The Usefulness of Self-Assessment Tools for Personal Development

Introduction

Private and professional improvement is a approach that needs one to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses, meditate on their previous experiences, question their certainties and be open to new possibilities. The “Personal and Skilled Development” module covered a wide range of subjects, like self-management, conflict resolution, communication and leadership, and involved numerous activities which had been clearly meant to stimulate our minds and senses. Throughout the module, we have been presented with ambiguous figures, writing exercises, tests and group activities, some of which I located specifically fascinating and instructive. Despite their apparent simplicity, some of them turned out to be extremely difficult as their completion required a sincere and sincere assessment of my character. Reading the activity reflection sheets I had completed at the end of every activity, it was intriguing to realise that some of the items I do automatically without even asking myself why, can be explained through particular theories. Stereotyping and assuming that there is only one way to appear at specific situations are outstanding examples of this. This learning portfolio focuses exclusively on the activities that created me reflect on my own character in such a way to enhance my self-awareness, thus contributing to my private and specialist growth. Its primary objective is to briefly describe the activities that I located most meaningful, placing particular emphasis on the lessons that I have learnt from every one of them.

Entry 1: Self-Management

Lecture 1 revolved around self-management, a really interesting topic that I was eager to explore as I was hoping to learn how to make much better choices and manage my time a lot more efficiently so as to boost my employability. Contrary to my expectations, I was asked to perform a number of self-awareness activities that were clearly meant to make me appreciate the importance of introspection and self-assessment. In spite of my initial scepticism about the effectiveness of such activities, I completed every single workout and asked myself what lessons I could have possibly learnt from them. 1 of the perception exercises incorporated a reversible figure that could be perceived as either a young lady or an old woman, based on one’s private experiences and age. Since men and women have a tendency to interact with individuals their own age, I was very shocked when I realised that all I could see was an old lady in fact, it took me a couple of seconds to realise that the old woman’s nose coincided with the young woman’s profile. That produced me wonder what variables were influencing my vision: possibly my thoughts, beliefs, private experiences or the way I look at things in general. In an attempt to establish a connection amongst the workout I had just completed and the subjects discussed in the lecture, I came to the conclusion that anything in life can be seen from various perspectives. All that it takes to start off hunting at the planet in a various way is a sudden adjust or even a minor shift in one’s mind. As an international student who has been striving to develop strong cross-cultural communication capabilities, the old woman – young lady figure created me believe about the effect of one’s cultural background on how they express themselves and perceive what other folks say and do. Any effective leader need to be conscious of the external influences that result in individuals to see different factors when facing the identical predicament as a outcome, it is crucial to be versatile and preserve an open mind when dealing with any disagreements, challenges and conflicts. Lecture 1 encouraged me to enhance my communication capabilities by asking myself how my interlocutors might perceive my words and actions whenever I find myself interacting with men and women from different cultural backgrounds. It also made me appreciate the usefulness of self-assessment tools, which I have been employing to determine my primary weaknesses. From an analysis of the benefits that I obtained soon after completing a quantity of self-assessment exercises on the web, I realised that my lack of flexibility and worry of disappointing the ones around me are among the major obstacles hindering my individual and skilled improvement.

Entry two: Self-Development

Lecture 2 covered a range of notions and subjects such as motivation, rewards, incentives, Intelligent targets and self-reflection, to name but a handful of. As a firm supporter of incentives and rewards, I was specifically interested in sharing my views on motivation and locating out regardless of whether my classmates agreed with me. We were also asked to carry out a self-reflection exercise employing Gibb’s model of reflection as a tool to analyse the different phases that characterised our 1st trip to the United Kingdom. While I was already familiar with Gibb’s reflective cycle, I have to admit I had never utilised it to examine my own personal experiences, which is why I saw this activity as an opportunity to do some thing new and test the model’s effectiveness. I began my telling my classmates about the 1st time I came to the United Kingdom, beginning from the moment I walked out of the airport. I described my initial cab ride, painted a rather detailed image of my hotel room and the issues I saw for the duration of my remain. I then moved on to the emotional phase and realised that anxiety and stupor have been amongst the most intense feelings that I could keep in mind. When the airplane landed, I was each anxious and curious as I was not certain what to count on and although walking around London, I was amazed and overwhelmed by the greenery, the many languages men and women spoke, the architecture and the general atmosphere. My all round evaluation of the expertise was undoubtedly good, to the extent that it encouraged me to boost my English and apply for a course at a UK university. It was ahead of my departure that I gave myself a year to become fluent sufficient to be able to study in the United Kingdom. My classmates’ reaction to my story created me realise that they knew specifically what I was talking about as they had most likely knowledgeable equivalent feelings in occasion of their go to to the United Kingdom. I located this physical exercise both instructive and advantageous as it created me conscious of the fact that as informative and useful as books might be, my past experiences represent a worthwhile source of info that I have never really exploited. Being introspection a hugely efficient way to examine one’s emotional processes and mental states, I believe that I should spend much more time meditating on my past experiences in order to grow both as a human becoming and a skilled.

Entry 3: Communication and Relationships

Lecture 3 revolved around communication, conflict management and workplace relationships. Conflicts and disagreements are bound to arise sooner or later when operating with other folks I personally have been involved in a minor conflict situation as soon as, which I resolved by accommodating a colleague’s concerns even even though I was firmly convinced that he was incorrect. I located the “Managing Conflict” exercise especially beneficial as it allowed me to imagine what it would have been like if I had adopted a distinct conflict management approach that time. The exercise listed 5 achievable conflict management approaches, namely forcing, accommodating, avoiding, compromising and collaborating. When I asked myself how I would respond to a co-worker who will not compromise as she believes that her tips are always very best, I suddenly pictured myself avoiding any type of direct confrontation, almost certainly because of my peaceful nature. Nonetheless, there are conditions where withdrawing from a conflict would do more harm than great, so I forced myself to think about option approaches as properly. Following envisioning different scenarios, I reached the conclusion that the best way to purpose with a person who thinks she is constantly correct would be to collaborate with her by discussing my issues with her and encouraging her to find a answer that would suit each of us alternatively, I think a a lot more forceful approach would be acceptable, even even though it is likely that my opponent would react in a hostile way. At the finish of the exercising, I definitely appreciated how challenging it can be for a leader to coordinate distinct individuals whose various tips, views, characters and backgrounds may very easily outcome in unproductive, lengthy-lasting conflicts. I think that is why traits such as charisma, self-self-assurance and emotional maturity are generally connected with efficient leadership, as a charismatic, confident and mature leader would locate it reasonably easy to draw other folks to themselves, express their views, handle other folks and resolve conflicts with out letting their feelings interfere with their capability to make wise choices. Even though I am conscious that my reluctance to confront other individuals stems from a lack of self-confidence, I am certain that certain skills can be acquired and created over the years, which is why I intend to challenge myself and push my limits so as to grow to be a a lot more powerful leader and mediator. Particularly, my purpose is to understand when and how every single conflict management approach ought to be implemented, without letting my insecurity stop me from carrying out the correct issue.

Entry 4: Leadership

Leadership is a subject that has constantly fascinated me. More than the centuries, history has been shaped by many leaders who are all linked with certain characteristics, regardless of the effect that their actions and decisions have had on mankind. Julius Caesar and Adolf Hitler, for instance, have been two excellent leaders who have resorted to distinct techniques and methods to obtain comparable targets, i.e. empowering their respective peoples, conquering new lands and pursuing glory, to name but a handful of. A query that I always ask myself anytime I consider of a productive leader is whether or not they have been born with specific innate qualities or their good results is / was the solution of intensive coaching, knowledge and practice. 1 of the very first exercises we had been asked to full required us to write down 5 character traits and / or qualities that we associate with great leadership. It didn’t take me lengthy to recognize the traits that, in my opinion, all excellent leaders possess: charisma, self-self-assurance, intelligence, determination and creativity. When I then reflected on the traits I had just written down, I realised that there were many much more qualities that I want I could add to the list, such as moral integrity, agreeableness, openness, responsibility and an innate tendency to innovate. Nonetheless, I chose not to edit my initial list and compared it with the one particular completed by my neighbour. Surprisingly, my neighbour’s list was really comparable to mine, though it included some of the qualities I had believed of with out really adding them to my list. At that point, I keep in mind wondering why individuals tend to associate leaders with particular traits, when I am certain there are numerous very good leaders out there who are not especially confident, charismatic or intelligent. After all, a non-intelligent men and women may possibly find it less complicated to make bold choices, attain good results and lead others by relying on their instincts rather than overthinking everything. What I identified interesting about Lecture four was the reality that it showed specifically how experts’ method to leadership evolved among the 1930s and the 2000s, with early researchers focussing mostly on the innate traits that make a leader and later researchers exploring external aspects and circumstances.

Entry 5: Engagement and Professionalism

Lecture 5 explored the ethical and diversity-associated challenges that a single is probably to encounter when engaging with other people in the workplace. As a particular person with sturdy moral values, I identified Exercise three fascinating as it produced me question some of my principles. To be precise, even though I know that borrowing cash from an organisation’s petty cash without having permission is unethical, I wondered whether or not I would report a colleague to management if I ever caught them borrowing money. The answer would almost certainly be no as extended as the money is returned within a affordable period of time. Nonetheless, reflecting on the concerns “Is borrowing the funds fair?” and “Whom could it harm and why?”, I realised that borrowing funds is only fair when a single agrees to lend their assets to yet another celebration. How would I really feel if a person borrowed my smartphone with no asking me 1st? I would certainly get upset as I would expect anyone who wishes to borrow my smartphone to first ask me regardless of whether I can lend it to them for some time. As innocuous as taking money out of an organisation’s petty money box may look, it is possible that the organisation may need to have that money to pay for anything critical prior to the borrower returns it. It follows that the situation depicted in the exercising is a clear example of unethical behaviour. Being people’s ethical principles the solution of each internal and external factors, it is crucial to preserve in mind that what is ethical to one particular person might be perceived as becoming unethical by an individual else. For example, in western organisations, exploiting one’s connections in order to receive favourable treatment is frequently deemed as a grave form of corruption, whereas in several eastern nations, forming strategic friendships to attain one’s goals is perfectly acceptable. It follows that there exists a robust correlation among culture and ethics, which is most likely why Lecture five covered not only ethics but also different types of diversity, which includes cultural and ethnic diversity. Similarly to people, enterprise entities also have specific ethical values that typically reflect the atmosphere in which they operate as a result, before accepting to work for a organization, one particular must initial investigate the company’s code of ethics and conduct so as to ensure that it is compatible with their own individual values. Lecture 5 helped me see both ethics and diversity via the eyes of a prospective employer: as an employee, I would base my choices on my own values and see any cultural differences as a possible source of conflict even so, organisations tend to see diversity as an asset and count on their employees to act in accordance with their own ethical principles.

Conclusion

Prior to embarking on this module, I did not believe in the efficacy or usefulness of self-assessment tools, to the extent that I saw them as a waste of time. Possessing to total a number of self-assessment activities has made me realise that as basic as they may be, some workout routines are actually quite difficult as they force participants to evaluate themselves from option perspectives. I was shocked to uncover out that in spite of my apparent rigidity, I am actually flexible adequate to question some of my most deeply-rooted tips and beliefs. This module has helped me recognize a number of weaknesses that I know I will have to operate on in order to grow both personally and professionally. These consist of my conflict management expertise and my tendency to base my actions and decisions on a fixed set of concepts and habits, hence failing to think about alternative paths. I have also learnt to appreciate the worth of my past experiences, which I think I should analyse in higher depth and share with other folks in order to attain higher self-awareness. In view of the lessons learnt from Lecture five, I also intend to familiarise myself with different organisations’ codes of conduct in order to gain a far better understanding of what employers expect from their staff, in terms of ethical behaviour.