PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Student Name

Course

Professor Name

Date: 11th November 2022

Introduction................................................................................................................................3

Personal Audit............................................................................................................................3

Reflections on my Personal Development.................................................................................7

Personal Development Plan.......................................................................................................9

Conclusion................................................................................................................................11

References................................................................................................................................12
 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Introduction

A personal development plan is a self-reflection and self-critical analysis done to

evaluate personal strengths and weaknesses. There are several benefits of developing a

personal development or action plan. Firstly, it provides with alignment between goal and

one’s actions as it helps to identify one’s clear goals. It helps an individual identify their own

strengths and weaknesses that can help them achieve their goals or act as a hindrance in their

future. Furthermore, it also improves performance and chances of employability as the

individual can work on their identified strengths to cache them for career opportunities and

also minimize their weaknesses. Therefore, in this paper I will conduct a personal audit to

identify my unique traits, strengths and weaknesses and the barriers that I need to overcome.

Furthermore, I will identify the skills using various literature and research that I will need to

work on to reach my career goals. Lastly, this paper will cover my personal development plan

with my SMART goals and how I will achieve them.

Personal Audit

Over the course of my life, I have faced several instances and opportunities in my life

where I was compelled to take a walk through my personal audit. This allows me to review

myself and critique my personality, identify my abilities that I can utilize for my career and

development and also those abilities that I need to polish more so I can use them for my

benefit. In this section, I will perform a thorough personal audit to illustrate my uniqueness,

strengths, and weaknesses and how I can overcome barriers.

Uniqueness

My most unique trait is my self-determination that allows me to excel at my life and

work both. Determination is one of the most important leadership traits as people with
determination are proactive and willing to assert themselves (Northouse, 2007).

Determination allows me to get my job done with interest and enthusiasm. I am always taking

initiatives in idea generation and task execution because I am persistent on getting my desired

goals. For me, a leader's drive and enthusiasm for achieving a lofty objective combined with

a strategic strategy for achievement is determination. Without passion, a great strategy is

unlikely to be successfully carried out, and a devoted leader without a plan is like to a sailor

without a ship. The leaders that have the most emotional stability are the most tenacious. This

may be seen in the corporate world, in sports, or even in certain patients. The capacity to be

courageous in the face of dread, rather than the absence of fear, is what defines

determination. Therefore, my unique trait of determination allows me to become a successful

leader at a workplace while also providing me the right will, passion and commitment to

carry out my tasks efficiently.

Personal Strengths and Weaknesses

Personal audit allows to evaluate the skills that serve as strengths and weaknesses in

an individual. It is important to conduct self-evaluation so one can utilize their strengths the

most for the highest benefit.

Some of my major strengths include:

 Confident: Regardless of how confident person is, everyone has moments of doubt.

However, a person who is determined is confident in their knowledge of their own

talents and limits. This is crucial when evaluating potential new team members or

situations that might help one achieve their objective. I believe my success depends

on the confidence I have in believing in my ability and in myself.

 Focused: I am always focused on my goals which prevents me from deviating from

my path. Focus helps me get my tasks done on time and stay in alignment. Sometimes
 I get distracted and demotivated to work, but that is part of human nature. However,

when I am assigned a task, I ensure that my focus stays on meeting the deadlines and

task quality.

 Honest and Trustworthy: I have my personal code of ethics that I follow. I believe that

a person needs to be honest so that people can trust them with their work and words.

Honesty is an important trait for an employee as it helps to combat and avoid

organizational politics. Organizational politics are a common and inescapable part of

working life for many people. The term "organisational politics" refers to unethical,

unapproved activity in the workplace that is meant to advance one's own interests

(Chang et al. 2009).

 Creative: One of my major strengths is creativity. I am interested in innovative ideas

and always come up with something new. I do not believe in following old trends and

I always ready to try a new method of doing tasks. Employee creativity refers to the

generation of original and possibly practical ideas for problem-solving and producing

new goods, services, structures, processes, work practises, etc (Dul and Ceylan,

2011).

One of my major weaknesses is uncompromising. At some points, I do not like to

compromise especially if it is getting in between my tasks, deadline and my way of getting

things done. This is both advantageous and negative for company and teamwork. I usually

feel at ease working independently. Although the team may benefit from this, as my

independent work will add to the productivity of the team, however I realize it's crucial for to

be willing to take criticism of my performance. I may be of additional help for my team's

processes by paying attention to complaints people have about my way of doing tasks,

particularly if they have an impact on the team. Therefore, I need to be work on my weakness

so I can compromise when it is for the best outcome of the team.

The skills that are relevant to my career choice of becoming a business strategist are

creativity, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, problem-solving skills and analytical skills.

Considering my strengths and uniqueness of being strongly determined, I believe that I

possess the relevant skills to become a business strategist. A business strategist helps to

determine targets for a firm and devise strategies to achieve those targets and goals for the

success of the business. Business strategists examine existing activities and strategies to

determine areas for improvement and come up with more innovative strategies (Hinterhuber

and Popp, 1992). Therefore, to become a business strategist, I have the right skill set which

includes creativity, innovative ideas, determined, leadership qualities and strong work ethics

and interpersonal skills.

How to overcome barriers

There are several barriers that will be encountered before reaching my career goal and

while working as a Business Strategist. Some of these barriers are discussed below and how I

can overcome them with my skills and capabilities.

 Barriers to achieve my career goal: I might face several barriers in becoming a

business strategist. There might be lack of job offerings, difficult to find the right job

with right pay, and sometimes I might not get into a firm I want. But I will overcome

all these barriers and obstacles by staying focused, committed, and dedicated to my

plans and goals.

 Lack of alignment between the strategies: Most of the business strategist face lack of

alignment from top management and bottom employees (Pereira et al. 2019).

Employees are mostly not aware of their expected roles in implementing the strategies

while the management at upper level of hierarchy is expecting change sin the plans,
 procedures and processes due to new strategy developed. To overcome this barrier, I

would use communication skill to effectively communicate, devise a plan and inform

every employee about their roles expected from them in implementing the change.

Reflections on my Personal Development

To become a business strategist, one must depict behaviors of a great leader. There

are no established models for the development of leadership qualities (Yukl, 2002), despite

the fact that many businesses consider leadership as a source of authority and a competitive

advantage. One key factor is that both historical and contemporary analyses of leadership

have adopted a trait viewpoint, which is backed by data demonstrating consistent

relationships between certain qualities and the formation of leadership and leadership views.

Instead of being seen as developing abilities, traits are often thought of as fixed structures.

Another reason is that overt behavioural styles have traditionally been used to describe

leadership abilities, which implies that training in leadership might be brief and focused on

mastering certain behavioural types. However, it has lately been asserted that leadership often

entails a more complicated combination of behavioural, cognitive, and social abilities that

may develop at various rates and call for various learning situations (Day and Halpin, 2004).

According to research, following behaviors and skills are necessary for the career goal I am

aiming for.

 Social Skills: Despite the fact that many proceduralized social skills are used without

much thinking, they are not always knowledge based (Platow et al. 2003). Instead, it

is possible that these abilities are heavily reliant on tacit information acquired through

considerable experience in a given field. Since emotional responses are often used to

convey social signals, emotional intelligence may aid in the development of social

abilities. Although female leaders may often excel in this area, emotional sensitivity is

an ability that can be learnt, just like most others.

problem solving where the issue is identified, and a solution is suggested. It is

difficult to get right and is a crucial skill as it provides the input for decision making

(Feser et al. 2015).

 Emotional skill: During times of crisis, one of the most important skills that leaders

need to develop is emotional control and delivering the right emotions. Additionally,

emotional processing could serve as a leading mechanism that shapes later cognition

and motivation (Gray, 2004).

 Supporting skill: Supportive leaders are aware of and sensitive to others' emotions

(Feser et al. 2015). They establish trust, motivate and assist colleagues in overcoming

obstacles by being genuine and genuinely interested in people around them. In order

to increase organizational effectiveness, they step in during group projects to soothe

irrational anxieties about outside threats and stop the enthusiasm of the workforce

from evaporating into internal conflict.

Considering the literature and research above, I have to work on my emotional stability

and social skills to become a better leader and thus a great Business Strategist. I sometimes

tend to lose my emotional stability especially during conflicts. However, every person is a

work-in-progress, and I will need to work on having a control on my emotions even during

crisis to ensure that I can take cognitive decisions instead of emotional decisions.
 Personal Development Plan

1. Goals:

Specific I want to become a Business Strategist.

Measurable My progress will be measured if I get into my desired firms and perform

leadership roles even if they are at lower task levels leaders.

Achievable I worked as a digital media strategist in my last career job.

Relevant My personal skills of creativity, interpersonal skills, confidence, analytical

skills are relevant for my goal of becoming a Business Strategist.

Time Achieve my goal by 2025.

2. Positive Outcomes for my Life:

 Self-fulfillment as I achieve my dream career.

 Motivated to do the job that I am passionate about.

 Better mental health as my career is what I am dedicated to do and I will not be

forcing myself to work.

3. Describe Action Plan

What: I need to work on developing the skills of emotional stability and social skills. I need

to find the right job that allows me to practice leadership.

When: I will be working on the skills in a work environment; that is in my next job.

Where: In a firm that offers leadership roles.

every day at workplace as well as develop emotional stability and social skills while I am

working every day.

Start Date: January 2025.

4. Challenges/Obstacles:

I might face several barriers in becoming a business strategist. There might be lack of job

offerings, difficult to find the right job with right pay, and sometimes I might not get into a

firm I want. Another major challenge I would face once I start working as a leader is lack of

alignment from top management and bottom employees. Employees are mostly not aware of

their expected roles in implementing the strategies while the management at upper level of

hierarchy is expecting changes in the plans, procedures, and processes due to new strategy

developed.

5. Plans to overcome challenges:

I will overcome all these barriers and obstacles by staying focused, committed, and dedicated

to my plans and goals. I will continue my job hunt with determination and commitment until

I find the job for my career choice. Furthermore, to overcome the barrier of lack of

alignment, I would use communication skill to effectively communicate, devise a plan, and

inform every employee about their roles expected from them in implementing the change.

6. Support and resources to achieve goal:

I need to get into the right workplace which will help me develop the required skillset for

leadership qualities. Furthermore, I will also need mentorship from upper management to

help me train and guide in my practices so I can progress in my career path. If I start working
as a leader at task roles, I would require support and guidance from my supervisors to direct

me and help me develop leadership skills and hone my strengths.

7. How sure are you that you can reach your goal?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Conclusion

To conclude, this report covers a personal audit of my unique traits, abilities, values,

strengths and weaknesses that will help me achieve my career goals or serve as a barrier in

reaching my highest potential. My strengths mainly include my determination, my values of

honesty and trustworthiness, my interpersonal skills and creativity that can potentially help

me come up with innovative ideas and new strategies for the firm. Through this analysis, I am

able to find the areas of improvement within me that can potentially hinder my growth in my

career journey. There are several barriers that will be encountered before reaching my career

goal and while working as a Business Strategist. I will use my commitment, dedication and

focus to stay true on my career path and not let the barriers deviate me from my goals. I need

to work on my uncompromising nature which serves as a weakness within me and prevents

me from reaching my highest potential within a team. Furthermore, I was also able to find

certain set of skills that I need to develop such as emotional skill and social skill, in order to

become a great leader and a business strategist.

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matters. McKinsey Quarterly, 4, pp.88-91.

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