Reflection on Leadership and Communication Skills

This document presents a self-reflection on the author's leadership and communication skills. It includes a SWOT analysis highlighting strengths (communication, decision making, problem-solving) and weaknesses (time management, interpersonal skills). The reflection also discusses learning styles, developmental programs as opportunities for growth, and the threat of new arrivals with updated cognition.

LEADERSHIP IN
ACTION
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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
1. Summary of education, learning, career plans for next five years and learning styles...............3
2. Identify two personal development skills and characteristics.....................................................5
3. A personal development plan to identify at least three development activities...........................6
4. Critical reflection on development activities and problems to achieve them..............................7
5. Evaluation of personal learning and ways to develop your ability to manage others.................7
6. Three specific ways to continue development.............................................................................8
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Leadership is the ability to understand and utilize the innate talents to effectively leverage
the strength of team to achieve the mission. In pursuance to the same, leaders research on various
aspects and practical skills of individuals who are the representative of the group. The leaders have
the ability to lead a group of people, manage execution of the task, generate motivational forces,
higher level of values, wisdom, spirituality that enhance the performance of team (Fullan, 2014).
The present study is based on effectiveness of leadership in organisation that helps an individual to
identify personal skills and needs to develop, which further improves their personality. Furthermore,
the purpose of this is to identify learning style from academic or relevant theories which help in
developing the capabilities or characteristics of leadership. Along with this, it elaborate on the ways
in which individual can develop skills and knowledge to achieve the mission of team.
1. Summary of education, learning, career plans for next five years and learning styles
 Education: I have pursued Business Administration from Cambridge University, UK. The
curriculum was very knowledge inducing and interesting, and the lectures were imparted
using diagrams, charts for representing complex theories. Example: lecturers used diagram
to represent Gross National Income.
 Learning: The above mentioned degree, enhanced my ability to understand and imbibe
knowledge quickly, particularly through visual learning process. When I was in final
semester, I preferred to gather information from books and internet. After that, I wrote down
some important information which helped me in the projects which were given by the
university. During my B.A. Course, I joined part-time job where I understood the practical
implementation of my knowledge. This was the first time when I joined a team and I did not
know how to carry out the work to complete it on time (Schmeck, ed., 2013). With the help
of leader’s supervision, I was able to do it myself as quickly as possible. I also tried to
present my opinions and views by effectively demonstrating through my work. This helped
me receive varied suggestions and ideas from other members. I adopted multi model
preference learning, and in furtherance of the same I have developed a flexible approach in
using different modes for my career development plans.
 Career plans: Career plan has assisted me in enhancing my skills and knowledge in a
timely fashion and in further improving my capabilities to best suit the appropriate career.
For the next five years, my career plan is to become a good HR manager in a reputed and a
well established company (Riding and Rayner, 2013). By developing a career plan, I can
focus on what I want to do and how to get that. To develop a plan, I am required to focus on
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the following career elements which are discussed below:
Elements
Career Goal Become a good manager in a reputed company
Current skills and interest Time management, stress management, project
management skills
Requirements Training and assessment, creative thinking
masters degree, communication skills, critical
thinking skills (Hannah, Walumbwa and Fry,
2011).
Plan to reach Career goal  Attaining Certification course
 Working in management sector, Gaining
practical knowledge during study.
Obstacles Funds for master degree or the certification
course.
How to overcome Apply for scholarships and grants, Part-time job,
Preferred learning style:
In accordance to Honey and Mumford, individuals tend to prefer a certain learning styles
over the other. The distinct learning styles are Activist, Theorist, Pragmatist and Reflector. On
understanding the various styles and analyzing my learning styles , it can be concluded that I have
an Activist learning style, as I tend to learn fast by implementing the knowledge in the practical
world or just by doing things. I have an open-minded approach to learning by completely involving
myself in varied and new experiences. At the time of pursuing my degree, I could learn the most out
of group discussions, role-plays, puzzles, competitions etc. As against the Theorist style which
makes the learners realize the complete theory behind any action, with very minimum level of
practical exposure (Bush, Glover and Kakabadse, 2007).
The above analysis has established that I am a Kinesthetic learner, as I will start to do physical
activity rather than listening to a lecture or watching demonstrations. In this context, I interact with
objects to learn about things in the best suitable way. It enables me to learn in a better manner
through actively participating in various activities and use computer which allows me to create new
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things (Learning Styles. 2016).
2. Identify two personal development skills and characteristics
In pursuance to the career development plan I have identified the skills of Time
Management and Emotional Intelligence, which requires an immense improvement for successfully
executing the career plan. In order to identify the mentioned skills and characteristics, I undertook
an extensive self-assessment mechanism. I evaluated the possessed skills, knowledge and qualities
to match with the ones required for execution of my career plan. It enabled me to identify the
capabilities which are required to be acquired to achieve the established career objective. Self-
assessment is a technique regarded to be most effective and is capable of identifying the areas
where I am not performing well and also the overall improvement which is required. In order to
execute the plan, I developed a weekly self-evaluation mechanism wherein I started analyzing my
activities as well as the strengths and weaknesses associated with it. A written document was
maintained to note all the observations. This method reviewing all my work on a weekly basis and
identifying the areas of imperfections led me to the conclusion that I am poor at managing the time,
which has led to the identified imperfections. There were many areas which were suffering due to a
lacking in this skill. Another area identified was of interpersonal skills, for which I realized I never
had enough time to develop. My weekly self – assessment report reflected there were many
categories of work which I was not able to undertake due to the lack of time management skills as
well as lack of people who could assist me to complete the same. It has made me realize that my
progress has been hampered on a great level due to these imperfections. Time Management Skills is one of the most important and critical skills required to
undertake any kind of activity in life and accounts for the maximum benefit one achieves
through undertaking any task in a timely fashion. Late working has often increased the stress
level to the detriment of my performance. Enhancing this skill has made me understand the
importance of prioritising the work, and in result keeps me motivated and satisfied to work
(Manolis, Burns, Assudani and Chinta, 2013). To effectively manage my time, I have learnt
to prepare short term or daily goals to be achieved, and this shall enable me to stay focused
and also achieve the targets. It is a soft skill which is required to successfully and efficiently
undertake any of the life's task. Apart from the hard employability skills, this is one of the
soft skills which is always preferred by the employers, irrespective of the job profile. This
shall not only assist me to succeed in my career but shall also assist me to achieve the
execution of my career development plan. Interpersonal Skills is another skill which is one of the other development needs. It
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increases ability to manage and effectively interact with people at workplace and to further
handle conflicts. Also, it inculcates an individual with emotional intelligence. It enables me
to identify patterns, causes and emotional habits that helps to increase performance.
Sometimes it is good to make professional relations which even helps in receiving feedback
about the work undertaken and bring about an instant improvement. These skills shall
further help me to learn in a reflective manner, by observing the people with whom I
interact. It shall develop and improve my knowledge base and the associated practical skills.
It is important to highlight that my analysis has also showed me a link between these two
skills in the manner that since I was not able to manage my time and not complete my work in a
timely manner, I never got the opportunity to interact with other people. I have always been
burdened with work and assignments, when all my peers were getting along with each other. Hence,
I believe if I am able to improve my time management, the skill of inter-personal relationship shall
automatically get enough scope to enhance.
3. A personal development plan to identify at least three development activities
Though the process of self-development is a continuous process, it can prove beneficial for
an individual to make a Personal development plan. It is an action plan which is based on the
awareness, values, reflection, goal setting and planning for personal development. One of the
important forces for the success of this plan is motivation. The Content and Process theories of
motivation shall prove to be beneficial for realizing the development plan in an effective manner. It
is important to adopt SMART goals which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and
Timely. (Riding and Rayner, 2013). Primarily my development plan shall focus on the skills of
Time management and Interpersonal skills.. I shall undertake the following activities in pursuance
to the developmental needs: Conferences and Seminars: I shall attend conferences or seminars in relation to my
development needs of time management and interpersonal skills. This shall enable to me to
meet and interact with varied people, thereby enhancing both the skills. Setting of Short Term Goals: I shall challenge myself with particular tasks to be completed
in specific time duration. This shall enable me to finish my work in a timely fashion and also
spare some time to interact with people around me. The assigned deadlines shall be
seriously adhered to. This activity shall be undertaken on a daily basis, for learning time
management.
 Attending Formal Training Sessions: I shall seek to attend as many trainings as possible for
further enhancement of the theoretical knowledge of the subjects. Followed by the same I
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shall definitely implement the gained knowledge or apply various techniques or methods
while undertaking tasks, for a better learning process.
4. Critical reflection on development activities and problems to achieve them
The above mentioned development activities have proved to be of great benefit for
enhancement of not only the developmental needs but has also other skills and capabilities which
were lacking in my personality. Participating in various conferences and seminars enabled me to meet a lot people, from
different areas of life and of varied nature. Initially, I found it difficult to interact with
people and raise my voice during the discussions. However, a little inner force helped me to
interact with many and comfortably discuss on various prevalent issues. The people were
from different spheres of life, and interacting with them made me learn reflectively about
various subjects which I was not even aware of earlier. Though, the initial hesitation to
initiate conversations from my side led to wastage of some time but once I started talking to
people it got better by then end. Apart from sharpening the developmental needs, I could
also enhance my networking skills and communication skills. By following the strict routine of setting daily and short term goals has enabled me to off
load an immense amount of work and has made me learn some serious time management
lessons. By following this schedule I have developed my own time management techniques
which I have inculcated within my way of working. This has made my style of working very
systematic and further helps me to keep a track of all the work. At the beginning I faced
difficulty in prioritizing the work and developing a systematic approach to effortlessly
undertake the work. Attending Formal time management training sessions has enabled me to learn theoretically
to some extent. However, the major benefit of undertaking this activity was to inculcate the
basic understanding of the subject which enabled me to develop my own ways and
techniques to finish a task in a timely manner. These training sessions comprised of various
debate sessions and discussions which further helped me to learn and attain efficiency in my
ways. In addition, I enhanced my communicational skills.
5. Evaluation of personal learning and ways to develop your ability to manage others
These activities have immensely benefited me in my professional as well as personal life. As
discussed above I am an activist type of learner, who learns more through practical experiences than
theoretical lectures. Hence, these activities have enabled me to not only enhance the identified
needs but also some unplanned skills. This whole process has improvised my personality to a great
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extent as now I can comfortably communicate with new and unknown people and also have been
successfully maintaining relation with my colleagues. I have developed a completely new approach
towards life and can now handle uncertainties in a more effective manner. One of the important
change is that I have now been maintaining my personal life efficiently and have achieved a balance
between my work and personal life.
Apart from the above mentioned additional learning, I have also improved my
communication skills to a large extent. Though this was not a planned improvement, a drastic
improvement has been felt by me in both verbal and written communication skills. This skill shall
further improve my inter-personal skills.
6. Three specific ways to continue development
To continue the development process and benefit through the same for a longer time I shall
proceed with the current activities in the following manner: Organise to-do-list: I shall daily evaluate the work in hand and then accordingly set my
priorities for undertaking the work. I can use notepad or note taking application in which I
can write down everything that has to be done at the workplace. Short term objectives shall
be determined and methods to achieve them shall be undertaken (Learning Styles. 2016).
This shall further help me in managing time as I can easily set my priorities along with the
work to be carried out properly. Moreover, this may help me to focus on the most important
tasks which needs to be carried out and shall also help my personal development. I shall
continue to work with the methods I have developed during the process of learning and shall
try to challenge myself everyday, thereby increasing my boundaries further and further. In
addition, my daily tasks shall also include some time for self-awareness, as it further helps
me to stay updated. This shall lead to an increased level of interaction and discussion with
people at work. Attend Interactive Sessions: I shall continue to attend conferences, seminars and formal
training sessions to continue my improvement in various aspects. This has made me
communicate with people at larger level in the most comfortable manner. In addition, over
the time it has also increased my relation with people from different sphere of life. The
successful implementation of the development plan has assisted me to easily find out some
time to participate in such sessions and as well as increased by networking in the market.
Since I am an activist type of learner, this is the most appropriate and effective way of
learning and shall prove to be beneficial for a long period of time.
 Eliminate the unnecessary: Undergoing this whole process has made me understand as to
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what is important and what is not. It has made me understand the importance of prioritizing
the work and undertake the work in the same manner. I have learnt multi-tasking can not
always be beneficial and there are times when it important to focus on one task in hand to
complete it without any compromise on the quality. It can sometimes hamper the
productivity and hence time management skills shall be applied to do all the tasks but in a
focused manner. By avoiding multi tasking I can easily carry out all the tasks in proper
manner especially those which are very important and can support in enhancing my
knowledge level also. Also, my interpersonal skills have developed to great extent, as a
result I share a strong bond with a lot colleagues at the workplace. However, it has been seen
that there are some people who tend to spread negative environment and hence, I have learnt
to eliminate or ignore them and continue to carry the work in a focused manner.
CONCLUSION
The present assignment has enabled me to identify the development needs in respect to my
personal as well as professional life. I have developed a career goal which has embedded me with a
focused approach towards my career, enhancement and sharpening of the identified skills and lastly,
made me realize the manner of learning best suited my style. With the help of the evaluation process
I have leaned various techniques to increase my skills and knowledge over various subjects and
further succeed in life personally and professionally.
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APPENDIX
Developmental plan
Skills required to be
improved
Planned events to
improve the
ascertained deficit
skills
Allotted time period
for improvement
Allotted date for
improvement
Time management
skills
Setting short term
goals with a prior
implementation of
planning tools to
record the daily
assignations with
proper allotment of
time to each.
Morning time of 1
hour (i.e., from 6am to
7am).
Within 6 months (i.e.,
from 25th August 2016
to 25th February
2017).
Interpersonal skill Attending seminars
and conferences to
make more interaction
with people.
Evening time of 2
hours (i.e., from 4pm
to 6pm).
Within 3 months (i.e.,
from 1st September
2016 to 1st December
2016).
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Obstacles faced while executing the designed measures of above developmental plan
Skills
needed to
be
improved
Planned events for it Allotted
time
period for
improve
ment
Allotted
date for
it
Obstructions faced
Time
manageme
nt skills
Setting short term goals
with a prior
implementation of
planning tools to record
the daily assignations
with proper allotment of
time to each.
Morning
time of 1
hour (i.e.,
from 6am
to 7am).
Within 6
months
(i.e.,
from
25th
August
2016 to
25th
February
2017).
 An intact scheduling of
tasks was considered to be
the foremost impeding
factor into which I was
unable to prioritise my
tasks in a proper manner.
 This has created a baffled
situation for me where I am
now referring to increase
my allotted time frame
from 6 months to 9 months.
 I am also referring to
change my morning time
here where I am simply
unable to gather enough
time for scheduling my
entire routine and thus
changing it into evening
time where I can easily
prepare it a day prior to my
assignations.
Updated developmental plan
Skills required to be
improved
Planned events to
improve the
ascertained deficit
skills
Allotted time period
for improvement
Allotted date for
improvement
Time management
skills
Setting short term
goals with a prior
implementation of
planning tools to
record the daily
assignations with
proper allotment of
time to each.
Evening time of 1 hour
(i.e., from 7pm to
8pm).
Within 9 months (i.e.,
from 25th August 2016
to 25th May 2017).
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Interpersonal skill Attending seminars
and conferences to
make more interaction
with people.
Morning time of 2
hours (i.e., from 9am
to 11am).
Within 3 months (i.e.,
from 1st September
2016 to 1st December
2016).
SWOT analysis
Strength
 I have good communication skills
where I can effectively communicate in
both written and verbal forms. I have good decision making and
problem solving skills which has in
turn enhanced my leadership skills as
well.
Weaknesses
 Poor time management skills and inter-
personal skills are two of my major
weaken attributes that is consequently
hampering my verbal skills of
communication.
Opportunity
 Developmental programs are some
biggest opportunities where I can attend
some regular sessions of training at my
workplace in order to rectify my deficit
number of skills.
Threat
 The new arrivals with their updated
cognition are referred to be some of my
biggest threats where I am also required
to constantly update my own skills.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bush, T. and Glover,Kakabadse, A. P., (2007). Being responsible: Boards are reexamining the
bottom line. Leadership in Action. 27 (1). pp. 3-6.
Fullan, M., (2014). Leading in a culture of change personal action guide and workbook. John Wiley
& Sons.
Hannah, S. T., Walumbwa, F. O. and Fry, L. W., (2011). LEADERSHIP IN ACTION TEAMS:
TEAM LEADER AND MEMBERS’AUTHENTICITY, AUTHENTICITY STRENGTH,
AND TEAM OUTCOMES. Personnel Psychology. 64 (3). pp. 771-802.
Huang, E. Y., Lin, S. W. and Huang, T. K., (2012). What type of learning style leads to online
participation in the mixed-mode e-learning environment? A study of software usage
instruction. Computers & Education. 58 (1). pp. 338-349.
Manolis, C., Burns, D. J., Assudani, R. and Chinta, R., (2013). Assessing experiential learning
styles: A methodological reconstruction and validation of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory.
Learning and Individual Differences. 23. pp. 44-52.
Riding, R. and Rayner, S., (2013). Cognitive styles and learning strategies: Understanding style
differences in learning and behavior. Routledge.
Schmeck, R. R. ed., (2013). Learning strategies and learning styles. Springer Science & Business
Media.
Online
Learning Styles. (2016). [Online]. Accessed
through:<http://www.skillsyouneed.com/rhubarb/fingerprints-learning-styles.html>.
[Accessed on 16th August 2016].
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