Developing the Professional - Skills and Character Audit - Essay Example

of glamorgan Developing The Professional SALEH ALYAFEI 12060070 03/23 Skills and character audit This document provides an initial picture of your skills and character. It will also provide the basis of further documents that make up the first assignment on the module. It is based on the skills statements that form a fundamental part of your Masters programme which were approved by a validation panel that consisted of members of staff in the Business School, academic staff from other higher education institutions and employers. The statements in the form are there for you and you will not be judged on whether your responses are positive or negative. The responses should enable you to identify what you are good or bad at from which you can create a personal SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). From this SWOT analysis you can then concentrate on developing certain areas that will enhance your academic and professional development. We would very much like to” get to know” you through this document and would encourage you to also complete the notes section. In this you could give us a rationale for your responses to the questions. As a guide to how you should gauge your response consider the following: Strongly agree – I have a wide range of experience in this area and have been commended by a tutor or employer for my efforts in this area Agree – I am comfortable with this aspect and have been able to demonstrate my ability Disagree – I am Ok with this but realise that I do need to improve Strongly disagree – I know I am weak in this area and need to focus on this as I could fine this weakness to be detrimental to my progression Intellectual (thinking) skills Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree I am a creative person who can adapt my thinking to circumstances  I am able to organise my thoughts, analyse, synthesise and critically appraise situations  I can identify assumptions, evaluate statements in terms of evidence, detect false logic or reasoning, identify implicit values, define terms adequately and generalise appropriately  Comments: Most careers require five skills of; (1) communication; (2) Research and planning; (3) interpersonal skills; (4) Leadership; and (5) survival skills. As a member of the Qatari Navy, it is my belief that I’ve have displayed these five key skills with communication and interpersonal relations standing out. Of significance is that I see essential leadership skills in me with relevant skills in networking, organization, interpersonal relationships and communication. These traits exhibited enable me to properly manage most projects. Team members need to feel respected, appreciated and valued. Listening to their contribution therefore, allows their self worth to come out enabling them to be confident in the duties of the team. As a leader, one has the responsibility of providing a sense of direction through clear explanation of goals so that each member has a proper understanding of their respective roles and responsibilities. Members should also be given the room to provide feedback and float useful ideas. From my experience within the Qatari navy, when junior staff are belittled and made to feel insignificant to receive regular communications on an organization’s happenings, absenteeism numbers increase with a rise in staff turnover besides poor performance. My experience in organization with the Qatari Navy has made me absolutely confident of my ability as an effective leader. As a team leader, I must stay ahead of the rest in terms of knowledge and requisite skills in my line of work. Through research and value addition, I have been able grasp proper understanding of what my team needs and provided proper directions. From knowledge gained in my research activities as a leader, I have come to the realization that even as I provide directions on what needs to be done within my team, I must let the members do it in their most comfortable ways but within the larger context of standard operations procedures because in so doing, team members exercise creativity and get tasks accomplished with total ease. In this process of delegation however, I always remember that the back stops with me and that I take full responsibility for the actions of my team members. Professional/Vocational skills Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree I use a wide range of techniques in approaching and solving problems.  I am comfortable with a range of research techniques  I am able to analyse and interpret quantitative data  I am able to analyse and interpret qualitative data  My leadership skills are well developed and I can adapt them to different situations  I am able to manage people effectively  Motivating myself and others comes easy to me  I am aware of my responsibilities to myself, the organisation and other people  I treat people with respect and consideration  Comments: I am glad to have recently played the role of a leader in a Mount Everest Leadership and Teamwork Stimulation with my friends. This simulation is a good exercise in testing one’s leadership capacity. I had the opportunity to virtually attempt to climb the Mount Everest with four followers or team members as part of the exercise and at each of the five checkpoints along the way; we were required to analyze what information to share with other group members. We also had to decide how to share our oxygen bottles and supplies to successfully climb the mountain together. I thought that the Mount Everest simulation was exciting at best. It was scary to know that the last stop is referred to as the Death Zone, and one’s health is adversely impacted through the climb. Although I looked forward to our hike, I soon learned that the climb is actually so hard that it can negatively affect one’s emotions about other team members. Knowing that this is possible in a life and death situation, I remained calm and composed, trusting myself to play the role of a servant-leader. There are several characteristics that make servant leaders stand out among others. These characteristics include service, vision, empowerment, pioneering, modelling, integrity, encouragement, teaching, credibility and an appreciation for followers. Moreover, cross-cultural problems do not surface in the case of servant-leaders. I had read on servant leadership before the simulation to incorporate the characteristics of such leaders. As I believed that the characteristics of servant leaders are close to my personality traits, they influenced my leadership approach on Mount Everest. Thankfully, there was no quantitative research or analysis involved through this exercise, or I would not have done as well as I was told I did. Key/Common skills Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree I am able to use mathematical techniques to analyse data  I can effectively interpret numerical data including tables and charts  I am able to use a wide range of software on a PC  I use a range Information Technology devices to communicate and access information  I am a good listener  I am able to communicate my ideas well in a face-to-face situation  I can adapt my written style to suit an audiences needs  I am comfortable presenting my ideas to an audience Whenever I have completed a task I always reflect on the experience with a view to seeking continuous improvement  I manage my time effectively  I am always prompt when asked to complete a task  I am aware of the need to be sensitive to the cultural differences to which I have been exposed  I am keen to learn about other people and their country and culture  I enjoy working with others to complete a task  I know my own character and am sensitive of this in a group situation  I understand that a group is made of individuals and I am sensitive to the needs and preferences of others  I will always ensure that I get my views across in a meeting  I am willing to accept the viewpoint of others  I always give 100% in a group task  Comments: From a recent leadership and team work simulation exercise in Mount Everest, it’s my belief that I showed leadership by properly managing my team to complete the assigned task in time. Within my team was a doctor who from my initial analysis , was unprepared and despite being competent in his profession, did not have a proper understanding of what it took to successfully complete the task. The environmentalist exhibited prepared though there were indications of some elements of confusion in him, so was the Marathoner who in my opinion was the most prepared judging by his sense of logic and determination. The last member of the team was however the most distractive member in the team displaying negative traits own self centeredness and manipulation without any sense of focus to the overall team goals. He was so determined to take credit for what the team did and continuously discussed what he wanted for himself rather than the team. To help bring out the strengths in each member after understanding what we individually stood for, weighing each person’s strengths and weaknesses, I adopted servant leadership and distributed financial reward to motivate team members from the beginning of the task. I opted to show emotional intelligence, a trait learnt from charismatic leaders. Charismatic leader I’ve learnt about, examine and make use of the available motivations to propel their followers. By connecting with the emotions of followers, charismatic leaders inspire people to embody the goals and accept any difficult challenges that come on the way to realizing these objectives; in other words, they let followers own the process. From the exercise, I felt successful in the adopted approach by handling management as a form of art and connecting with the complex human behaviour to inspire team spirit and sharing among my team members. It’s my belief that the servants leadership skills displayed was significant in enabling the team members to buy into my charismatic approach. SWOT Analysis Having responded to the statements above you should now be in a position to look forward and recognise those areas on which your development will be based. The SWOT analysis can help you to arrange this. Strengths – can be those skills and characteristics to which you have responded positively to in the previous section. It is worth noting that whilst you may be strong in these areas that does not mean you ignore their development. Indeed you may be able to utilise these strengths in the development of areas identified as weaknesses or to overcome strengths, this will enhance those skills and characteristics. Weaknesses – All of us can identify some sort of weakness. None of us should be afraid of doing this as this is the first stage on the improvement and development of these weaknesses. Opportunities –These arise or can be created. When thinking of this look ahead at opportunities that will arise in a professional, academic or social context within which your development can take place. Threats – Many threats from your development can come from within – your own characteristics e.g. poor time management can lead to missing deadlines. However we could equally identify a busy lifestyle as a threat to our development. Once again think widely in terms of where the threat will come from. Do not worry if you find that a strength can also be a weakness. This is often true as a characteristic you have may be strength in one situation but a weakness in another. E.g. you may be an assertive person, which is positive, but this could be negative in a group situation. Please try and elaborate this in the notes section at the foot of the table. SWOT Analysis Leadership skills * Quantitative research People management skills * Reflection Qualitative reasoning *Managing difficult people Time management Secondary research * Fear of quantitative research Management simulator exercises with friends Objectives Having undertaken some analysis of your skills and characteristics the aim of this next section is to identify various aspects of your development during the course of this module, other modules on your course, and extra-curricular activities. Make sure the objectives are SMART:- S – Specific. Clearly identified from the exercises undertaken M – Measurable.The outcomes can be easily demonstrated (to yourself, and where possible others) A – Achievable. They can be done given the opportunities available to you R – Relevant. They form part of your development either on this award, in your employability prospects or in your current job role T – Timebound. They can be achieved within a given timescale Whilst there are 5 rows in the table below, please feel free to add more. However be sure that you need to do this development and that they fit within the scope of the above criteria. Area What I am going to do. How I am going to do it When I am going to do it by Quantitative skills Practice math Revise what I learned in school before moving on Summer vacation People management Management simulator exercises with friends Some of my friends have access to simulator software Every fortnight Reflection Write essays to reflect on my experiences Keep a diary Before sleeping each night IT skills Take help from friends to work with new software Introduce myself to new software Every weekend Conflict resolution skills Role play with friends Arrange group sessions with friends Every fortnight Force Field Analysis This technique was designed by Kurt Lewin (1947 and 1953) Used originally as a diagnostic tool. Whilst the theoretical framework for the model is quite complex it can be used in personal development in quite an effective way. In the business world it is used for decision making, looking at forces that need to be considered when implementing change – it can be said to be a specialised method of weighing up the pros and cons of a decision. Having looked at your personal strengths and weaknesses we would like you to use this technique to become aware of those factors that will help/hinder, give you motivation for or may act against, your personal development. Whilst you could do this for each of your objectives we want you to think in terms of where you would like to be at the end of your Masters programme. In the central pillar, put in a statement of where you want to be at the end of the course. Then in the arrows either side look at those factors/forces that may work in your favour. Be realistic and please add as many arrows that you think may be necessary. http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/job/4603282/student-experience-manager/ (Retrieved 19 March 2013) Based in Covent Garden, City Lit is London’s biggest provider of part-time courses for adults, serving over 30,000 students a year. As a leader in our field, we have a reputation for delivering a high quality student experience, are judged to be ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and are an Investors in People Champion. Student Experience Manager 35 hours per week £38,992 – £42,286 per annum inclusive of London Weighting 7 weeks annual leave Do you get fired up about organizations that deliver an outstanding service? If so, we would like to hear from you. Recognized for the quality of our teaching and learning, we are now focusing on raising the bar to deliver an overall ‘outstanding student experience’, encompassing every point of contact with the college. In creating this new post we are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced person to help us deliver this vision for our students. If you have a minimum of 3 years’ experience working in a customer care or similar environment, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to negotiate with external providers and work with senior staff, we would like to hear from you. You will be responsible for working across the college to ensure that students and potential students have a positive experience when engaging with City Lit. You will be contributing to the delivery of our student experience strategy to ensure that our students continue to enjoy City Lit and recommend us. City Lit Keeley Street Covent Garden London WC2B 4BA 19 March 2013 Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing in response to your advertisement for the position of Student Experience Manager at City Lit. I am a perfect candidate for this position given my interpersonal and communication skills. I also have experience playing the leadership role in the academic context. I believe that firms must serve their customers as though they have only one. Individual attention is vital to the attainment of a competitive edge according to my approach to customer service. Even if the theory of corporate social responsibility does not take social service into consideration, my approach to customer service makes a strong connection between the firm and its external stakeholders. As this approach is bound to help your company grow – personalized attention being the foundation of student success – I offer my services to grow with City Lit. Yours sincerely, Read More