Professional Leadership Development Skills Free Essays

Introduction and Methodology This Personal Development Plan (PDP) is written with reference to my recent experience of working alongside an experienced chef and with a view to achieving my long-term goal of opening my own cake production business, in the future. These blog entries look at the various issues which I came across during this time and the way in which I feel I can develop personally, in order to assist with achieving my goals, in the long run. Although my records extend over a period of several months, certain key points have emerged which are particularly relevant in terms of my own long-term development and it is these issues upon which I have focused for this development plan. We will write a custom essay sample on Professional Leadership Development Skills or any similar topic only for you Order Now Blog 1 – Learning Styles Bit of a wake-up call this week. It is reasonably well accepted as part of my personal development that I will need to learn new skills, yet what I have failed to consider is the fact that I would need to adapt my learning style, depending on my teacher, as well as depending on what precisely I am trying to learn at that point in time (Cassidy, 2004). Pierre Koffman, a professional chef, was particularly influential to me when it came to learning how to undertake technical elements of the role of the chef. However, he was a considerably more creative individual than I am and also a much more dominant character in nature, which meant that my own shyness restricted my ability to utilise a learning style that would include a large amount of dialogue. Therefore, when learning from this individual, I chose to shadow and watch someone remotely, before experimenting on my own and only engaging with the individual in charge when I felt I had made sufficient progress. By looking at theories of learning, I feel that I am an accommodator by nature, which involves gathering concrete experience and then actively experimenting, although I found that I was reluctant to undertake this experimentation in front of other people, for fear of looking foolish, if it did not work. A particularly important element of my development, therefore, needs to be the ability to gain in confidence, so that I’m able to experiment in a way that allows for discussion with both my peers and my teachers. Although this learning style was seen to be relatively fruitful, it is time time-consuming and I feel that I do not always get the best out of those experienced individuals around me, because I don’t actively engage with them (Keefe Jenkins, 2008). Confidence is key and my experiences this week showed just how lacking I was in this area. Blog 2 – Developing Personal Standards Over the last few months, my own self-awareness has definitely developed and it has become increasingly apparent to me that, if I wish to become a successful business owner, I need to set standards beyond those that are simply required; in order to pass a particular unit on my course would be deemed to be acceptable within the workplace. Once achieving the minimum standard became something that I simply expected to do on a weekly basis, I immediately recognised that setting my own standards was going to be critical to my long term success. In particular, by looking at research undertaken by Maslow, I recognised that I was at the stage of self-actualisation and was striving to become a leader and expert within my specific area, namely cake production. As my long-term goal is to own my own company, I feel my self motivation to become the best possible at this early stage is a crucial element of my development and simply learning to undertake tasks correctly is not enough. By benchmarking myself against others and by taking the time to look at ways in which I can improve myself and analyse my current performance, I was able to increase my own personal expectations and to be on a loop of continuous development, something which I also perceived to be important, given my long-term goals (Aubrey, 2010). Blog 3 – Developing Leadership Styles In recent months, and as I became more confident with my own skills, I began to look at the way in which managers operate within the workplace, in order to explore the various different leadership styles that are used and to determine which I think would be most suitable when I become a manager myself and, in particular, when I own my own company. The ability to undertake the task is merely the first stage of learning and by watching managers around me, I quickly became aware of the fact that there were multiple different styles which could be used, some of which were more effective than others and, in many cases, managers were required to adapt their style, depending on the individuals whom they were dealing with (Martindale, 2011). In observing my main mentor, Pierre Koffmann, I noticed that his key leadership style was one of motivation and encouragement. He took a very â€Å"hands on† approach which made him approachable, on a regular basis. This type of learning style I found to be very effective, although it did reduce the opportunities of subordinates to experiment or to learn on their own account. The learning style used by my own teacher was democratic in nature and encouraged us to work alongside him on a day-to-day basis; however, at times, a slightly more authoritarian route would have been beneficial, as the lines between teacher and student became blurred on occasions. This made it harder to accept when the teacher became strict, at various points during the learning process (Schultz and Schultz, 2010). Being aware of my own leadership style, namely that of being democratic and unwilling to show authority is something which I consider to be an area for improvement, in the future. Blog 4 – Conclusions / Review of PDP Looking at my recent learning and by identifying my own long-term goals, the following conclusions are reached (CIPD, 2013): Who has influenced you most in your desire to be an effective leader This may be a positive or negative influence. My greatest influence was Mr. Koffmann who has been referred to throughout my blogs. I found him to be a very personable individual and having worked with somebody who was willing to encourage me to be creative and to try new things I was able to notice how important it was for junior people to have these key individuals that encourage them to experiment and to test their own boundaries. What skills did they illustrate that have left this marked impression on you? The main skills that I found to be particularly influential were those of his willingness to spend time teaching others in a patient manner. He was forever present and this gave me a lot of confidence in him as a teacher; however, there were times where his expectations were extremely high and he was correct in demanding I found this skill to be particularly admirable, as I found it increasingly hard to be a strong leader in this regard. What skills did they lack that you have since learnt about to add to this desire to be an effective leader? My manager was often short tempered and at times failed to delegate matters sufficiently, so that experiences were not shared amongst all individuals. Had he managed his own workload better and delegated more frequently, not only would other individuals have had opportunities to undertake tasks, but it would be likely that he would be less short tempered during busy periods. On your Professional Development Plan which objectives have you started to develop and how have you got on? My immediate focus has been on my ability to network with others and to interact more with my peer group as well. I find communicating with others difficult at times, as I don’t have a high opinion of my own ability and therefore this is undeniably a skill which I need to develop over a prolonged period of time. I have, however, ensured that I regularly discuss matters with my peer group and openly engage in conversations when the opportunity arises, particularly when it comes to how we can better perform the task next time. On your Professional Development Plan which objectives have you not started to develop and why? I don’t feel that I have developed leadership skills as yet, due to the fact that initially I need to focus and develop my own communication skills and ability to get my point across to my peer group, before I can suitably develop a leadership style that will enable me to engage with subordinates in such a way that they are engaged and motivated. For this reason, this element of my personal development has not yet been addressed as part of the larger picture of developing confidence. Are there any changes you would like to make to your Professional Development Plan? On the whole, I feel my development plan remains accurate and valid and aligned to my long-term goals. However, I feel that I need to place greater emphasis on my own communication and leadership skills than I had originally thought, recognising that in order to successfully run my own business, I shall need to adapt to a wide variety of different personalities and will need to strive to be better than my competitors. Motivation is a key factor for both myself and my future staff members and a greater focus needs to be placed on developing skills for motivating others and not simply focusing on myself. References Aubrey, B (2010) Managing Your Aspirations: Developing Personal Enterprise in the Global Workplace McGraw-Hill Cassidy, S (2004), ‘Learning styles: an overview of theories, models and measures’, Educational Psychology, 24(4), 419–444 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2013) Learning and Talent Development Strategy. Available at http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/learning-talent-development-strategy.aspx Keefe, J. W. Jenkins, J. M. (2008). Personalized instruction: The key to student achievement. 2nd edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield Education. Martindale, N (2011). â€Å"Leadership Styles: How to handle the different personas†. Strategic Communication Management 15 (8): 32–35. Maslow, A.H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–96 Schultz, D and P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen (2010). Psychology and work today : An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (10th ed. ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall How to cite Professional Leadership Development Skills, Essay examples