Reflection & Personal Development Essay

The module on "Reflection and Personal Development" basically highlighted the need for self-assessment in order to develop our capability for reflection, which in turn, would benefit us as such that we develop our awareness of our own behaviors at work as well as the skills we exercise in our regular lives. This then will come as a significant reference to us in the future. To be better, is the goal.
Analyzing ourselves now to serve ourselves better eventually can come in quite handy, being as one gets to re-discover himself/herself and enlist points of certain facets which could or should be more or less changed.
My initial reaction upon receiving the module was - in a way - confused. I did not exactly refute the idea; however, I am doubtful that the result would be as accurate as I would expect it to be. Nonetheless, I still found the program helpful and actually worthwhile at the end of the day.
As John Dewey points out, "We do not learn from our experiences; we learn by reflecting on our experiences" CITATION Hel07 \l 1033 (Barrett, 2007). Apparently, reflecting enables us to re-discover our capabilities as an operative and our wholesomeness as a person. Moreover, reflective practice develops our awareness of ourselves and therefore, helps us in particularizing aspects which could be modified to further extent (Baldoni, 2004). I learned later that the little effort I put in this project now will be fruitful and significant to my personal growth later.
The following competences have been explored on the basis of my performance: Stress Management and Personal Resilience, Confidence, Self-Disclosure, Leadership Style, and Professionalism. These are competences I found greatly important to achieve in the work place. So far, I believe I have fairly adequate in all these aspects though there are certain points which could use further elaboration and improvement.
My capacity for self-management and personal resilience encompass the mannerisms and beliefs by which I live by. For instance, I maintain a healthy lifestyle through regular meditation and physical exercise, regular hours of sleep, and good eating habits; meanwhile, I continuously open up to friends and family regarding personal problems - one of the many ways to relieve stress; and I especially make sure that I allow myself to only enough workload.
I also found that effective self-management fosters good leadership skills. In addition, it allows for organized methods of finding feasible options for achieving goals. So no matter the current methods I use, there is still obvious room for improving my ability to manage stress. I came up with a list of applicable notions that basically emphasizes "loosening up"; that is, by engaging in other interests, having a sense of humor, keeping fit, maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle, and practicing optimism. I have also thought of managing stress with the use of performance feedback and clear expectations, job decision latitudes, and social support.
As for confidence, I think I have enough of it. After all, this is one of the main factors which will ensure my success in the company. It ultimately comes to my advantage since having an impressive account of self-confidence will leave me a good impression to my superiors. Furthermore, people respect people with confidence. CITATION Ken11 \l 1033 (Snowie, 2006) And although I believe confidence is something that I have, I think I could still build on it. This confidence building does not simply refer to that of my own but that, too, of my relationship with the employees under my subordination. Here, I highlight the importance of having a comfortable exchange between my subordinates and myself.
My goal is mainly to establish effective communication among us. What I mean to say is that I would prefer it if my co-workers were at ease in my presence, at the least, or metaphorical high walls or boundaries didn`t set us as far apart despite being separated by our professional partitions.
Basically, my course of action now involves bearing in mind who the recipient/s is/are, their nature of interest, the degree of their interest in the message, and the easiest method of getting their responses. Then again, I still wish to practice and even perfect my capacity to be patient and more sensible to my audience. In other words, it would be better if I knew how to effectively translate my thoughts to them without necessarily intimidating them. Conversely, I would want them to suggest their thoughts and ideas comfortably enough for them expound the whole thing.
Self-disclosure comes as an equally significant trait in the business - I open up to them and they open up to me, so to speak. By now, I already am aware that I am not well practiced in this aspect because of the somewhat uncomfortable situation experienced by some people when with me. However, I believe I can make a few adjustments to enhance my social skills; after all, good interpersonal interaction is essential to maintain good ties with my co-workers and other associates CITATION Tim99 \l 1033 (Borchers, 1999).
On the other hand, I regard myself as a person of high self-esteem since I firmly believe that I am capable of being aware of my own actions and self-development. Nonetheless, I would still like to pursue a greater extent of this attitude in that I could positively affect and influence those around me, as well as empower myself to conquer personal fears and arrive at higher expectations. This notion brings me back to my previous vindication - that there becomes a friendly atmosphere in the workplace. A high self-esteem simply would not do; encouraging my co-workers to develop such as well would then strengthen the company as a whole.
As for my leadership style, I`d like to think that it is closely autocratic in nature in that I like to be firm and strict and focused at the results of the tasks at hand. For this characteristic, I intend to aim for something not too far from what I have already been advocating in the first place; and that is to create a comfortable yet respectable relationship among my subordinates and myself.
My current attitude in the work setting involves pushing others to adapt new attitudes and at the same time, block their influence on me. In recognizing such behavior, it strikes me that I would rather maintain a fair and friendly atmosphere than emit such a stern demeanor. In the end, I would want to develop the characteristic of professionalism to such extent that I will be able to motivate other employees.
Quite frankly, there was a lot I believed myself to be before this whole self-assessment exploit. See, although I find myself amply successful professionally, I realized that there are certain aspects of my behavior that can still be adjusted in order to implicate a more effective performance in the workplace.
What I have so far observed as I went through the module is that my personality tend to be strict and controlling, particularly towards my lifestyle. I am apt to following rules and regular routines; hence, I tend to somewhat lose the element of spontaneity. More so is that I am unsuccessful in adhering to a sociable atmosphere between...