Personal Reflection What Makes a Good Role

Personal Reflection

What makes a good role model and how would I ensure that I acted as a role model for employees I supervise?

A role model is someone who others look up to and provides inspiration. In my opinion the most important quality of a person who can be a good role model is his ability to handle stress positively. People have to deal with stress constantly and a role model sets a good example of how to handle stress and overcome the obstacles. Even if they fail they learn from their mistakes. A role model always displays that he is self assured and satisfied with who he is and is proud of himself without being arrogant. Honesty is a must for a role model; he must be trustworthy. A role model sticks to his commitment and does what he promises for that perseverance is required because it is not easy to deliver high performance every time because of internal and external factors. A good role model never gives up and put in his 100% every time. This quality inspires others and motivates them to work harder; role models provide you dreams to aspire. A person can be judge by the way he treats others. A good role model empathizes with others; he treats them with respect and the way he wants himself to be treated by others.

It would be an honor for me if my employees consider me a role model for them. I would act in a responsible manner in my role of a supervisor. I would make sure that I nurture and care for my employees. I would speak to every employee on a personal level and know them personally so that I am able to understand the needs and requirements of them. Knowing them deeply will help me in identifying their talents and abilities which will allow me to motivate them and set challenging goals for them. I would treat every employee fairly and will make sure that no biasness exists in the workplace.

What are the traits of an effective leader? Do I have these traits? How would I develop these traits?

One of the most important trait of an effective leader is that he gives a clear direction to his team about what to do, when to do and how to do. The following are the traits of an effective leader and I have self-assessed myself on those traits on a scale of 1-10 with one being the lowest:

TRAITS

RATING

Promoting a Vision

9

Admit Mistakes

9

Make others feel important

8

Respect

9

Honest

9

Imaginative

6

Inspiring

7

Integrity

9

As you can see from the table that I consider that I have most of the skills that they are required to be an effective leader. I haven't given a perfect ten on any of the trait because I consider that there is always a room for improvement in every aspect. The traits that I lack in are being imaginative and to inspire others. Ever individual have some weaknesses and he must find his way for overcoming those. Some are born leaders who posses each of the above mentioned traits, for people like me who lack in one or two areas these traits must be acquired through learning and training which I intend to learn.

How would I ensure that my work goals and plan reflect the organization's goals and plans?

For any employee it is significant to know his own goals and how those goals are aligned with the organizational goals. Personal growth is important for an employee and therefore the organizational goals should be formulated in such a manner that the personal growth reflects with the organizational growth. I would always ensure that my goals are aligned with the organizational goals and plans. I would incorporate my personal goals in such a way that I achieve those without making any compromise in the organizational objectives. It is important to create a win-win situation for both the organization and the employee.

I would always discuss my personal plans and objectives with my managers, supervisors and bosses, so that they know what are my needs and requirements, this will help them in knowing what to expect from me and what motivates me therefore they will incorporate me in places where I can contribute towards the achievement of the organizational goals. Often the mangers are interested only in the final outcomes regardless of paying too much attention to how those goals are achieved; this gives an opportunity to me to weave in my personal goals with the organizational goals. I will make sure that all the strategies proposed by me are approved by my managers so that they can check whether they are complimenting the organizational values or not. The managers or the supervisors can also guide others in their pursuit of achieving their targets and goals.

How would I ensure that I meet my job responsibilities?

The key for having a successful career is to be aware of the responsibilities of a job. It is easier to perform better when you know what it is expected from you. Job responsibilities are the expectations of the management from the employees. Every job brings a different set of responsibilities and rewards. There's a difference between job description and job responsibilities. A job description provides a general idea about the requirements of the job while job responsibilities include the specific actions that will be required to complete task effectively.

My previous employment record speaks volume for my job commitment. I have always performed my tasks effectively and efficiently. I have taken up full responsibility for all my actions and have held myself accountable for them. My job has always been my first priority and I always strive to improve my performances and deliver the best performance at my job and fulfill my job responsibilities. I have always prioritized the things that I want to do which is quite evident from my academic record and the same thing reflects on my employment record. For any job the most important thing is the willingness to work and I work with a great passion and to full of my ability which is the reason for my effective performance.

How would I measure and maintain my personal performance?

Behaviors are directed by measurements. Often the parameters of measurement are not accurate which causes the inefficiencies in the performances. Many employees operate consciously or unconsciously on the principle "I will behave the way, just the way you intend to measure me." All those performances which cannot measured they simply cannot be managed either. I make only SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely) objectives. I usually list my plans in my own personal diary and this helps me in measuring my day-to-day performance. I also have things to do list which helps me in not forgetting any of the significant things.

How would I prioritize work?

The first step in prioritizing work is to know what exactly to prioritize. This can only be done by knowing which the important things are and which one is more important for the organization. The knowledge f prioritizing things only comes from experiences. I make a list of things, not in my memory but on a paper or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) this helps me to know where I stand currently and where do I have to reach. Another important that I consider while making the list is that what will happen if this task isn't completed in time, this helps me to have a backup plan. After knowing what needs to be done I organize the work in the best possible manner. If there's too much work to do in a day then I'll handle such situation calmly and see what needs to be done first and the consequences of leaving out insignificant tasks to the next day. Apart from prioritizing all my work I plan to complete all the things on time which will leave me with a lot of space for sorting out my schedules. My main objective is to do all the things on time in the order of their significance.

How would I use technology to organize and manage my work?

The use of technology can help in saving a lot of time and money. There is a tremendous variety of technology at disposal these days. We all can organize our work in a better manner and save a lot of time by using the latest technologies which are available. I have been using a smartphone for over a year now and it has made my life pretty simple. It does not only is used as a tool for communication instead it has all the functions. I can access my email account at any time I want. I have installed the "appointment diary" application which allows me to plan my schedules efficiently. I have all the business contacts on my smartphone which allows sharing a large number of contacts with their email addresses. The smartphone allows viewing the map directions which help me in finding my destinations and saves a lot of time because now I do not have to ask people for directions as everything is on my fingertips. The world has changed now and now it has become virtual. It is not possible to meet everyone in person. People are busy with their schedules and often are unable to take out time from the work to meet personally or professionally. Skype and other messengers have made things easy as now business conferences can also be held online.

How would I ensure that I maintained a work / life balance?

In the previous answer I mentioned that technology has made life pretty simple. However that is not applicable to the whole. The heavy reliance on communication through phones means that I am always contactable, so even if I'm not working and I'm with family, I can get any professional call which can affect my personal life. However I do not allow that to happen. I never mix my professional life with my personal life and maintain a work life balance. My work always interests me and energizes me. Besides the work I always leave time for things that I enjoy doing. My hobbies include watching TV, swimming, exercising and playing sports. I also pay proper attention to my health; I follow a healthy lifestyle routine. I also take out proper time for my family. I make sure that when I'm with my family I keep all my worries and tensions of the workplace aside and enjoy my time with them. It is important to balance your life because we can work to the best of our abilities only when our lives are balanced.

How would I ensure that my personal knowledge and skills meet required competency standards?

I would ensure that my personal knowledge and skills meet the required competency standards which are set by the organization. I am able to say that confidently that I would meet those standards because I have full faith in my knowledge and my abilities. My past employment record and my academic record is an indicator of how well I have performed in the past years so consistently. I not ensure that my knowledge and skills are up to the level that is required for the organization. I continuously strive to learn more skills and acquire more knowledge which will be in line with the organization's standard.

How would I determine my developmental needs?

I would determine my developmental needs through my own customized developmental plan. The plan will be a process to incorporate the organization's needs with my own needs. This plan allows me to have a structured and thorough career path. This helps me in myself management. I know that needs and wants are not constant and they keep on changing. Therefore I will make my plan pretty flexible which will allow me to prioritize things in between but the main goal will remain fixed and the ways of achieving those goals might be altered. I will identify the opportunities which are lucrative for the organization and for me also. Those opportunities will be worked upon and through correct actions these opportunities will be turned into actionable and manageable strategies.

What is my personal learning style (the reflector/theorist) and how would I ensure that I took advantage of learning opportunities?

I follow the model of learning given by David A. Kolb. His style is based on the experiential learning. He gave four categories of learners. Those four categories are: 1) Convergers 2) Divergers 3) Assimilators 4) Accomodators. I would classify myself in the second category which is the diverger. I consider myself to be a diverger because I believe in concrete experiences. I have reflective observations. I am very innovative and always come up with new ideas because I see things from a different angle than other usually do. I am a keen learner. I am also a quick learner which means that when I learn a skill then I tend to build upon those skills and tend to pass on those skills my co workers which creates a healthy environment at the workplace.

How would I gather feedback from others about my personal performance and how would I use this feedback to improve my competence?

Most of the people have problems in dealing with negative reactions and complaints. I have no such issues. I would take my feedback from my co workers and my managers on a semiannual basis. I plan to evaluate myself not only from the internal customers but from the external customers as well. I believe that a complaint is a gift; it provides me an opportunity to improve my performances and reach out to a higher level. I take feedbacks very seriously and they mean a lot to me. It is extremely important to know from my co workers how they feel about me and what are the areas that they feel that I'm good at and in which areas I need to improve. Since the co workers are the closest to the situation they would be able to evaluate me in a much better way than others. I would make sure that all the comments are carefully examined and worked upon so that all the internal and the external customers are satisfied and can feel the difference.