2.1 Self-awareness

Self-awareness is a term that is used by many researchers in reference to the capacity of awareness of feelings, behaviors, and thoughts of individual gains which are normally obtained from either a positive or a negative influence (Butler et al., 93). Human beings have different cultural understandings together with backgrounds which make them diverse and complex and thus it is important for one to get self-awareness as this enables human beings to understand the perceptions of the other human beings as thus enable their interactions with one another (Butler et al., 93). Self-awareness is important to any individual provides one with opportunities of reflecting on one’s self as well as evaluating how they react to different situations. This term can also be defined as a demonstrating capacity of an individual becoming the object as far as the attention of such an individual is concerned (Butler et al., 93). In this case, an individual is able to evaluate himself or herself through identification of his or her behaviors, information storage concerning an individual as well as emotion processing (Butler et al., 93).

Self-awareness is important in determination of one’s strengths and weaknesses as an individual has to understand how they normally react to different situations so as to be able to come up with appropriate measures that they can use to interact with others. One becomes more self-aware when he or she evaluates and reflects on certain experiences that involve giving feedbacks to the individual (Rachel et al., 668). In addition to this, self-awareness is also influential in developing leaders who are likely to be very productive in the business world. Being self-aware gives one an opportunity of understanding personal values, the ways to manage individuals’ behaviors as well as desires which are also considered to be very important in the management and leadership world (Rachel et al., 668). The following are some of the influences that are brought in due to an individual being self-aware.

Self-awareness is very essential in any management process as it allows managers to identify the gaps that may be existing in their management skills as well as give them an opportunity of uncovering the areas that they are most effective in together with those areas that they need to work on so as to make themselves efficient (Showry et al., 15). Managers who are able to understand this are able to make discerning decisions and also this helps them in being able to motivate their junior employees towards attaining positive outcomes in their duties (Showry et al., 15). It is not easy for one to learn his or her self-aware despite that this is very important in improving the leadership skills of any manager (Showry et al., 15).

Another important aspect of the mangers that are considered to be self-aware is emotional intelligence. This is defined to be the ability for one to manage themselves as well as their relationships with other individuals. This is very important for any manager as being able to control one’s emotion gives the employees an ability to work effectively within the organization thus improving their productivity (David et al., 73). Managers who are emotionally intelligent also have four common characters that are important in any management process, that is, self-management, social skills, social awareness and also self-awareness (David et al., 73). All these four leadership behaviors are important for any leader who aims at improving the productivity of the company and interacting effectively with their employees.

2.2 Continuous self-development

Continuous self-development is also important to any manager who can be considered to be effective in the managerial duties. The main aim of self-development is increasing personal actualization of the potential of an individual through learning, exploring and also seeking for challenges (Parker & Sharon, 687). This is also effective in the process of expanding the knowledge of an individual through taking into account personal skills together with capabilities as a way of taking roles and functions as parts of the entire team (Parker & Sharon, 687). This management concept is important as its emphasis on the importance of individuals’ social status, material appearance, self-image as well as a humanistic concern (Parker & Sharon, 687).

Continuous Self-Development is considered to be a necessary process that individuals have to take in control so as to be able to improve their development as well as their learning, having a deep understanding of others as well as continuously seeking knowledge which has the impact of effectively contributing to the success of any individual (Raymond et al., 167). This managerial concept encourages individuals to improve their professional skills past the training that they receive from the employers at the start of the job. the main advantage that is associated with this terminology is an improvement of competency as well as it also enhances labor mobility of different employees. These, therefore, is much important in any managerial environment as it empowers individuals as well as motivates them so as to focus on achieving their lifelong dreams as well as their goals (Raymond et al., 167). Another advantage that is associated with this concept in management is due to the fact that it improves the professional capabilities of individual as well as personal values too (Raymond et al., 167).

In accordance with future management, this concept is very important in building managers that can be considered as successful in the market. Continuous self-development gives an individual an ability to continuously remain developing their managerial competencies while at the same time realizing the capabilities that such an individual has (Cummings et al., 104). Continuous development is the basic term in which continuous self-development is based on. This is employed in any organization so as to make the organization achieve its organizational objectives through recognition of the link that exists between learning and performance (Cummings et al., 104). Since an organization is considered to be a group of individuals, the improvement of the productivity of the individuals through continuous development also improves the performance of the organization (Cummings et al., 104). In this case, a successful future manager has to remain improving the productivity of the organization so as to allow the other junior employees to emulate from this and thus by doing this, it will influence the productivity of the organization positively.

Employers who embrace continuous self-development have the ability to influence the development of their employees throughout (Knowles et al., 159). This is very important as it enables the organization to improve the competency of their employees in their lifetime in the organization which has the impact of improving the competency of the organization with time (Knowles et al., 159). This is one way of improving the productivity of the labor force of the organization. It is therefore important for any future manager to apply continuous self-development in the management process so as to improve the productivity of the organization. Both self-awareness and continuous self-development are important for anyone who is aiming at occupying a managerial post in the future as it allows one to acquire the necessary knowledge that can lead the organization to the next level.

3.1. Template One: Incident from Residential weekend

My chosen toolkit is: Belbin and The Five Factor Model

My results for this toolkit are: Belbin- Resource Investigator and Implementer

The Five Factor Model- Conscientiousness and Agreeableness

Summary of critical incident

The data transfer was the last task, in the last task, I was assigned to a group of members from many countries. The teacher asked us to choose our own role based on Belbin, and then I learned about the roles chosen by each member of the group. We selected a leader who was responsible for overseeing the whole process and organizing us to accomplish this task faster and better. We are divided into two groups, my group was responsible for the data transfer, another group was responsible for the Trial of Reason test. Then we got together to start the discussion of the rules of the game, each member said his understanding of the topic, the leader of the integration of everyone’s ideas, let us began the experiment. We were constantly failing, and we were constantly changing better ways. Everyone has their own strengths. I also actively share my thoughts with team leaders and team members, but my thoughts Mostly not used by the leader, because he thinks my method can not let us accomplish the task better. When we were constantly trying, I calm analysis of the method given by everyone, sum up the failure of the place. At the same time we use the phone to record every process, so we did not make the same mistake because of forgetting. When the panelists arrived, he chose the members of our two Trial of Reason test group to complete the questioning, and the members of our group got the correct answers in a short time. The members of our group went on to complete our task. I was assigned to the 3rd position, because we had a long time to practice, and all of our team members worked together. In the end, we successfully completed the task.

How does your thinking and behaviour in this critical incident reflect the findings of your chosen self-analysis toolkit?

My Belbin report indicates that my my preferred roles are Resource Investigator and Implementer. I played the role of Implementer in the team, I share method with each member, My agreeableness let members to adapt faster to each other, also making our actions more efficient, but I lack the flexibility to not timely the conversion of their own ideas. I also played the role of Resource Investigator, I am very active in the group and I like to communicate with every team member. I can understand their thoughts from every team member, if I get a good idea I will start implementing it. However, I need team members to actively cooperate with me and give me more help to let me get more information. If there is no progress for a long time, maybe I will giving up. And then, with The Five Factor Model, Conscientiousness means doing things with their own plans and due diligence based on “How to be a better leader.” But often a high sense of responsibility leaves me with no flexibility, and I showed this trait in this mission. (Toegel; Barsoux (2012)) Agreeableness means that I have compassion and love to work with others, and I trust and help others too. (Toegel; Barsoux (2012))

Identify how you will use this learning in the future.

This event is very meaningful to me, in this activity I recognize a lot of my own deficiencies. For example: I lack the flexibility, which makes me can not change the way of thinking to complete the task, lost a lot of time. I really need the cooperation of teammates, if teammates unworthy me and I will be very hard to keep going. At the same time, I also understand how to get along with people from different countries and cultures, which is very beneficial to me. In the future, I will increase my flexibility in doing things and bring different ideas to future work.

3.2 Template Two

My chosen toolkit is: Belbin and Personality tests

My results for this toolkit are: belbin-Plant and Teamworker

Personality tests- Observant and Thinking

Summary of critical incident

In 2016, I took a group survey activity in the UK, the school asked us to choose two supermarkets for comparison, and we needed to conduct site visits and customer surveys. After we knew the topic, we had a group discussion right away, but we were all students from different countries with different language and cultural differences. most team members participate in such practical activities at first time. The first time Meeting the efficiency of the discussion is very low, for a long time did not find a good direction how to complete the task. However, we all have our own tasks. My main responsibility is to conduct a questionnaire survey and collect the opinions and information of team members. I created a lot of problems. During the field investigation, I distributed them to the current customers. After the customers finished, I got a lot of feedback, which provided important information for our investigation eassy. After that, we had many group meetings. At each meeting, I listened attentively to the speeches of each member, recorded their views, and then shared the information with each member. In the end, we successfully completed this survey eassy and achieved good results.

How does your thinking and behaviour in this critical incident reflect the findings of your chosen self-analysis toolkit?

This critical incident The role I chose in the Belbin Report was Plant and Teamworker. I played Plant in the team, and I came up with a lot of questionnaire ideas. After customers answered the question, we quickly understand the differences between two supermarkets. When we encounter problem, I think of many good ideas to solve the problem. However, I can easily overlook some minor problems. For example, when I wrote the eassy, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to prepare some data, though then I investigated the supplement. This is also my weakness. For Teamworker, I’d love to work with members of the team, for example, we go to a survey together. I can also be a serious listener and listen attentively to the opinions of team members. However, I often hesitate, when I have different ideas with team members, often I will not be very firm about my own ideas, I do not want to conflict with the team members. In the Personality tests report I chose Observant and Thinking. About Observant, every time I attend a conference, I listen carefully and record it. Because I am very careful, so I consider a lot of things, take a long time in decision-making. About Thinking, I made a clear and rational decision in this investigation. Although it cost me more time, I got a more accurate answer.

Identify how you will use this learning in the future.

In this critical incident I learned how to communicate with people from different countries and cultures, and how to accomplish such an investigation. In the future, when I encounter such activities, I will be more likely to communicate with each other and pay more attention to some details of things to avoid the same as this time there is missing data problems. I will change my habit of hesitation, not let myself consider too many things. I will seize the important aspects, to reduce the time spent in decision-making.

4. Summer

My strengths and weaknesses have been confirmed through the toolkits I used, Blebin report shows that my strengths are I am imaginative, I have the ability to think independently, if there are problems I will find a solution. Working with others, you can listen to a lot of opinions and valuable information from others to avoid friction with others. At the same time I am a friendly person, it is easy to get along, I face to problem, will not be negative emotions brought to study and life. I have a very good plan to do things, so that when I do things can be very efficient, when I get good ideas I will immediately act. (Belbin, 2017) The Five The Factor Model shows that my strengths are that I am a self-disciplined person and I will do my job dutifully because I want to make myself better. I usually do things in a planned. (Tupes & Christal). I am a compassionate person, I really like to cooperate with others. When I cooperate with others, I will give them the greatest trust and try my best to help them. Personal test report shows that my strengths are that I do things focused, also very honest, I am very committed to promises, promised to do the things I will try my best to do that. I do things very calm, tend to think a lot, rather than what to think of what to do.

However, the toolkits that I used are also showing that I have a lot of weaknesses. The Belbin report shows that my weaknesses are that I do things very important to the main, and Many times forget some minor things, when I’m doing serious things, It’s hard for others to communicate effectively with me. I sometimes do things too optimistic, so when I meet some hard things, and I have not completed a long time, I may lose interest in these things. I am hesitant to do things in a stressful environment and can not give myself a very accurate decision. Finally, I consider the problem easy to think in one direction, thus limiting my imagination, It seems I am not flexible. (Belbin, 2017) Personality tests The report shows that my weaknesses are sometimes stubborn, and harder to accept new ideas that I do not recognize. I do things very much following the rules, so I often do not change the rules or try new things. (16Personalities, 2017)

As a manager in the future, I need to do three areas. Firstly, as a manager, I need often interact with employees, listen to the voices of employees, and have good communication skills to understand employee ideas. In the team, anyone’s idea is very important, to respect the staff’s ideas and win their trust so that Subordinates will have a sense of identity to the company. Secondly, I need to have the ability to co-ordinate and plan, to set long-term plans for the company and myself, we must have a long-term vision and plan when doing anything. When planning a decision, I should be good at using co-ordination capabilities, effectively using subordinates’ views and available resources to avoid manpower waste. Thirdly, most of the time, things are planned collectively, but managers also need to make their own decisions. This requires that I be able to become more decisive, handle the distribution work, coordinate the workforce, resolve employee conflicts, and so on. It is also important to develop good people, all of these test my ability as a manager.

Bibliography

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Knowles, Malcolm S., Elwood F. Holton III, and Richard A. Swanson. The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. Routledge, 2014

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Showry, Mendemu, and K. V. L. Manasa. “Self-awareness-key to effective leadership.” IUP Journal of Soft Skills 8.1 (2014): 15.

Sturm, Rachel E., et al. “Leader self‐awareness: An examination and implications of women’s under‐prediction.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 35.5 (2014): 657-677.

Toegel, G .; Barsoux, J.L. (2012). “How to be a better leader.” MIT Sloan Management Review 53 (3): 51-60.

Tupes, E.C., & Christal, R.E., Recurrent Personality Factors Based on Trait Ratings. Technical Report ASD-TR-61-97, Lackland Air Force Base, TX: Personnel Laboratory, Air Force Systems Command, 1961

16Personalities. (2017). ISTJ Strengths and Weaknesses | 16Personalities. [online] Available at: https://www.16personalities.com/istj-strengths-and-weaknesses .

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