Personal and Professional Development Report: Kolb's Cycle Analysis

This report delves into personal and professional development, focusing on enhancing skills for both academic and professional success. Task 1 involves an analysis of leadership skills, specifically examining Jeff Bezos's leadership style and key characteristics. Task 2 employs Kolb's Reflective Cycle to analyze the experience of completing the tasks and how it contributed to the development of employability and study skills. The reflective journal explores the concrete experience of creating a presentation, the reflective observation of strengths and weaknesses, abstract conceptualization of areas needing improvement (time management, presentation, problem-solving), and active experimentation through a personal development plan. The report concludes with an assessment of the development efforts undertaken and their impact on skill enhancement.

Personal and Professional
Development
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2- REFLECTIVE JOURNAL..............................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REREFENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Personal and professional development refers to developing skills and gaining knowledge
through which one can meet challenges and achieve desired goals in personal and professional
life. This involved developing skills through which one can become efficient in study and
become ready for employability. There are several skills and this report will discuss about
leadership skills in Task 1 and what experience individual had while completing tAsk 1 will be
discussed in task 2 in form of reflection.
TASK 1
(Covered in PPT)
TASK 2- REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
Kolb’s Reflective Cycle
Kolb’s Reflective Cycle model is also known as experimental learning model. It is a
reflective learning model that helps in explaining own experience, which is then reviewed,
analysed and evaluated systematically in three stages (McIntyre, Dix and Ward, 2018). Once this
process is completed a completely new experience is formed at the starting of another cycle.
Here we will use Kolb’s Reflective Cycle model in explaining ways in which above task and the
module were completed and has helped me in achieving employability and study skills. It is one
of the most effective method which can help an individual in explaining one’s own experience in
four stages that have been explained below:
Fist Stage- Concrete experience:
At this stage out current experience is explained in a detailed manner. At this stage the
way in which one encountered with the situation and their current experience is explained in a
detailed manner (Chiu and Lee, 2019). This stage helps us in realizing that in order to learn
something new or bring improvement within our own knowledge and skills it is important to
systematically reflect one’s own experience, take a new of the situation faced, describe it in an
elaborative way so that we can think and analyse about out situation and experience in a proper
manner. At this stage notes of one’s own experience are made so that we can understand the way
we think the way we feel. In the above task I have made a presentation leadership style and
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leadership skills of Jeff Bezos the CEO of Amazon Inc. In order to make this presentation I had
to research about Jeff Bezos, his role as a leader with the organization, ways in which his
leadership role has helped in achievement of overall success of Amazon. I had to research on
different sources in order to collect appropriate and accurate information for the presentation.
However, during this task I had faced some difficulties in development of power point
presentation because I had to make a presentation 15 Power Point slides and notes underneath
the slides. Content collected by me was more and slides for presentation were quite less. In order
to develop a power point presentation, I had to learn was to use MS power point and all of its
features so that presentation developed by me is attractive, includes all the information collected
by me and is presentable. Working on this task I had realize that there are various kinds of
employability and study skills that were used within this project that I had to improve.
Completing the task within defined time period was another one of the main difficulties faced by
me.
Second Stage- Reflective observation:
At this stage review of the situation is done and on the basis of this experience of oneself
is reflected (Barker, Lencucha and Anderson, 2016). At this stage deep analysis of the situation
is done, i.e. what has worked, why difficulties were faced, what other believed. Completion of
the above task helped me in understanding skills employability and study skills in which I am
good at and skills that are still required to be improved because of which difficulties were faced
by me. This task made me realize that I am good in research skills i.e. I was able to collect all the
required data or information that was required to be include within the presentation. I an also
good in use of ICT as I was able to extract requirement information for the presentation by
effective use of ICT. I was easily able to Communication skills both verbal and written
communication skills for including all the information gathered by me for the presentation.
However, this presentation made me aware about my current and existing employability and
study skills that are required to be improved so that all the difficulties faced by during
completion of the above defined task can be overcome and my current knowledge and
employability and study skills can be improved in a proper and effective manner. First of all, I
need to bring improvement within my Time and self-management skills as I faced difficulty in
completing whole assignment within a timely manner. However, there is no doubt that I did
complete and submit the assignment on time but with some difficulties. By bringing
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improvement within time and self- management this difficulty can overcome. I also need to bring
improvement within my presentation skills. Improving presentation skills will not only help me
in developing an effective and attractive presentation in future but will also help me in learning
ways in which a proper presentation should be given. Lastly, I need to bring improvement within
my problem- solving skills. This is because I faced difficulty in resolving all the problems faced
by me in this assignment.
Third Stage- Abstract Conceptualization
In this stage I realized that skills which I lack I need to take action so that I can improve
these skills and also that though there are skills like research skills which I am good at I should
make efforts to enhance this skills. This stage made me realise that time management and self
management are important for both study and for employability and lacking in these can affect
my study and my future employability (Gai, 2017). Problem solving skill is also lacking in me
and requires improvement. One thing I get to know on the basis of previous stage of the cycle
that when I was completing first task of the assignment I researched about leadership skills and
characteristics and on the basis of that I found that time management, self management and
problem solving skills are important for leaders and as I want to become leader and successful
leader than I must possess all these skills.
I realised how the situation would have been if I has these skills and on the basis of reflective
observation and as analysis of the existing skills and skills I need to improve I developed a
strategy or plan which involves how and what I can do to improve these skills. This is also one of
the important part of my personal and professional development. This stage strengthen my
realization regarding skills which I am lacking and this is reason that I developed the plan
through which I can improve self management, time management and problem solving skills and
presentation skills as well. All these are important for study and for employability and for
becoming successful in both these I need to improve these skills (Arumugam and et.al., 2017).
The plan I have developed involves what are the skills that I need to improve, how I can improve
these skills, what is the objective purpose behind working on these skills and finally how much
time will I need to acquire these skills.
Forth Stage- Active Experimentation
After developing development plan about what are the skills that I need to improve in this
stage I started working on my plan in order to acquire the skills that I have involved in
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development plan. This stage involves both skills development and what experience I had while
developing my skills. Most of the time experience concerned with improvement it was good that
my skills were improving and I was successful in most of my efforts to improve my skills.
Though sometimes I faced difficulty while I was working on plan as this also sometimes
involved problem solving and at this I initially faced some difficulties. Improvement in these
skills gradually my confidence also improved and this made me believe that I can become a good
and successful leader. Along with this improvement of these skills directly and continuously
improved my study and presentation skills which are also required and helpful in my study.
During my efforts and development of skills there were some instances where I was required to
deal with situations using the same skills and positive experience was that I was better able to
deal with the situations (Tanaka, Okamoto and Koide, 2018). Overall my experience of learning
and improving and experimentation was successful.
Personal development plan
Skills to improve Plan to develop Time required Result of
development efforts
undertaken
Presentation Skills Taking assistance from
teacher and experts
2-3 Months Improved
presentation skills
Problem-solving skills Practicing and taking
assistance from experts
and active
experimentation
8-10 Month Better at solving
problem in study and
in employability
Time management Workshops and practice at
individual level
4-6 Months Improved time
management and
completion on task
before time and with
efficiency
Self management Taking workshop for self
management skills
7-8 Months Improve self control
and better self
understanding
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CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion it can be concluded that reflection cycle can help in
understanding requirement for development and this also involves what is the result once
development needs are identified and developed.
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REREFENCES
Arumugam, B and et.al., 2017. Reflective writing–how a medical student can reflect?. Journal of
Education Technology in Health Sciences. 4(2). pp.47-53.
Barker, D.J., Lencucha, J. and Anderson, R., 2016. Kolb’s learning cycle as a framework for
early fieldwork learning. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 72(1),
pp.28-34.
Chiu, S.K. and Lee, J., 2019. Innovative experiential learning experience: Pedagogical adopting
Kolb’s learning cycle at higher education in Hong Kong. Cogent Education, 6(1),
p.1644720.
Gai, T.T., 2017. Applying Experiential Learning Kolb’s Model into Disigning “Experiential
Learning Cycle” in Teaching Biology in General School. VNU Journal of Science:
Education Research. 33(3).
McIntyre, K.A., Dix, B. and Ward, M.L., 2018. Operationalizing Kolb’s Experiential Learning
Cycle. The Handbook of Communication Training: A Best Practices Framework for
Assessing and Developing Competence.
Tanaka, M., Okamoto, R. and Koide, K., 2018. Relationship between Reflective Practice Skills
and Volume of Writing in a Reflective Journal. Health. 10(3). pp.283-288.
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