Discovering My Strengths and Weaknesses through Self-Reflection
One of the best ways to learn the lessons of life is through self-reflection. This is because I believe that man learns best through the experiences that he passes through. One of the most effective teachers that we get in life is our experiences. We learn best from the situations that we pass through. Self-reflection also helps a lot in self-evaluation. In other words, it helps in finding out the flaws and the strengths that we have in life. I have been able to find my strengths which I will work upon with all my efforts so that I can really nurture them and use them for my improvement. On the other hand, I have also been able to find out any flaws or errors that are present in my personality. I will have to work on them to make sure that I can find ways of improving on them. Getting a clear idea about the strengths and the weaknesses of my personality will help me in my personal and my professional life as well. I will be able to work on my drawbacks so that I do not fall under any negative impression of my boss or even my colleagues (Gould and Taylor 2017).
I will be narrating one incident that happened in my work organization which helped me to get an idea about my personal strengths and weaknesses. I will be using the Boud’s reflective model to narrate this incident.
The experience was when there was a group project that was assigned to five of us at the office. We all were really under a huge stress. This was a very challenging situation for us. This was one good opportunity that would enable us to prove our potential. All of us were really working very hard but one of the colleagues was falling back. I could see that he was much tensed and unmindful. I talked to him and asked him to share his problem with me. Though he was a bit reluctant in the beginning then he shared his story with me. He said that as he is a nonnative English speaker, he is very unsure about his English speaking skill. He was afraid of the fact that he could not speak English fluently in front of others. I consoled him and reflected upon one of the experiences that I have passed through. I said that when my father shifted to the posh regions of UK and I took admission in one of the Posh UK schools, I was really finding it very difficult to deal with the city life and the students who used to read in that school. I was often the victim of bullying. I was so frustrated at a time, that I wanted to quit and I thought of becoming a dropout. However, then I thought that I cannot give up so easily. I will have to make my place within these difficulties. So, I started working very hard and concentrated on my studies I also observed the accents of the city people and observed their ways of life. Slowly and gradually I could cope up with the city lifestyle and I also got very good grades at my school. I could also master the accents of that region. So, I could do this only through practice and determination. I gave my own example and tried to inspire my colleague. I asked him to practice speaking in English and also follow the English channels and read newspapers. Constant practice will surely help me in developing his weak English speaking skills. He was really inspired by this and he followed whatever I said and gradually he improved in his English speaking skills. He thanked me for the inspiration that I gave.
Learning to Inspire Others and Develop Accountability
It was from here that I learned about my aspect of inspiring others. In future, I will be nurturing this aspect and will use it for supporting my colleagues and my teammates as well. The other thing that learned was that I am very loyal and dedicated towards the work that I undertake. This experience happened when I was assigned as the team leader of a group with 4 members. This was really a very challenging situation for me and I made sure that I make all my teammates be accountable for their actions. One of them had made a mistake in his work and was afraid to accept it. He was thinking that perhaps he would be sued by the senior management if they found that he had done such a severe mistake in his work. However, I could not let this happen as I always abide by the trait of accountability. So, I cannot let my team member escape from being accountable for his own actions. I made sure that He goes to the management and accepts his fault. I also encouraged him saying that if he does this, it will increase his value in the eyes of the management. They will know that he is honest and is accountable for his own actions. He finally went to the management and accepted his fault and also agreed to work hard in order to overcome it. The management was very happy with his accountability and his honesty. So, they gave him another chance to rectify his mistakes and also added some credit points to my work as a team lead as I was successful in inculcating the accountability among my teammates. I have concluded that this is one my positive points that will surely help me a lot in the long run. So, I will be working on it in order to develop it further. My action in the upcoming days will be to make sure that I am being accountable for all my actions and I also built the same this same feature among my team members as well. This will help me to be responsible down the years and will surely be very helpful for my professional and my personal lives as well. The other thing that I learned from the PPDI is that one of my biggest positive strengths is my creative and innovative nature. The event that happened was at my office. There was a programme being conducted called talent hunt, where all the teams had to make some of the other creative things with their creative mindset. I was the leader of such a team and my teammates were confused and puzzled and did not know what they would make for the contest. So, I assured them and I said that we would make something creative. So, I told them that we would make something out of the wastes. So, I named the project as Best out of Waste. We gathered all types of wastes papers. There were newspapers, marvel papers, color papers, box cutting and many other such waste materials. We cut them into pieces and then made a collage out of this. The idea was really very simple. We did not use any costly materials like the other teams. There were no sparkles, ornaments or jewelry. There were only simple color papers. We made a beautiful collage by cutting those papers into very small pieces and then sticking them on a board. Apart from this, I also suggested them the idea of the plantation. We took some seeds, planted them in a pot and gave the necessary amount of water and sunlight that it needed for growing. It soon germinated into a nice, fresh plant. We displayed our presentations at the contest and backed the first prize. This was mainly because of the senior management of our creation and innovation. None of the teams had shown such a creation or innovation. I concluded from this event that I am really having a very creative bent of mind and I will be using this aspect even in future so that I can prosper in my professional field.
Developing Creativity and Innovation in Professional Life
I got this notion from all these experiences that I will have to work further on my positive aspects and nurture them. Being accountable for my own actions will always help me to keep a good notion in the eyes of my superiors. I will also be very inspirations towards all my colleagues and my followers. I know that in order to be a good leader I will have to inculcate all my good qualities within my followers. I will teach them that they must be accountable and responsible for their own achievements and also for their own mistakes. I will also try to develop these creative aspects within them so that they can prosper in the long run.
This knowledge that I have got from the PPDI will help me in nurturing the good aspects of my personality. I will make sure that I can use all these qualities for developing myself into a better person with each passing day. My followers will always be seeing me as their role model. So, they will always follow their leader as their role model. I will be inspiring them and supporting them throughout
Self-reflection is one of best ways of understanding the good and the bad aspects present within the individuals. I believe that we learn the best from the different experiences that we go through in our lives. We often have many aspects of our personalities that reason hidden unless we actually fall into any difficult situation or actually face any particular challenges. I have been able to learn the positive and the negative aspects of myself and I will also be taking steps that will help me in undertaking the necessary measures that will be helping me in the upcoming days. Some of my notions about myself have also undergone many changes and I will be henceforth focusing on them. I will be using the Boud’s reflective model, Gibb’s reflective model to talk about all those incidences (Gould and Taylor 2017)
I will be using the Boud’s model to narrate that how my notion changed regarding my own temperament. I always had this feeling that I am a very patient person. However this view totally changed after this incident appended to me. The experience was during one of the group assignments that were assigned to all of us in the office. I was given the charge of handling a marketing team. As a result of which I had to meet with many different clients and I also had to look after the queries of all the customers. I was looking for the marketing and the sales of a range of herbal medicines. It was in great demand and there were huge orders that we were receiving every day. So, there was a huge pressure on me and also the marketing team that I was handling. I also had to pick up so many different calls coming from the customers all day long with so many varied kinds of queries. Though I was trying my level; best to make sure that I do not get angry and deal with everything very patiently but I would also feel that I was under a huge stress. One day I saw that some of my team members were late. It is because of their late arrivals that the customers were facing problems and were showering their calls. I had to pick up those calls and had to hear their harsh words. So, at the time I just lost it and I could not hold my control over my temper. I stopped attending the customer calls and also escalated against all those employees who were late. I also scolded them a lot. After this incident, those employees were apologetic towards their mistakes and promised that they will not be repeating this. They got a warning from the seniors. However, the senior management also wasn’t happy with the approach that I took. They explained that being the in charge of a marketing team I cannot show such a kind of behavior. It is my duty to look after all the needs of the customers and solve all their queries. It was really very offensive to me to stop taking the customer calls. I must have patiently dealt with this situation. So, I realized that it is really a true fact. I must be more patient and be able to deal with every situation very patiently. So long I had this notion that I am very calm and a patient person and I can never lose my cool. However, this incident reflected my anger and that I can take some wrong steps when I get angry. So, my actions henceforth will be to keep a control over my mood and take decisions calmly and in a patient manner. If any situation of the similar kinds happens in future, then I will make sure that I attend the calls of the customers in a patient manner and apologize to them for the delay and also ask them to kindly allow some more time so that we can fix the error and get back to them soon. If there is the late arrival of any employees I will be arranged for some back up as soon as possible. Rather I will be arranging for some alternative or some backups right from the beginning so that I do not suffer like this. However, I also saw that at times being a bit strict is required so that I can make the subordinates work properly. In a nutshell, I will have to strike a balance in my temperament and make sure that I can implement my anger or my calmness accordingly. I will also make sure that I take the necessary steps to control my anger. In future, I will be taking some mediation classes in order to get rid of my anger. I will also take a break from the long schedule works that will help me in all the future days. I will divert my mind for some time from that particular matter which is disrupting my temper.
The next experience that I have faced will be explained through Gibb’s model (Potter 2015). The description goes like this that once there was an assignment where we had to give a business plan that will reflect the changes that must be brought in the staff division of the organization so that the efficiency can be increased. I did a huge survey on this and did my research in an in-depth manner. I made a visit to each and every department and interviewed each of the members asking them their problems and then changes that they want. It is only after getting such a huge amount of data that I suggested a plan which contained some changes including some additions and some deductions in the number of staffs working in each department. My plan was very well accepted by the management and they gave me appreciations and praises. All the members of the management were very happy with my creative e and innovation idea. They gave me the highest rating among all the other employees as they were really very happy with a business plan that had a lot of innovations and newness within itself.
Then we were asked to deliver the same presentation on an annual day in front of all the office staffs, the members of the management including the board of directors and also some of the externals who would be coming from other companies. I thought that I will do this very well just as I performed on the written project.
However, as the day of presentation was nearing I was suffering from the feelings of an unknown fear. I thought that I will not be able to deliver the presentation properly in front of so many people. I was having this feeling that I will not be able to do the project in a proper way. In other words, I will not be able to deliver the project in a proper manner. I also had this feeling that I must somehow escape and avoid this situation. I never had this feeling before. I had this feeling that I must somehow escape. However, I also could not afford to ruin the good position that I had in the eyes of all the superiors and also my colleagues. There were many employees who were working under my supervision. If I take such a step then it will have a very bad effect on my followers. They look upon their leaders their role model. So, if I take my step back from facing a challenge then I will never be able to lead by followers forward. So, I somehow managed to pick up my courage and start delivering my presentation on an annual day. Though I managed to somehow accomplish the work I was shivering with fear. I delivered the presentation but I was not really happy with my own performance. I also forgot many important points that I had to deliver. The evaluation is a mixture of good and bad events. I knew that I was creative and efficient towards my work. So, I could somehow manage to deliver the presentation properly. However, at the same time, the bad events were that I was really suffering from fear and tension. I was suffering from lack of confidence.
So, I concluded that I suffer from a lack of confidence and from stage fear. So far I thought that I am very good at present as I very creative and unique. However, I did not have this idea that I can suffer from lack of confidence. If I have to deliver the same project orally, and in front of such a huge crowd, then I suffer from lack of confidence and get afraid. My actions henceforth will be to take part in many confidence building activities. I will take care in many meditations and also in yoga classes.
These activities will help me increase my concentration and be sure about all my future endeavors. If any such situation happens in future, I will make sure that I am not trying to escape any situation. I will always make sure that I am confident enough to least go forward, accept the challenge and come out successful from it.
I have to keep this in mind that I am a leader to my followers and they will look unto me as their role model. I will have to make sure that none of my actions are demotivating them at any point in time.
References
Gould, N. and Taylor, I., 2017. Reflective learning for social work: research, theory and practice. Routledge.
Gould, N. and Taylor, I., 2017. Reflective learning for social work: research, theory and practice. Routledge.
Potter, C., 2015. Leadership development: an applied comparison of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and Scharmer’s Theory U. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(6), pp.336-342
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
