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Professional development for Strategic

ManagersLecturer: Prof. FRANK GYAN

!"#L ASS$GNMN%

Presented &' Yas()ard(an *ain Student $d: +,--/0

$ntroduction:

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Skills are something that is substantial not only in academic accomplishment

but also in professional and personal life of individuals. A skill audit is

scrutinizing our skills to identify our strengths, weakness and possibleaspects of skills in which improvement would be needed.

This report would review my personal and professional skills and on the basis

of the skills reviewed, SWOT analysis would help to indentify my strengths

and weakness and possible opportunities and threats waiting to be relished

or faced respectively.

Personal s1ills:

ersonal skills are the skills that e!uip us to perform well in a particular

situation effectively and efficiently. These skills if developed become an

asset to that person for e"ample communication skills. #f a person is having

e"cellent communication skills it helps him$her to e"press their views in a

much apparent manner. These personal skills always give a support to aperson%s professional career. There are many personal skills but the skills

which # would evaluate myself are&

'. (istening&

(istening is more than hearing it includes understanding and

interpreting the conversation. According to Thomlison )'*+- (istening

is an art of hearing attentively. A research shows that we spend /

of our time listening )tutorvista.com, 01''- and if we master this skill

we ac!uire other skills simultaneously. There are different prescripts

included in listening they are providing timely and suitable response,

showing empathy and !uestioning. 2ood listening skills give you an

edge over others. #t helps you to succeed in professional life as well.

0. atience

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According to dictionary.com 3atience is an ability or willingness tosuppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay or

unfavorable circumstances4. #t is said that atience is the greatest ofall virtues. )5ato the 6lder, '*75-. Sometimes situations are such thatthere is not much a human can do so in that case it is very necessarythat person remains patient and waits for tides to turn their way. 8ostof the people do lack this !uality and because of which take hastydecisions which may prove costly to them both in personal as well asprofessional decisions. There are so many times we regret that weshould have not done a particular thing. We regret this because of lackof patience at that time we took a hasty decision.

9. Analyzing a situation.

Analyzing a situation and then acting on that basis is also a skill that

very few possess. :uring a pressure situation it needs a very cool and

mature head to analyze and act accordingly. When we see any cricket

match we observe that even legends make mistake during crunchsituation because they were unable to handle the pressure of that

moment. 6ven in our lives personal and professional we come across

such situations so many times, so it becomes very essential that we

learn this skill.

. #ndependent (earning

According to 2yan;Amponsah )01''- 3personal development is the

ability to recognize gaps in our knowledge and ac!uire it

independently.4 #ndependent learning includes various activities like

learning from past e"perience, reflection< planning, e"tended learning,

time management etc. 3#t promotes independence, in planning

decision making and organization.4 )Teaching e"pertise, 011-

Audit of Personal s1ills:

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roficiency(evel

=oundation #ntermediat

e

Advanced 6"pertersonal

Skills

(istening

atience

Analyzing

situation

#ndependent

(earning

Professional S1ills:

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According to the article >8easuring 0'st;century skills>, the 6ditors )April011*- of eSchool ?ews begin, rofessional skills are the skills which are

re!uiredto remain competitive in an increasingly global, knowledge;basedeconomy.4 Today in this competitive environment employers re!uire peoplewho are maven at so;called @0'st;century skills@ like time management,presentation skills, language skill, using information technology to collectand analyze information and solve problems>.

These skills develop gradually over a period of time with practice ande"perience. They are also called as soft skills which help an individual to

climb up the ladder of success. The professional skills that # would discuss inthis paper are as follows.

'. Time 8anagement

Time management is a conscious activity of allocating time toactivities on the basis of priority. We all have 0 hours in a day but

we find that some people are able to do everything in these 0hours while others ust complain that they are busy and don%t havetime. 6ffective time management is very essential for a success ofan individual personally as well as professionally. #t helps you tomaintain balance between work and family, stress and rela"ation.

0. roblem solving

3=or every comple" problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat,and wrong>)B.(. 8encken, 011-. We all solve problems in our daily livesrelated to work, home, studies but it needs both analytical andcritical thinking skills to come up with solution. These skills can belearnt and it is very important that we master this skills because amanagement student, +1/ of a managers work is problem solvingand decision making.

9. Team work

http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/measuring-21st-century-skills/http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/measuring-21st-century-skills/

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38anagement is an act of getting things done through people.4 Allthe big daddies in corporate world owe their success to their team.

#t always re!uire a team to achieve something substantial becauseas an individual we are limited with time, resource, skills etc but asa team everything multiplies and grows with the no of people in ateam, so it becomes easy to complete a task. To succeed in ourlives it is always important that we have a team of skilled individualto support our decisions.

. (eadership skills&

A team always needs an effective leader at some point or the otherto get it out from difficult situations. A leader is a captain of the shipand gives direction to the team, his fellow members always look upto him for solutions. As a manager it is very important that we learnthis skill so that later on in our careers we can motivate and leadour teams to achieve organizational obectives. There are many

traits that a leader must possess some of them are 7eing Bonest,Cisionary, Dnowledgeable, optimist, #ntelligent etc. so as a managerwe must gradually learn all these skills to become a successfulleader.

Audit of Professional s1ills:

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roficiency(evel

=oundation #ntermediat

e

Advanced 6"pertrofessional

Skills

Time

management

roblem

solving

Team work

(eadership

skills

S23% ANALYS$S

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SWOT stands for strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats, it%s amanagement tool used to identify internal strengths and weakness to

e"ternal threats and opportunities for a business. #t can also b used as a toolto identify strength and weakness of an individual so that he can understandwhat opportunities or threats he may face and be prepared for the upcomingsituation.

With reference to the above skill audit it is seen that my personal strengthsare patience and my ability to analyze a situation and my professional skillsare Time management and problem solving skills. On the other hand the

personal skills that # need improvement are listening and independentlearning. While professional skills that needs improvement is team work andleadership skills.

atience is my skill because # understand the fact that sometimes things areout of our locus of control and we can%t do much about it, the only thing thatcould be done is ust wait and watch because of this understanding # leavethe matter on time and ust wait for right time and then act accordingly.7eing patient has always helped me in my work as # never take hastydecision and don%t get nervous when situation is out of my control.

Situation analysis skill always help me to break down the task into smallertask and then on the basis of that # take things step by step which releasesthe burden of me and helps me achieve tasks.

Time management is so important and its not difficult as it is assumed by thepeople. The only thing to take care is that we do things when they are meantto be done and do not leave it to the end. 7ecause # do this # think it%s mystrength. #t always helps me to finish my tasks and be ahead of others.

7ecause of my patience, analytical brain, and effective time management #am generally able to solve my problems myself and very rarely need toconsult others or depend on others.

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Along with that # also want to work more in team as generally # prefer to workalone and also # want to be a part of team and lead them through my

positive skills and develop myself in such a way that instead of being afollower # live like a leader.

Learning St'les:

According to Boney and 8umford have identified four different ways oflearning which they have classified as follows&

Activists& Activist are the most energetic form of learner, they like to learnfrom challenges and live e"periences rather than being lectured or watchingor by reading. They want to ust get on with things and like to be a leader.

Theorist& Theorists are more systematic they like learn by reading a lot and

cannot learn in an unstructured environment.

ragmatist& They like to learn under the guidance of a coach and need toestablish a relationship between what is being learnt and its practicalapplication. They cannot learn if they don%t see any importance of learning aparticular thing.

Eeflectors& Eeflectors are those who have time to think research and reviewtheir learning before commenting anything. They learn least when forcedinto lime light or to give instant reaction.

This theory also distinguishes three different styles of learning viz., Cisual,Audio and kinesthetic. The visual learners are those who learn most whenthey see anything like through films, pictures, diagrams etc. Audio learnerslearn most when they hear like lectures, seminars, previous recordings etc.

whereas Dinesthetic need to feel the resource i.e., they learn most by thesense of touch like by trying something or feeling something )payne andwhittaker, 011F-

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According to Anthony 2regory%s mind set model, there are four types oflearning styles which include the 5O?56E6T6 S6GH6?T#A(, A7STEA5T

S6GH6?T#A(, 5O?56E6T6 EA?:O8 A?: A7STEA5T EA?:O8. Bedistinguished these categories on the basis of individual differences ofthoughts and learning.

5oncrete se!uential& They are very practical learner they prefer certain setmethods of learning and are very logical and analytical people. They have aneye for perfection. They are inventive but their focus is more on making thee"isting things work better instead of going for a new novel product. All their

activities are done to achieve tangible results.

Abstract se!uential& Hnlike concrete se!uential, they focus more on processthan product. They relate more to signs, symbols, 5oncept and ideas than tophysical events. They would work better in a !uiet, orderly environment andlike intellectual challenges.

5oncrete random& They are focused both on process and product. They areimpulsive, intuitive and adventures. The efforts of concrete random alwaysproduce novel inventions.

Abstract random& They are emotional and use their feeling to make sense oftheir e"periences. They focus more on fostering close relationship andrapport with others. Their inclinations are more towards nature, music orartistic talents and are very e"pressive in these fields. )ayne and whittaker,

011F-.

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%a&ular anal'sis of m' learning st'le:

+. 4one' and Mumford

Activist Cisual

Theorist Auditory

ragmatist Dinesthetic

Eeflectors

5. Ant(on' Gregorc

5oncretese!uential

Abstractse!uential

5oncreterandom

Abstractrandom

As per Boney and 8umford%s theory # am a pragmatist and reflectordepending on situation as # like to be mentored by e"periencedpeople and a reflector as # need time to think upon what # havelearnt and what a practical application of my learning is.

Also as # am reflective in my learning style and learn through morepictures and diagrammatic representation and prefer to work in a

!uite atmosphere # think # am a Abstract se!uential as per Anthony,2regorc model.

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#onclusion:

#n the first half of the paper where # did my skills audit even though at theback of my mind # knew about all these things earlier but this audit made merealize my strengths and weakness in a better way and also # understandwhich weakness needs to be given priority like # need to learn to work in ateam as a part of a team before even thinking of becoming a leader or amanager.

#n the second half of the paper where # understood my learning style now itbecomes easy for me to concentrate on things which # feel would beinteresting for me. Over all it has been a great self realization assessment.

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References:

Dush, 7. )011*-Auditing Leadership-The professional and leadership skillsyou need. ?ew Iersey& Iohn Wiley and sons, #nc.

Demp, E. and ace, .)'**0- Promoting the development of personal andprofessional skills.Hnited Dingdom& 5C5 Hniversities staff developmentunit.

ayne, 6. and Whittaker, (. )011F- Developing essential study skills. 0

nd

edn.6sse"& earson 6ducation (imited.

hal, ?. and Eichter, A. )011*- SWOT analysis- Ideas !ethodology and apra"ti"al approa"h.2ermany& 2rin verlag.

6schoolnews.com Jmeasuring;0'st;century;skills%.http&$$www.eschoolnews.com$011*$1+$'$measuring;0'st;century;skills;0$

KAccessed& 0Lth

une, 01''M.

(efever, 8. )'**- Learning Styles-#ea"hing everyone god gave you.Hnitedstates of America& :avid cook.

7arker, l. )01''- JThe definition of listening skills$.

http&$$www.ehow.com$aboutN'0LL1Ndefinition;listening;skills.html

KAccessed& 0+th Iune, 01''M

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2009/08/14/measuring-21st-century-skills-2/http://www.ehow.com/about_5127470_definition-listening-skills.htmlhttp://www.eschoolnews.com/2009/08/14/measuring-21st-century-skills-2/http://www.ehow.com/about_5127470_definition-listening-skills.html