Personal Skill Development: Zuckerberg, Covey & Learning Styles

This report provides an analysis of personal effectiveness, focusing on the key skills and behaviors of Mark Zuckerberg, the application of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and an evaluation of one's own learning style. It explores Zuckerberg's problem-solving skills, effective communication, and equanimity, alongside Covey's proactive habits, goal-setting, prioritization, and synergistic approaches. The report also includes a self-evaluation of learning styles, highlighting visual and kinesthetic preferences, and compares methods for improving skills such as leadership and patience through formal training and self-awareness. This document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a wide range of study resources, including past papers and solved assignments, for students seeking academic support.

Personal
Effectiveness

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Task 1...........................................................................................................................................1
Task 2...........................................................................................................................................5
Task 3...........................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Skill development refers to the advancement of the skills of an individual. It can also be defined as enhancement of productive
capabilities of an individual through training and learning. This process helps in identifying the gap and developing the skills
accordingly which allows the individual to achieve organisational goal easily and effectively (Brock and Von Wangenheim,2019). To
achieve the organisational goal effectively it is very important to have a right set of skills. As right skills help the organisation in
getting the right direction which help the organisation in easy accomplishment of target and also provide success to the organisational
concern. The skill development also helps in economic stability and growth in the lives of an individual. It aids in building
professional network and enhances communication, negotiation and time management skill of an individual. Mark Zuckerberg is an
American entrepreneur who was born on May 14, 1984. He is very well known for founding social media website Facebook. He
launched Facebook in February 2004. He is the Chairman, CEO and controlling shareholder of the company and went on to develop
Facebook (Decety,2020). He was a student in Harvard university but he dropped out in between. On the present day the revenue of the
company is about $17.9 billion and it also caters to 1.7 billion users all around the globe. This file will be based on personal skill and
behaviour of Mark Zuckerberg, Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People and evaluation of own learning style has also been
discussed in the report contrast of two different learning styles for improvement of skills in order to undertake personal skills
development has also been analysed in this report.
MAIN BODY
Task 1
Analyse key skills and behaviours of Mark Zuckerberg
Key skills and behaviours of Mark Zuckerberg
Some of the key skills and behaviours of Mark Zuckerberg are discussed below -
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1. Problem solving – Mark Zuckerberg is a problem solver as he was the reason behind the development of Facebook and boom
of social media. This skill has been developed in him during the creation of Facebook because individuals don't know the way
of expressing their thoughts online while maintaining their privacy and it was a big problem in his path. He usually works hard
on analysing what actually is going wrong and how he can fix it and he can't stay calm without solving the issue (Hoffmann,
Proferes and Zimmer, 2018).
Advantages -
 It helps in mitigating the conflicts among the organisation.
 It also helps in enhancing the potential of the team which can help the company in gaining success.
 It also encourages innovative and creative ideas in the company.
Limitations -
 Lack of team spirit
 It is a time consuming process.
 It increases competition among members in the team
2. Effective communication - Zuckerberg has always tried to build a good communicational relationship with his employees as
effective communication helps in building good interpersonal relationships in the organisation and which helps the
organisation to achieve success.
Advantages -
 It helps in building trust among the members in the organisation
 It improves team work and productivity among the employees.
 It helps in creating good relationships with the client.
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Limitation -
 Due to diversified workforce there are chances of miscommunication among the employees.
 Cultural difference and language barriers among employees in the organisation hampers communication ability of the leaders
like Mark Zuckerberg.
3. Equanimity - Zuckerberg has a calm state of mind i.e. he doesn't lose his cool in the difficult situation. He usually employs a
calm approach towards complex situations (Lian, Hua and Said, 2022). There were many times when his company was not
doing well and was in a great mess but he doesn't lose his cool and handles all the situation calmly
Advantages -
 It helps in formation of effective decision-making.
 It supports emotional regulation and helps in maintaining mental peace.
Limitation -
 . Not adequate to handle daily work place problems.
 Unable to manage conflicts in the organisation.
Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People
The seven habits of highly successful people have been mentioned in a book of the same name which was written by Stephen
R. Covey. The seven habits have been highlighted below -
 Habit 1 Be Proactive – This habit tells that one should focus on activities that can be controlled and influenced instead of
focusing on activities that can’t be controlled. Zuckerberg is very proactive as he tackles every problem head on and makes
sure his company is flexible enough to deal with outside complexities and external disturbances.
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 Habit 2 Begin with the end in mind - This habit states that clear, measures of success should be defined and an influential
plan should be made to achieve them. Zuckerberg has efficiently planned different strategies to achieve desired objectives and
which help the company to gain competitive benefit and also helps in achieving success (Moran, 2020).
 Habit 3 Put first things first – This habit states that one should prioritize their goals and must work on them instead of
reacting to urgencies. The vision of Zuckerberg is very clear and he has prioritised his goals and he focuses on these goals to
achieve success.
 Habit 4 Think win - It is a character based habit which helps in human interactions and collaborations. Win approach focuses
on seeing life as a cooperative arena rather than competitive one. Mark Zuckerberg through facebook has collaborated with
many small social media platforms by building a high trust relationship among the organisation.
 Habit 5 Seek first to Understand, then to be understood- This trait focuses on influencing others by understanding their
needs and perspectives. Zuckerberg has a skill of effective communication and it helps him in creating a friendly environment
in the organisation which help the employee to understand the behaviour and needs of each other.
 Habit 6 Synergize – It is a habit of creative cooperation. Synergy means two heads are better than one. This habit is trained
among individual when they begin to interact with others and began to gain new insight. Zuckerberg gives emphasis on
generation of new and innovative solutions that can leverage the difference and can also satisfy all the employees as well as
shareholders of the company (Reddy,2021).
 Habit 7 Sharpen the saw – It means that greatest asset must be preserved as it helps in enhancing energy, motivation and
balance between work life. Mark Zuckerberg motivates his employees by giving them several benefits as well as also provide
them work life balance (Sheeba and Krishnan, 2018).
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Task 2
Evaluation of your own Learning Style
Evaluation of Learning Style
I strongly focus on ethical values and try to work within the ethical grounds as it helps me in critically evaluating my choices,
actions and decisions. Ethics helps me distinguish between good and bad and also helps me in working with commitment and
morality. I am a risk taker and I am willing to do things that involves risk or danger to achieve a goal. Risk taking attitude of mine
helps me developing measure of innovation and creativity. I usually accept new ideas easily and try to work hard on it. It also pushes
me to work outside my comfort zone which helps me to learn new lessons. I am very confident and my confidence assists me in
grabbing new opportunities. It gives me positive energy to fulfil my dreams and to achieve my personal and professional goals. Being
confident also helps me in dealing with conflicts and to resolve them. It also gives me courage to trust my own decisions. My personal
learning style is that I am methodical and i usually prefer well organised way to do a task. Generally, I do not use fancy approach to do
a task and I usually do things in a very ordered manner. It also helps me in easily tracking my progress and performance and also gives
to chance to detect my mistakes and to rectify them. I am open to feedback and it helps me in modifying my mistakes in the best
possible manner and which will help me in long term. I really like to relate my work with general principles. I am rational and
believe in logic rather than vague statements as it helps me in giving corrective reasoning in an argument. I tend to discuss things with
others before putting my own view in front of them as it helps me to understand the point of view of others (Sudharshan, 2020). I
sometimes guide people in the wrong manner unintentionally. In discussions I get impatient and am not able to stay calm and I really
get annoyed by someone that seems slow. I usually ponder many alternatives before selecting any one. I like people who usually
balance their work and do not carry any work load on them. I am very flexible person and can cope up with changes in the situation
and the circumstances and which helps me in surviving in every situation. I can do every possible thing to get a job done. Other people
often find me insensitive towards their feelings and due to which I am unable to show compassion and empathy to them. I am realistic
and sensible and I try to understand things and measure the fact and figure before taking any step and I try to keep people on point and
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try to avoid cloud nine speculations. Practicality in my attitude helps me in achieving my goal easily and efficiently and it also helps
me in concentrate on particular thing and helps me in maximising my time and resources and realistic goals helps me in boosting my
self-esteem.
The two main learning styles of mine with their strength and limitation has been discussed below -
1. Visual learning – I am a visual learner as I usually learn things by observing or seeing pictures or by reading. As it is already
known it is easily to remember things we see. I like to read things.
Strengths -
 I am good at spellings and grammar as I regularly read different material which helped me to enhance my vocabulary and
communication skills.
 Visual learning also enhanced my creativity and I can understand complex charts and graphs easily and quickly (Waters, Lamb
and Mehay,2021).
Limitation -
 Sometimes I struggle in listening and understanding verbal direction and information.
 I usually get distracted with scenarios which reflect different images.
2. Kinaesthetic learning– This type of learning styles is also known as tactile learners. I usually learn things through experiencing
or doing things. Generally, I like to get involved in events personally to understand the concept easily.
Strengths
 I am agile and have good coordination between my eyes and hand.
 The energy level of mine is really high and I am excellent experimenter.
Limitation -
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 I am bad at learning things with sense of touch.
 I can't do a particular task for too long.
Task 3
Comparison of Methods of Improving Skills
Identify two methods for improving your skills and briefly explain how they are used
The two skills that have the scope for improvement such as Leadership skills and impatience are explained herein.
 Formal training- It is very important to have good leadership skill as it plays an important role in the development of an
individual. Training plays an important role in improving my leadership skills. Formal training will help me to come out of
my comfort zone as it helps me to challenge myself with new tasks in the training sessions. These formal training sessions
have taught me to forecast problems and try to make effective strategies to overcome them. It also teaches me to take feedback
from others as it is a quality of an effective leader. It enhances my confidence and helps me in motivating and influencing
others by my word of speech (Winell, 2019).
 Informal education - Informal education plays an important role in making me patient as it has taught me to be more reserved
and patient and allot time to a task properly. Due to informal education I started noticing the time when I was becoming
impatient and I tried to change my reactional approach on these situations. I started pushing back on unreasonable demand. I
tried to give all my effort to a particular task in order to meet the deadlines. I stopped taking unnecessary burden on myself
which also help me in reducing burden and stress and also helps me in maintaining my peace of mind.
Identify the similarities and differences between the two methods.
The similarities that have been identified between the two methods are that both the methods aim at improving skills and removing
weakness from the individual which help them in enhancing their productivity and performance. Both the methods help in forecasting
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of problems and plan accordingly which also help in gaining advantage over others in the industry. The difference that has been
identified between the two methods are that in Formal training systematic approach is followed to improve and develop a skill
whereas in informal education no systematic method is used to improve the skill whereas it can be stated that the informal education
plays an integral role in generating patience in me.
Discuss which method would be more effective to develop your skills and explain why
The method which is more effective in development of skills is Training as it will help me in learning new things everyday
which will not only motivate me but it also helps me in enhancing my confidence which leads to better job performance and which
helps in getting acknowledgement in front of others. In simple words it can be stated that training program helps me in acquisition of
new skills, strengthen my existing skills and also enhances my productivity and also helped me in becoming better leader (Yousef,
2018).
CONCLUSION
From the above file it has been concluded that Skill development plays a crucial role in overall development of an individual.
Skill development helps in enhancement of productivity and efficiency of an individual. It not also helps in professional development
of an individual but also plays a great role in personal advancement of a person. In the report a brief discussion has also been done on
the key competencies of Mark Zuckerberg such as Problem solving, Effective communication and Equanimity with its strengths and
limitations. The framework of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People has also been discussed in context of Personal
effectiveness. The evaluation of different learning style has also been done to identify my own learning style. I had also done analysis
of Honey and Mumford’s learning styles questionnaire to efficiently evaluate above discussed learning style. Two learning style
named as Visual learning and Kinaesthetic learning has also been discussed briefly with its strengths and limitation. The example of
my personal strength and weakness has also been given in the report. Two methods to improve my leadership skills and my impatient
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behaviour has also been discussed in this report. These two methods are Formal training and informal education. The similarities and
differences has also been discussed between these two methods. Training is more effective as it helps an individual in many ways and
also enhances performance and productivity of an individual.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Brock, J.K.U. and Von Wangenheim, F., 2019. Demystifying AI: What digital transformation leaders can teach you about realistic
artificial intelligence. California Management Review, 61(4), pp.110-134.
Decety, J., 2020. Empathy in medicine: what it is, and how much we really need it. The American journal of medicine, 133(5),
pp.561-566.
Hoffmann, A.L., Proferes, N. and Zimmer, M., 2018. “Making the world more open and connected”: Mark Zuckerberg and the
discursive construction of Facebook and its users. New media & society, 20(1), pp.199-218.
Lian, C.K., Hua, T.K. and Said, N.E.M., 2022. The Impact of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits on Students’ Academic Performance during
the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 21(1).
Moran, R.E., 2020. Examining switching power: Mark Zuckerberg as a novel networked media mogul. Information, Communication
& Society, 23(4), pp.491-506.
Reddy, A., 2021. Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence in Terms of Leadership Behavior and Personal Effectiveness Among+
2 Level Students. Ashok Yakkaldevi.
Sheeba, T. and Krishnan, R., 2018, July. Prediction of student learning style using modified decision tree algorithm in e-learning
system. In Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference on Data Science and Information Technology (pp. 85-90).
Sudharshan, D., 2020. Virtual Reality (VR). In Marketing in Customer Technology Environments. Emerald Publishing
Limited.Pravitasari, L.D.A., 2019. Person deixis as persuasion in self-improvement book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People (Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Negeri Malang).
Waters, M., Lamb, I. and Mehay, R., 2021. Learning and Personality Styles in Practice. In The Essential Handbook for GP Training
and Education (pp. 133-144). CRC Press.
Winell, M., 2019. Personal goals: The key to self-direction in adulthood. In Humans as self-constructing living systems (pp. 261-288).
Routledge.
Yousef, D.A., 2018. Learning style preferences of postgraduate students: The case of the British University in Dubai, the United Arab
Emirates. Journal of International Education in Business.
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