Reflective Journal: Personal Growth through Core Skill Analysis

This reflective journal presents a student's self-assessment of core skills, including time management, feedback handling, leadership, and teamwork. The student utilizes frameworks like the Johari window, Kolb cycle, and Gibbs reflective cycle to analyze their strengths and weaknesses in each skill. The journal explores the importance of time management, the ability to handle feedback constructively, the development of leadership qualities, and the effectiveness of teamwork. The student reflects on their current competence levels, identifies areas for improvement, and outlines action plans for future development. The analysis includes personal experiences, peer feedback, and theoretical concepts, providing a comprehensive overview of the student's personal and professional growth journey. The journal concludes with a summary of findings and a plan for continued skill development.

Name
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Table of contents
Introduction…..………………………………………………………………………………1
Core Skill one………………………………………………………………………….…….1
Core Skill two……...…………………………………………………………………………3
Core Skill Three……..……………………………………………………………….…..….5
Core Skill Four…...…………………………………………………………….…………….7
Summary and Action Plan...………………………………………………………………..9
Appendix…………………….………………………………………………………………10
References…………………………………………………………………………….……15
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1. INTRODUCTION:
It is a personal reflective journal that I am presenting here, this journal is an outcome of an
exercise where I retrospect my personal growth under the framework of Johari window, Kolb
cycle, and Gibbs cycle. Most of the reflections presented in this journal are based on active
experimentation, where I tried to develop my own coaching cycles to attend certain issues.
Core Skill One
The first core skill to be discussed is Time Management. Personal time management is a skill
that allows us to plan the events in the optimum fashion so that we can attend all the
important works and give them their quality time. For me, the main purpose of time
management skill is to introduce effectiveness. The definition is given by management
experts also teaches us the same thing (Croft, 1996)
Why is this core skill important
In my views, time Management is a vital key to success as this provides a strong foundation
to succeed in all of the life's aspects. During the phase of my introduction to the skill of time
management, I realized that time management is much more than following a schedule. Time
management is equally about spending quality time with the task that you have in your hands
(Grissom, 2015).
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Figure 1: The diagram of Pareto Principle, it describes the essence of time management, how selection of effort levels
can change the efficiency levels
Pareto Principle a universal principle where one can learn to increase his or her efficiency by first
breaking down the tasks on the merit of utility and then fix the amount of time that he or she wants
to allocate for that. It clearly states that spend quality time with vital tasks and try to accommodate
trivial tasks with the flow of the events. On a personal level, I am adopting this practice in order to
improve my time management skills.
How competent are you currently?
In a recent Peer-to-Peer survey done in my additional classes for the management suggested
that I am a punctual person and I can be trusted for deadlines. When I measure up the
projection of this skill in Johari window then I find that I am in an open arena because
everybody is aware of my trait of punctuality.
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Figure 2 My standings in the Johari window for the skill of time management
From my first experience, I feel my time management competency has improved drastically.
Even though I may have learned this way through my life it was only when I was introduced
to Kolb's learning cycling (Kolb's, 1984) I was made aware of my learning style. My peers
have also noticed how I well I manage my time and always approach me for support as they
know that the chances I am up to date with my work very likely.
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Figure 3 My standing in the Kolb learning and reflection cycle
Gibbs reflective cycle also treats me at the level of feelings in the terms of standing, the reason is
very simple, I have made some action plans for effective time management. Now I am in a course of
implementation, where good and bad experiences are coming my way.
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Figure 4 my standing in the Gibbs Reflective Cycle for Time management
Contradictions or allowable weaknesses in my analysis
My learning cycle taught me that the concept of quality time as the most important feature for
any type of time management. Quality time demands complete focus on the task and
sometimes it can become a tough job to stay focused on the task that you are dealing with.
This is my weakness, probably with a passage of time, I will train myself in this art of staying
focused and setting up deadlines for the simplest of the tasks.
How will this skill help me in the future?
The art of time management will help me a great deal setting up an example for others; in
future, I can also expect that it will become a leadership trait for me. The art of proper time
management can help me in becoming a well-organised professional.
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Core Skill Two
The essence of second core skill is related to “handling the feedbacks.” Feedbacks are an
essential part of the official life of an individual. Providing a sensible feedback and handling
criticism and appreciation coming in the form of feedback is an essential quality and it helped
me a great deal in growing up as a human being and as a through professional.
The importance of this core skill
A feedback is a communication with a purpose, every check and balance exercise is a form
of feedback. Last year during the month of June I attended a Webinar on the topic of “how to
receive and prepare” feedbacks, this Webinar provided me with a better understanding of my
personality. The tests conducted during the webinar suggested that primarily I am an
extrovert who can put his thoughts with great ease. Being an extrovert can be considered as
the first step towards being a person who can deliver feedbacks (POPESCU, 2016).
My standings in the Johari window for the core skill of “feedback” keep me in open arena.
Where my peers can see a great possibility for me in the terms of giving away feedbacks and
receiving them.
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Figure 5 My standing for the core skill of feedback in the Johari window.
When I talk in the terms of improvement of this skill then ideally I can say that I am on the stage of
action plan where I am learning about new words and methods to communicate my feelings to
others. My seniors and peers are helping me a great deal in improving this skill and their feedbacks
are giving me some new additions in my action plan.
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It is a phase of active experimentation for me in the Kolb framework. I am making some notes that
can be termed as Reflective observations. These observations are bringing in the real fruits of my
active experiments by contributing to my learning curve largely.
Figure 6 My standing for "handling the feedbacks in Kolb cycle
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My current competence levels with the skill of receiving and giving feedbacks
I must say that I need to rework on my dictionary of the words. It is very important because
sometimes-crude words can spoil many things for you. Now I also make it sure that rather
than talking in the tone of a critic I should talk like a person who is more interested in
reforms. I am also learning this art of alienating my emotional baggage while giving
feedbacks. I am a human being in the end and may have likes and dislikes for people,
however, it is my attempt to remove the shadows of these likes and dislikes from the
feedbacks that I am producing.
Contradictions or allowable weaknesses in my analysis
It is very difficult to draw a line between honesty and cruel honesty, sometimes feedbacks
can become a tool of reform for an adamant. It means they can be very cruel and unpleasant.
Sometimes situations demand a bitter pill like treatment, this is one area where assessments
of the events fail.
3.4 How will this skill help me in the future
Coming up with nice feedback is a leadership trait that has the power to change the
dynamisms of a (Adair, 2013). I am polishing this skill because it will help me in acquiring
the position of a leader in the team. After a point of time, it becomes a managerial trait. I am
also studying the list of Johari adjectives because they form the standards of the feedback in
various institutions.
Core skill Three
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The third core skill for which I went for a retrospect is leadership skills. Leadership skill is a
set of traits that allows an individual to lead a team and help them in realizing their
objectives.
Importance of leadership skill
Leadership skill is very necessary to have a steady career graph, leadership has the power to
increase your efficiency and give a justification to your experience that you are gaining in the
field of job. Leadership skill is all about taking and sharing the responsibilities.
My Current Competence level with the skill of leadership
During the course of my personal reflective analysis, I went for many online tests where they
try to search out the presence of leadership traits in you. My score in most of the tests was
average, it is a matter of worry, because getting an entry in any trade is an easy task,
sustaining yourself in the same trade under the pressures of job can be difficult if you do not
have a set of leadership qualities in you.
I must say that I have a long road ahead of me when it comes to leadership skill because it
requires an experience of life clubbed together with a positive and progressive outlook
towards the future.
In the Johari window analysis I find myself in the blind arena of the windowpane, I failed to
perform better in the leadership skill tests it clearly indicates that in the Johari window I fall
in an unknown area or the second pane because I am not aware of my own limitations and
talents.
Figure 7 My status in the Johari window for the skill of leadership
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