to have or build. From this, he/she could also make mental picture of what he/she is now, what he/she has accomplished and how would he/she able to make his/her vision come into reality (Blanchard et al, 2011). By making this procedure, an individual would also be inspired, energized and motivated to work hard towards the fulfillment of his/her purpose in life and career. Therefore, the vision should be clear, realistic, specific, time bounded in order to fulfill and achieve it successfully. See the steps forward After imagining the future you, it is also the high time to come back into reality. And this time the individual should assess or evaluate his/her present situation in relation to his/her vision. This could be made possible by means of identifying his/her current skills, knowledge and other attributes that could move his/her career. It is also the time to determine the steps, strategies or course of actions he/she would take in turning his/her vision into practice and reality (Jones, 1998). But, in realizing such career vision, one must take one step at a time in order to allow self to decide and choose the best course of action that most likely lead to career success and satisfaction. Put it on paper After identifying, imagining and realizing the vision, it is then necessary to put it all together and write them down. This will serve as guide to see one’s self how far he/she had accomplished to reach his/her vision. This will also allow an individual to review and evaluate from time to time his/her course of actions whether or not they are aligned or compatible with their career vision. And if in case, these actions are not fitted or no longer necessary, he/she can make adjustment, alternatives or other strategic changes in order to attain more better decisions and outcomes. As much as possible, the vision statement should be placed in areas where it is accessible or can be read anytime in order to be reminded, stay focused, energized, inspired and motivated (Cranford, 2011 & Hansen, 2011). Creating personal mission statement Personal mission statement is also as important as the vision statement because it puts the vision into action. It also serves as the “road signs” while navigating the roadmap because it directs an individual to keep into the right path or direction. This provides the opportunity to make decisions to which you want to follow in order to attain your career vision. Base on the suggestion recommended by Hansen (2011), also a certified career coach, he proposed that there are five-step plan for creating a personal mission statement. And these include the following: identify past successes, identify core values, identify contributions, identify goals, and write mission statement. Identify past successes The first step in developing a personal mission statement is to spend time identifying and focusing to past accomplishments or successes in life. At least recognize or think three or more examples of achievements you have succeeded in the past few years. These past successes are not necessarily related to success at work or career. But, it also includes the achievements from personal life, at home, in community and other aspects of life. Take down notes of these achievements and then recognize and analyze their similarities or themes that they have in common especially on how the courses of actions are executed and how the decisions and plans affect the outcome or result. Identify core values After identifying past successes, follow up by identifying your main principles or core values. This could be done by compiling the list of characteristics, qualities or attributes that identify and describes you as well as those principles that you believe and live by and also include your priorities in life. The advantage of this is that the list has no limits and it can be as long as the individual needs it. However, it should be ordered according to the strongest or most important to least values in order to identify the top five or six most important values which where you can choose the most important values to you which you think could help you fulfill your mission. Identify contributions This time, an individual should have to list the ways where he/she can get involve to or how to make changes or difference. And these include making difference to the world, your family, your community, your current and future employer, your friends and acquaintances, your neighborhood, and among others. Identify goals Identifying goals, objectives and aspirations is already one step towards creating a personal mission statement. Again, one must take time to carefully think, analyze and internalize their priorities in life and as well as the goals they set for themselves in order to determine when and how it would be accomplished or attained. And these goals are divided into two parts – long term goals and short term goal. Write mission statement. After accomplishing the first four steps, any individual are now ready to draft and create his/her own personal mission statement because he/she already understand better himself/herself. And when the mission statement has already written it is advisable to confide it to someone whom you trust to read it and to provide some feedbacks in order to make some adjustments or changes depending on the needs (Hansen, 2011) Personal Values Personal values statement is just as important as the vision and mission statement because these contain the principles, philosophy, ideals, qualities, and attributes that govern and guide the choice and decisions of an individual (Posner, 2011). This defines on how an individual mingle or interact with other people or how he/she treat or behave with others or even on how he/she handle things and situations especially when facing difficult career and life challenges. This means that personal values help an individual to express what he/she stands for and who he/she really is. Hence, in making decisions, choices or plans, his/her words should match or conform to his/her course of actions and beliefs (Kaelin, 2003). Personal values are also the things that are considered worthwhile or most meaningful to an individual, which determines his/her priorities that served as his/her driving force and motivation in fulfilling and attaining his/her goals in life and career. As the key in defining and shaping the life and career purpose and structure, personal core values should be identified and discovered in order to understand better who you are, to guide you in making major actions, decisions or choices and to help you manage your life as a whole. Because, if an individual is unaware with his/her values, there is great possibility that he/she can make impulsive actions, decisions, or choices. Therefore, personal core values should be should be firm, unshakable, and because they significantly influence and define one’s attitude and character (Kaelin, 2003) Ways to identify personal values Actually, there are many ways to identify personal values. But, it is in this context that the 3 ways suggested by Bangayan (2011) would be utilized. And these include the values inventory, self-analysis, and perspective-taking. Values inventory This is the first step in identifying values and this can be made possible through making a list of all the values an individual think he/she possess. This process is just similar with the second step plan for creating a personal mission statement. The list of these personal values has no limits; it could be long or short depending on the individual inventory. After compiling them, the next thing to do is to divide and categorized these values according to the most meaningful or important to the least important values. Then separate the values that are least important or considered critical in fulfilling vision and mission. And the individual could choose his/her top five or ten values from the list of values that are most important to him/her which he/she think would guide him or her towards success in life and career. Therefore, these set of values should be properly and well chosen in order to best serve its purpose. Self-analysis After accomplishing the inventory, the next thing to consider is to make a self-analysis or reflection so that an individual could really understand and know better his/her self being. This is important because an individual would never be true to himself/herself unless he/she knows and understand his/her own self. And this process could be done by preparing a list of questions which an individual considered important to him/her in fulfilling his/her goals in life. These questions should also be answered after self reflection and internalization. The following questions are just some of the few examples suggested by Bangayan (2003) that could help and guide an individual to reflect and analyze himself/herself: 1. What are your priorities in life? 2. What do you love to do? What would you never get tired of? What are you passionate about? 3. What makes you angry, disappointed or upset in others’ actions and why? 4. What was one of the highest highs in your life and why? 5. What activities fill you with energy and purpose and why? 6. What qualities do you admire in your role models or in people that inspire you? 7. What are your strengths and how are you applying them? 8. What would you do if you only had a week left to live? 9. What do you want your memoir to say? What do you want people to remember you for? Perspective-taking This means that an individual should be observant with the way he/she interacts with people, the way he/she behaves especially in making decisions or choices. In this manner an individual could be able to study and analyze himself/herself and this is a big help in order to immediately correct one’s values. This process could also be accomplished by asking someone whom he/she trusts to give feedbacks or opinions about him/her (Bangayan, 2011). Career Vision Statement, Mission Statement and Personal Values After identifying the basic steps in creating personal career vision and mission statement, and ways on identifying one’s personal values, an individual is now ready to develop his/her personal career vision and mission statement and personal values. Vision Statement To become the best teacher, teaching the fundamental skills in life, and touching and transforming the students to help them build and improve their lives. Mission Statement My mission is to ensure that every students develops the knowledge and skills to attain a successful and fulfilled career and life, and competitive in diverse aspect of life. Personal values Excellent Excellent is being knowledgeable, passionate, skillful, and achiever. But, who is also more than willing to work hard in order to attain such aspiration. An excellent teacher is also the one who can make learning as an exciting and innovative activity. He/she also continuously quest for knowledge in order to keep him/her up-to date with the trends in teaching and able to integrate new knowledge into his/her students in way that they can easily understand and analyze (Bangayan, 2011). Communicative Being communicative is one of the qualities that a teacher must have because their world literally revolve in talking and talking. And this means that he/she would be able to share ideas and information in such a way that is easily understood by the students. He/she could also encourage two-way communication wherein he/she also listen with the opinions and ideas of his/her students. Committed This means that he/she is devoted, concentrated and dedicated with his/her profession in such a way that he/she is willing to sacrifice some time, adjustments or changes related to his/her work. And he/she does not look his/her career as his/her bread and butter but the fulfillment of his/her life. Respect Respect is the way how you treat other people regardless of their race, gender or status in life. This can be shown by giving consideration for others such as being sensitive with regards to their feelings and needs and by showing totally equal opportunity for every student. This also means that he/she acknowledge human diversity. Hence, he/she sees individual as different and unique from one another (Blanchard et al, 2011). Motivational This means that he/she is encouraging, enthusiastic and inspirational to his/her students. He/she then knows how to trust and believe with the abilities and strengths of his/her students and be able to become the driving force in order for them to enhance these to become better. An individual is also considered to be motivational if he/she quickly identifies the weaknesses of his/her students and willing to assist and lend a help in order to overcome them (Jones, 1998). Patient Since, a teacher is working with diverse people with different attitudes and being; he/she must be patient. This means that he/she should be calm and understanding with his/her students. And he/she should make conclusions by carefully studying all sides of the situation. Integrity An individual is considered to have integrity if he/she does what he/she thinks is right and stand by with it no matter what happens. It also means that his/her action is match with his/her beliefs and principles across a variety of situations. It is also said that an individual has integrity if he/she demonstrates consistency especially in times of temptations or conflict and can refuse to accept bribe from others (Jones, 1998). Conclusion In conclusion, the statements about vision, mission, and personal values are all related with one another. They are all necessary especially in building a career. Missing even just one of the three could make them incomplete and non-sense. The vision statement creates the mental picture an individual wants to achieve or fulfill and it also explain the reason why he/she is accomplishing or doing such actions, decisions or plans. The mission statement puts the vision into action. It specifies what an individual should do to achieve his goals. The values statement is the one that guide and govern the individual on how he/she would accomplish or fulfill the actions and plans. By simply following and sticking with these statements an individual is assured to create a better future and career because he/she already has a guide that will direct him/her into the right path or way towards success. References Bangayan, S. (2011). 3 Ways to Identify Your Personal Values. Article available at http://www.yellowbrickroad.com/follow/3-ways-to-identify-your-personal-values/ Blanchard, K., J.L. Stoner, and P. Lencioni. 2011. Full Steam Ahead! Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Work and Your Life, 2nd Edition Vision Press. Cranford, J. (2011). “Creating a Career Vision to Move You Forward. Doc. Available at http://www.careerchangepathways.com/blog/2011/06/19/career-vision/ Green, P. 1999. Building Robust Competencies: Linking Human Resource Systems to Organizational Strategies. Jossey-Bass Publishers. Hansen, R.S (2011). “The Five-Step Plan for Creating Personal Mission Statements.” Document available at http://www.quintcareers.com/creating_personal_mission_statements.html Hansen, R.S (2011). “Creating a Career Vision for Your Life: Envisioning Your Ideal Career.” Document available at http://www.quintcareers.com/career_vision.html Jones, L.B.. 1998. The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and for Life. Hyperion. Kaelin, L.M. (2003). “10 Reasons to identify your values.” Article available at http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/self-help/10-reasons-to-identify-your-values.html Posner, R. (2011). “The Power of Personal Values.” Article available at http://www.gurusoftware.com/GuruNet/Personal/Topics/Values.htm Read More