SELF DEVELOPMENT

Self Development

Self Development

Task 1:

"Realising your potential and helping to realise that of others demands highly sensitive and well developed personal management skills" (Tice 1993 pp.12-35). Effective personal management is therefore critical if people are to make the most of their life and potential.

The success of an organization depends on people working together and sharing a common purpose. The leaders need to focus on the workforce to identify their individual human needs. Leaders are affected by the constantly changing environment in which globalization plays a key role. Accordingly, the workforce is in the trend of diversification (Sanford 1984 pp.56-65).

To survive in a fast changing world, the best managers develop themselves constantly, using their own unique learning style. But some are less interested in personal development than others. A quick way for managers to measure interest in learning is to take the Myers-Briggs type indicator. 'Intuitive thinkers' (NT), place a premium on competence, are more focused on future possibilities and value change. They pride themselves on keeping abreast of the latest developments in their field. Those who prefer 'sensing' and 'judging' (SJ) value efficiency and prefer to apply existing skills rather than learn new ones. They excel in following complex procedures and get things done in an organized manner, but need more time to learn new skills and adapt to change. Oddly, however, it is these latter types who often excel as managers simply because business is most interested in the short term and making an immediate profit. Business desperately needs change agents to create better futures. Organizations that hope to have prosperous long term future strive to balance the profiles of their management population (Tice 1993 pp.12-35).

Those who lack confidence resist learning unless it is very much on their own terms. Much of what managers learn is through direct experience, trying to solve a problem, experimenting, making mistakes and trying something different. Managers who lack confidence, however, often fail to learn from their mistakes because they blame circumstances or other people for their errors. As a result, they fail to learn from their own bad decisions.

If managers want to learn faster, there are a couple of steps to take . First, ask them selves what is their comfort zone? How long have they been in broadly the same function? When was the last time they tried something completely different, taken on some totally new responsibilities. It is well known that the most innovative people are those who are either very young or who are new to a field because they came into it with a fresh perspective.

The second thing to do is to enlist the help of those around you - your boss, team members and colleagues. You might agree to help them learn faster in exchange. Get them to ask you challenging questions regularly, to question your decisions to force you to consider other angles. Don't forget to thank people for tearing your pet ideas apart. They won't give you feedback a second time if you argue ...