Self-Reflection Report: Analyzing Experiences for Professional Growth

This report delves into the importance of self-reflection as a crucial method for learning and professional development. The author utilizes Boud's, Gibb's, and Kolb's reflective models to analyze personal experiences, particularly focusing on challenges such as stage fright and a lack of confidence encountered during presentations. The report highlights the author's strengths, such as honesty, and identifies areas for improvement, including strategies to overcome stage fright and build confidence through yoga, public speaking practice, and social interaction. The author reflects on specific incidents, detailing the emotional impact of these experiences and outlining actionable steps to foster personal and professional growth. The report emphasizes the significance of self-awareness and proactive measures in achieving long-term success, including the importance of honesty and dedication in the workplace, and the need for continuous self-improvement to become a good leader.

Running head: EVALUATION AND REFLECTION
Evaluation and Reflection
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Entry 1a
Self-reflection is one of the most important methods of learning from experiences. It is
also a very beneficial tool in the context of gaining experience in the professional fields. There
are many situations that arise in the professional fields. There are also many challenges that are
faced by an individual in his professional field. It is only by the means of these experiences that
he will be able to find out the particular traits present within him. I have selected the Boud’s
reflective model because it is the simplest model through which I have been able to identify my
own traits. I have been able to find out the strengths and the weaknesses that I have. I will also
make sure that I am working on my strengths so that I can use them for the future use and at the
same time, I can also focus upon my the drawbacks that I am having. I will try to work on them
and undertake all the necessary means that will help me to overcome the drawbacks that are
present within me. I have applied the Boud’s reflective model and have realized that one of my
greatest strengths is that I am an honest person. I make sure that I try to keep up with my honesty
at each and every step. I feel that knowing my strengths and my weaknesses are of utmost
importance because this will surely help me in the long run (Gould and Taylor, 2017).

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Figure1: Boud’s Reflective Model
One of the easiest ways to learn from the experiences and then analyze the situation is
through the Boud’s model. This is because I learn the best lessons when I pass through certain
situations. One of the experiences that I am going to narrate happened during one of the
assignments at the office. Each one of the employees had to prepare a presentation that was to be
delivered in front of the seniors, other co-workers and also some of the externals. I really worked
very hard on this assignment. It was actually a group project that I had been working on for a
long time. I was in that project along with three other colleagues. We also had to give a written
assignment few days prior than the presentation. I had received huge appreciation from all my
seniors for my work. It was liked and appreciated by all. I thought that this will remain the same
while I will be delivering the same on the presentation day. On the day of the presentation, I was

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really feeling very tensed right from the morning. I was having a feeling of intense tension and
anxiety. I was suffering from this fear that I will forget everything while speaking in front of so
many people. I also had this feeling that I will be speaking not only in front of the known faces
but there will also be many unknown faces as well. I was suffering from this feeling that I will
not be able to speak and I will fumble. I also had this feeling that I even if I manage to stand in
front of so many guests including my seniors, my co-workers, and many other externals as well.
I thought that I will be forgetting all the points of the presentation and will not be able to deliver
the assignment properly. I was suffering from a lack of confidence. However, I knew that I had
already worked on the same topic in the presentation and I really worked hard on this project and
did very well in the same. I also felt for a moment that I will give some excuse and go away. I
became much tensed when the presentation finally started. I was waiting for my turn and was
seeing my colleagues going up to the stage and starting with the presentation. I started suffering
from the feeling of palpitation. I thought that I will not be able to say anything when my turn
comes. I had a feeling of intense fear, tension, and anxiety. I had prepared really well but as soon
as my turn came, I felt that I was sweating and I found my legs shivering. I went up to the stage
when my name was called. I was so much tensed that I forgot what I had to say. I somehow
managed to deliver the presentation but I did not perform as much as I could if I was confident
enough. So, I realized that I was suffering from a lack of confidence. It is due to this problem
that I could not recollect whatever I had prepared. Though I knew that I had really prepared very
well for this same project and I had also performed so well for this same project earlier. The only
difference now was that I had to speak about this project in front of so many people and earlier I
had to only write. After a lot of difficulties, I somehow plucked up courage and made sure that I
can speak at least something. Though I managed to finish the presentation somehow, I could not

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really get good ratings from my seniors or even from the externals who had come there to rate
the project and the presentation.
So, I realized that I have this stage phobia and I suffer from the lack of confidence. So,
now I had to take this action so that I can mend these errors in the near future. I realized that I
will be facing these challenges at every step of my life both in the personal and the professional
levels as well. If I do not start working on my confidence level then I will not be able to be a
good leader as well. There will be, many instances where I will have to host several events and
also undertake many public dealings as well. I will have to speak and address so many people at
meetings and speak in front of many of the internal and external members of the organization.
So, I need to have proper fluency and self-confidence.
In order to make sure that I can work upon my lack of confidence I will make sure that I
Undertake many of the yoga classes and the concentration gaining classes. These will help me to
make sure that I am being able to increase my confidence level. I will have to open up more and
more with my friends, colleagues and rest of the people around. Engaging in conversation will
help me to make sure that I am sure about what I am speaking and that I am not really afraid of
anything. I will also make it a point to take part in as many as the public meetings and social
gatherings so that I can interact more and more with people and I can make sure that I am able to
speak without any hesitation. If I take part in many of the social gatherings then I will be able to
listen and hear about many of the social topics and will also get to see how other people speak in
front of such a large group of audience. I know that my greatest scare is to speak in front of so
many people. I have realized that I need to overcome my fear myself. Nobody from the outside
world can help me out unless I am ready to do it myself. So, I will make sure that I make it a
routine to stand in front of the mirror every day for at least an hour or so and speak about any

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topic of my choice for at least a period of half an hour. This will help me to overcome the stage
phobia that I suffer from. I will also make it a point that I do not fumble in front of the people. I
will make sure that I do not suffer from this stage phobia. I know that I will have to deal with this
pressure every now and then and I will also make sure that I do not forget those points that I have
to speak about. I will also make it a point that I am involving all the employees in a group
activity where I need to speak about any particular topic. This will help me to inculcate the
practice of speaking in front of the people. I will also make the employees give me feedbacks
about my improvement. This will also help me to track the way I am improving. Thus, it will
also help me to improve myself a great deal. I will make sure that I am able to speak fluently
whenever I am addressing any projects in front of so many people. This will surely be very
helpful for me in the long run. This will help me to make sure that I am gaining self-confidence
day by day and I have also had full faith in myself.

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References
Gould, N. and Taylor, I., 2017. Reflective learning for social work: research, theory and practice. Routledge.

8SELF REFLECTION
Entry 1b.
Self-reflection is the best method of learning. Be it in my personal life or even in my
professional life, I always try to learn through the means of my experiences. The best way
through which I can learn is by the process of self-evaluation and self-reflection. I have learned
well about my traits when I started working and stepped into the professional world. I have fallen
into many different situations and learned that I have both the positive and the negative aspects
of myself. I have started taking steps that will help me to overcome the negative aspects and
work on the positive ones. I will be using some of the reflective models that will help me to
narrate the different experiences that I have learned from the different situations that I have been
through. The first model that I will be talking about is Gibb's reflective model. The description of
the event goes like this that it was during one of the office projects. A very important business
meet was scheduled and we were asked by our team leader to stay in the office at night so that
we can easily deal with any kind of emergencies. Though all the employees apparently accepted
the proposal they actually had different plans. They did not stay honest and had taken leave and
did not stay in the office for the night. I had this feeling that I cannot apply any dishonest means.
I stayed honest and dedicated towards the work and stayed at the office all night. On being
enquired by our team lead, all the employees said that they were at the office all night. However
the team lead had a secret camera set in the office, so he had seen who stayed at the office for
real and who did not. So, he had suspended them all for a week and gave me a promotion for my
honesty. So, after analyzing the event I went to this conclusion that I must always stick to this
honest nature and inculcate it further for the future days. My action will be to make sure that I
never allow any dishonest means to crop up in my way. I will always be honest in all my
endeavors.

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I will be talking about a certain incidence with the help of the Kolb’s Reflective model (Kolb,
2014). The experience happened when we had to deliver a presentation as part of a business
project. I did exceptionally well when I prepared the presentation. I got the highest rating than
the rest of the employees. However, I had a huge problem when the same presentation had to be
delivered orally and we had to speak on the same in front of the colleagues, the seniors and also
some of the externals. I was literally shivering and I did not know what to do and what not to do.
I was extremely nervous and I somehow managed to go and deliver the presentation. I had
forgotten most of the points and I could realize that I was really suffering from a lack of
confidence. I could not perform well due to the lack of confidence that I had. So, I have learned
from this experience that I must be able to inculcate within myself a confidence and a faith
within my own abilities. So, I will make it a point that I take part in many of the public meetings
and social meetings where I can really carry on with the practice of speaking in front of such a
large number of people. I must work on myself and overcome this lack of confidence. I will also
stand in front of the mirror every time. This will help me to overcome the fear of speaking in
front of a large number of people. I must always open up to people and try hosting many of the
group activities that take place in the office. This will help me to overcome this problem of lack
of enough self-confidence.
The other situation that I am going to narrate is through the Boud’s reflective model. The
experience goes like this that once we were really facing huge issues at our office. We were
really being kept under huge pressure by one of the new manager who was appointed. He made
us work all day long without any break. The normal working hour was 8 hours each day,
whereas he made us work for almost 15 hours each day without any refreshment breaks. We also
cannot raise our voice as he threatened that he would register some false reports of theft against

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us to the senior management. These were slowly getting on our nerves and so all the employees
decided that they would talk to the senior management personally and would escalate against the
manager. However I was very afraid to do this because I thought that it would worsen the
situation and no one will ever believe us. So, I had a feeling that maybe we will get thrown out of
the office and will be terminated. So, I thought that it is perhaps better to not register any
complaints and carry on with whatever is going on for the time being. However, it was with the
support and encouragement given by my co-workers that I gathered the courage of going to the
senior management and escalate about this manager. However, even at that moment I had this
feeling that I am not really doing the correct thing. I was suffering from the lack of courage and
also from the lack of sufficient confidence. However when I saw that the rest of my colleagues
were very bold and they fearlessly escalated the manager and told about all the harshnesses that
they were facing. Then I thought that I must not stay silent and must speak out. So, I finally
plucked up courage and joined with the rest of the people. I talked about the hardships that I was
facing along with others and about the unethical practices that the manager was following. I was
surprised, happy and also very shocked to see that the management had really accepted our
grievances and they promised to take necessary actions against it. They also said that they were
really very happy that we did raise our voice and did not accept that what was unfair and unjust.
They even scolded us for not approaching before this (Potter, 2015). The senior management did
no delay in taking further actions. They said that we must have reached out to them just when we
started facing these tortures. They also did not delay at all in taking any actions. They called for
the manager in front of all of us and terminated him for his unjust acts. They even made sure that
we do not face any such issues ever again. They also told that henceforth they will make sure
that none of the employees are being humiliated or tortured physically or even mentally. Thus, it

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is from this particular event that I concluded it is not always prudent to be a safe man. It is also
necessary that one raises his or her voice for their own rights and well being. So, I will make sure
that I abide by this lesson and take the required actions for the upcoming days. I will start
picking up my courage and confidence and then speaking about that what is right. I will make
sure I am not being a safe man always. I will not step back whenever there is any such
emergency. However, I have also got this knowledge from this experience that it is wise to be a
good listener and a good observer. I can at least stay on the safe side for some time and then get
to know the entire matter. This will help me in understanding each and every situation properly
and then take the necessary actions. This will be very helpful in all my future endeavors.
However, I also got this lesson that in some of the other cases it is also required to be on the safe
side especially when there are any controversial situations that arise in the organization.
Revolting is always not the best option. There can also be many harmful effects created due to
this untimely and unjust revolts or problems (Gould and Taylor, 2017).
So, it can thereby be concluded that I will always be very open towards the entire positive and
the negative aspects of my personality. I will be looking towards the situations and the
experiences that take place with me. I will try to work on the negative points and improve them
for the future days. I will also be utilizing the positive aspects for the better means and will be
nurturing them further. I will also keep a proper track of the improvements that I am making by
taking regular feedbacks from the friends, relatives and also the colleagues with whom I will be
meeting on a regular basis.

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References
Gould, N. and Taylor, I., 2017. Reflective learning for social work: research, theory and
practice. Routledge.
Kolb, D.A., 2014. Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development.
FT press.
Potter, C., 2015. Leadership development: an applied comparison of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and
Scharmer’s Theory U. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(6), pp.336-342.
Task 2 - Career and Personal Development Plan (30% of the portfolio)
2a. Personal Analysis
STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES
One of the strengths that I have is
honesty. I will use this trait at each and
every points of my life both at the personal
and at the professional level. I have been
largely respected by all my friends, my
relatives and my co workers because they
feel that they have really got a very honest
person within me. I give this aspect the
most importance because it really helps in
the being myself. I make sure that I stay
honest to my bosses and to my
subordinates as well. I act with honesty in
each and every aspect.
I also consider myself as very caring. I
believe that even if there is a professional
relationship between me and my
My opportunities are to become an
empathetic person. The major problems
that exists in most of the working
organizations is that the employees feels
avoided and ignored and they do not really
find anyone who would understand their
needs. So, I will work on my strengths and
will try to make sure that I develop the
feeling of empathy within myself.