Plmd

Introduction

With management and leadership qualifications attained through lifelong academic and on job training, it is imperative that one understands where they are headed. It is only then that they can forge a clear vision for development and future employment and leadership positions. This is highly useful for the individual as well as the organizations they serve.

With my existing level of study, qualifications, past employment and personal experiences, I intend to apply for a variety of leadership and management positions in leading organisations. I want to become part of the forces responsible for the success and growth recorded in these organisations. I therefore wish to enhance my prospects for success in preparation for this vision by further development of my leadership and management skills. I will carry out some targeted research on leadership and management on a number of organisations. It is from that knowledge gained that I will anchor my self-assessment and personal development plan. This paper will present a detailed documentation of every step on the personal development initiative.

Task 1

Impact of organisational objectives, values and culture

Normally, the management function is heavily hinged on the organisation’s leadership. And the overarching purpose of leadership and management as a whole is to achieve the vision, mission and objectives of that particular organisation. This occasions bringing together all the essential resources of the organisation. Such resources include people and physical assets. In this section we look at how an organisation’s leadership and the management function is impacted by the organisation’s objectives, values and culture.

Leadership generally refers to the ability by persons in positions of responsibility to influence and motivate others so that they can act in certain ways and effectively lead to achievement of particular goals. Managers who are the key leaders in organisations are guided by a number of theories and management models that have been developed with the purpose of helping these leaders in making necessary decisions.

Organisational leadership has a direct cause and effect relationship with the organization’s culture and values. The cultures within an organisation determine the kind of leadership practiced in that particular organisation. And an organisation’s objectives stem from the culture and values, because these are what will determine what the organisation’s aspirations are. To understand this leadership- culture/values/objectives relationship, we need to first understand what is meant by each of them.

Each organisation has a set of beliefs that identifies it from other players within that industry. These are what comprises the organisation’s values. An organisation’s values are those sets of beliefs that are considered vital for the very survival of the organisation. Values must be binding to all members or stakeholders of the organisation to be valid. They are only valid if they make sense to everyone considered a member of the organisation. This starts by gaining a complete understanding of the said values. New recruits within an organisation are normally taken through a systematic process of acquaintance to familiarise them with the organisation’s values before they are fully accepted as members. Learning and appreciating the values of an organisation helps a new recruit become fully incorporated and accepted. That kind of acceptance starts by the new recruit first accepting the values preferably unconditionally.

Organizational culture refers to the values and beliefs practiced within the organisation and that have existed in it for a long time. These beliefs and values entail the beliefs of the organisation’s workforce as well as the anticipated value of their work which in turn influences their attitudes and behaviour. Managers and administrators or persons at key management positions normally adjust their leadership behaviour and approaches to accomplish the organisation’s mission. This usually has a bearing on the employees' job satisfaction. The actions of these leaders are responsible for shaping the culture, values, employee motivation and change tolerance. They determine institutional strategies that include mechanisms for their execution and efficiency.

It is important to understand that you do not have to hold a management position to be considered a leader. Leaders appear and can act at any level of an organisation and not necessarily at management alone. And as long as you are a leader, your actions determine organisational outcomes. You influence those around you in the attempt to realise the most benefit from an organization’s resources.

The most vital of all these resources in any organisation is the people. The organisation is in a much better position to succeed if the leaders are able to effectively move people to a shared organisational vision. A staff body united, inspired and driven by a common vision is capable of achieving anything. Because the staff comprises persons of different and diverse abilities. It is the responsibility of the organisation’s leadership to identify these diverse talents available in the organisation, identify what can benefit the organisation and then find ways of inspiring the employees to work towards achieving those set goals. From that angle. Leadership potentially plays such a key role in the inception of organisation’s goals and aspirations, tuning the organisation’s culture and values to fall in line with the desired goals. Then the leadership can begin inspiring the workers to put all efforts to the realisation of the objectives.

Current leadership theories tend to concretise the above arguments. They describe leaders basing upon a number of traits as well as how these traits are used to influence the achievement of objectives.

We therefore have different forms of organisational leadership. Based upon traits, we can talk of autocratic, bureaucratic, democratic or charismatic leadership classifications. Leadership can also be viewed from the perspective of power exchange and its utilization, from which we get situational, transformational or transactional leaders. All these forms of leadership are as a result of the organisation’s values and culture. It is based on the repeated action that over time becomes the basis for determining the kind of leadership that best works for an organisation.

It is important to note however that one organisation is likely to practise various forms of leadership. We need to understand these different tropes to provide us with a vocabulary that can be used to discuss and create desired and meaningful results. Not all leaders in various organisations are created equal. The mechanisms that will create different leaders are shaped by the set of beliefs and established practices within each organisation. The quality of leadership may also vary hugely within different organisations and across industries.

To evaluate the leadership quality of an individual leader, we need to identify their style as a central consideration. This must be in line with the cultures of the organisation in question. In other words, looking at and understanding the organisation’s culture will help put the leader’s style into perspective and make it easier to understand.

With regards to the management role in an organisation, we can identify that each enterprise has an organizational culture and this culture to a large extent influences the behaviour of key managerial staff. Whether the business is big or small, it can normally develop its culture informally without being determined by the management. A company can also create its own culture basing on its performance standards and a system of values. The role of a manager in shaping a company’s culture will depend on expectations of the business. Expected interactions between the manager and other employees and the level of the manager’s authority all shape the company’s culture.

A manager in a small business culture for instance can be a disciplinarian, but may as well reward employees for proper behaviour. They may provide workers with rewards for displaying desired organisational qualities. A manager can motivate such employees through financial or moral rewards. These could take the form of a mere commendation at the workplace or award of higher grades on performance. Better performance grades may lead to promotion of an employee and increased pay packages. Rewarding employees for perpetuating appropriate organizational culture shows them that the organisation and its management values them. And that may go a long way in boosting performance and overall productivity of the business.

So in any of these cases, there is a way the organisation’s leaders including those at key management positions behave, and there are accepted ways of behaving expected of other employees. Some of these ways of behaving attract various rewards from the organisation’s leadership. And each of the reward and disciplinary systems are unique from company to company. These is hardly any universal way of behaving that will be found in all organisations. This state of affairs is determined by culture and values that define each organisation. Based on these values and organisational cultures, the organisations are able to determine their desired short and long term positions and set objectives to be achieved in these durations of time. 

Skills required to support the achievement of organisational objectives

From my experience with leadership at various capacities, I have understood that you must know where you are going in order to be an effective leader. There are moments in leadership when critical decisions have to be made. And if you can clearly see where you are supposed to be in a year or a couple of years’ time then such vital decisions become easier to make.

So far we have identified that each organisation is defined differently by unique sets of values and cultures. So each company or business is uniquely different from the other. But despite these differences, there are skills that leaders in every organisation must possess in order to successfully support the achievement of organisational objectives. Management function in each organisation requires proper planning and structuring of the organization while also monitoring different activities. Skills that are necessary for supporting the achievement of organisational goals may be found with top-notch managers and business executives but not all of them poses these skills.

Effective leaders are defined by their proper skillset. These skills are necessary for determining outstanding leaders from those who are simply average managers. These effective leaders are guided by specialized people-centric approaches to the act of supervision of both work and people. Such professionals are normally involved in the work of planning, coordinating and leading by setting examples to others within any organization.

Management involves getting people of diverse backgrounds, personalities and abilities together to work toward achieving a common goal or set of goals. The management function in any organisation involves the processes of planning, staffing, organizing, directing or leading and controlling the organization. As such the element of leadership is encompassed in the management function.

All resources within the organisation including financial resources, human assets, natural and technological resources are channelled under an organisation’s management.  All these resources are vital for the successful running of the business entity. There should therefore be somebody who is capable of smoothly and efficiently handling these resources. That is the work of key leaders or the manager. These persons must possess definite skills to be in a position to carry out their duties and the actions required of a manager.

These skills can be grouped under three different categories, namely individual, scientific and conceptual skills. Individual skills are those needed in order to work well with other people. Teamwork is highly valued in today’s corporate platform, and the individual skills are necessary for one to work well within a team in addition to being self-driven to work on their own. This skill is essential to managers because they deal with people directly. Individual skills help them get the best out of the people they manage.

Managers are overall heads in their respective areas; they are expected to get things done and use resources to accomplish tasks. They therefore need superior individual skills to be able to correspond correctly, give directions and encourage people to work. It is with the effective individual skills that managers can motivate workers under them to develop interest and nurture trust, which are significant at every level of management.

Conceptual skills on the other hand are those that are necessary for discernment. Managers need to be able to think well and identify ways out of difficult situations for the sake of the organisations they lead. Certain decisions are crucial and as the overall heads they are held responsible for the fate of the organisations they are serving. They should be knowledgeable on abstract and complex situations. If you are the general manager for instance, you should have some knowledge about accounting and finances, you should be well vast with the dynamics of administration and also understand how human resources work. That way you can be able to observe the relationship as a whole. You can understand how various subunits are related and image how the whole organisation fits into its broader industry.

Technical skills refer to the leaders’ knowledge on particular specialized field(s). These may include computers, engineering, administrative and economic accounting as well as industrial production. Knowledge on how any of these technical fields work enables the manager to determine strategies to enhance the organisation’s productivity based on scientific knowledge.

Aside from these categories, there are other essential skills that have been identified by experts that do not necessarily fall within the above categories. Some of the recognized skills deemed significant for managers include but are not limited to communication, theoretical, analytical and interpersonal skills.

Analytical skills

Individuals at these leadership positions need keen analytical skills and strong ability to put current trends into perspective and use these trends to project likely outcomes in the future. Strong analytical skills are best suited to meeting both present and future challenges within the organisation. They help a leader reach the best available solutions to contentious issues.

Innovativeness

Effective leaders are capable of coming up with and implementing innovate solutions to problems and create successful business organizations. Innovative strategies help an organisation retain productive workforce and remain competitive and strong against its competition. Most reputable learning institutions today aim to not only impart knowledge but create innovative business executives out of their students. They provide customized learning that succeeds in fulfilling each individual’s career goals. These are made possible through various tutorials and special projects based on team building, organizational ethics and human behaviour. They are focused on holistic professional development of the leaders, so they can provide quality leadership in just any industry. These institutions provide degree programs in organizational leadership that has helped business leaders succeed in today’s corporate world.

Theoretical Skills

These refer to the ability of a manager or leader to utilise information to resolve issues within the industry. Theoretical skills enable the individual to recognise of opportunities for improvement of business or productivity. The person is able to recognise areas that are likely to create dilemma and then come up with working resolutions. They can select vital information from piles of statistics and understand the intricate details of the business. A manager with good theoretical skills can understand the business model with ease and identify areas of improvement which they then help implement.

Communication Skills

Leadership is about interactions with people. The leader must be able to seamlessly pass their information across to the people they interact with. Communication skills enable an individual to convert their ideas into words and understandable phrases that can be converted into specific actions. A good communicator listens to information and is keen to details. They do not just do all the talking. They have a great level of integrity and can effectively communicate with all groups of people. These include the middle and the upper class, other managers and subordinates, the young and the aged. They do a lot of listening and ask questions.

Interpersonal Skills

Aside from the general element of communication, supporting organisational objectives also require some relationship skills. The persons at management positions and other leadership areas will be involved in mentoring and training others. One of the key management roles in to train new employees, and that will require that the trainer has some interpersonal skills to be able to relate with the people he or she trains.  Interpersonal skills are necessary for purposes of gainful networking within the organisation and outside. People who have strong interpersonal skills work well in groups, provide others with needed aid and dedication.

These skills are highly essential in today’s challenging work places. Those who can regularly improve their skills are considered invaluable and are likely to be retained and sought after by many organisations.  This explains why most individuals undertake on-job trainings, take study leaves to further their studies and also attend workshops and other forms of trainings.

There are also other skills that are highly important for any leader, and managers in particular. These are skills that ensure the leader is consistently a source of inspiration to his or her followers. He or she must find a way to encourage others to strive toward achieving top value and excellence how they perform. A good leader or manager must possess all or some of these essential skills:

Monitoring skills

The manager must be in a position to keep an eye on the performance of employees on a regular basis. They should keep checking this performance in rather conventional ways. This is possible if there are a set of events and policies guiding the process of monitoring the performance so they do not appear to be intrusive. Employees will not find any monitoring initiative invasive as long as they have been acquainted with the rules and policies. And this can go a long way in improving the organisation’s performance.

Observation

Leaders often tend to be preoccupied with a lot of activity that demand their attention and easily fail to cater for the element of observation. But the value of observation skills should not be overlooked. Through observation and characteristic visits to a leader’s work environs, the individual is in a position to monitor progress and identify potential issues early enough. A keen observation ability also provides one with a chance to spot avenues for growth right on time to enable the organisation to implement any necessary changes in good time. These make observation an essential skill required of every individual in a position of responsibility.

Decision making

From time to time, a leader will be expected to make decisions that affect the very survival of an organisation. And if you are in management of the organisation, the responsibility is even much heavier. You have to make some very critical decisions on behalf of the organisation you are working for. Decisiveness and good decision making skills are therefore vital as part of the basic traits required of a good leader. The leader must however be in a position to know where flexibility is necessary so they can take in advices from others to arrive at rich decisions.

Research skills

Progress is better made when you can carry out investigation on an ongoing basis and review every decisions arrived at different points. Any issues that arise need to be captured in the decisions made for the sake of the organisation being served. This is very important so as to stay ahead of competition in business. Good leaders are able to make accurate assessments of situations and use information gathered to make needed assessments in good time. Research enables the leader to place the organisation strategic for growth and prepare it for the future.

Task 2

The second section of the file covers a personal assessment of your skills and development plan.  You must:

• assess your personal leadership and management skills and identify the personal development required to support the achievement of organisational objectives

My strengths

I have a strong academic background in business development and two year’s work experience as a business development executive. Over the past two years I have realised that I am effective in dealing with budgets and sampling business trends to forge an effective business plan. I am also good at managing staff and dealing with conflicting points of view

My weaknesses

These are a few elements that I feel are threatening my effectiveness to deal with tasks. I tend to be less productive when I am faced with multiple tasks at the same time, and pressure of work when the task at hand is highly demanding. I have a problem multitasking. I also noticed that my poor background in IT is affecting me in a number of ways.

Areas I have improved over the last one year

Over the last couple of months I have realised a great improvement at dealing with pressure. My interpersonal skills also got sharper and I am more effective in a team environment as compared to when I joined this profession. I handle pressure of work better and can deliver multiple demanding tasks with more confidence now.

I owe this improvement to:

Working with different people and learning from them a few things that are vital in my area or work. Continued practice has also helped me get hold of myself at intensely demanding circumstances.

My progress over the last 12 months has been hindered by:

Limitation of time. I have wanted to carry out personal development in IT but there has been little time for that. I have been unable to pursue on-job training to sharpen these skills. This has slowed me down. I have also been held up with demanding tasks as the organisation was undergoing internal restructuring and my services have been vital for the successful launch of the milestone.

For the next one year I would like to:

Restructure my time. I must accomplish the things that hold me back. I intend to take up some quality IT classes and reallocate my working hours so I do not go with unfinished work at the end of each working day.

• Assess the opportunities for the development of your leadership and management skills

I have great prospects for improvement. Most of my heavy workload was resulting from the fact that our organisation was undergoing restructuring. But that is complete and the organisation has been restored to normalcy. I also have a supportive management team. The CEO is highly supportive and I will likely get a great environment for growth. All the resources I need are available and there is no reason why I may not succeed in this important step.

The following table outlines personal development plan giving clear objectives and strategies or developing leadership and management skills.

Objective	Action	Resources	Time skills
To be effective in dealing with more demanding situations	·         Undertake local training courses ·         Carry out more practice and allocate time for tasks more effectively	The internet ,our local LMS and the organizations’ database	Complete within the next 3 months
Undertake applicable management courses	·         Check the internet for the best available courses		6 months
Problem solving skills	·         Developing listening skills through talking less and listening more ·         Developing communication skills through participating in group discussion ·         Developing negotiation skills		3 months
Earning basic  business techniques	·         Complete mandatory organization update training ·         Continuously engaging in learning workshops	Secure bonus benefits as appropriate	6 months
Building confidence  as a leader or manager	·         Volunteer to lead in projects ·         Encouraging positive thoughts ·         Gathering more information which will help in making  informed decisions	·         Get feedback from the team and the project sponsor ·         Reading widely on the projects to be undertaken ·         Listening to the opinion of others in project team	3 months

 

Task 3

A development plan should be aligned with the established development process. The plan has to involve a self-evaluation aimed at finding out personal weaknesses and the strengths that can be used in overcoming the weaknesses. The plan should then outline the targets and the action plan to be used in meeting them. An evaluation procedure should be outlined in the plan to show how an assessment will be done to find out errors that may arise (COLEMAN & GLOVER,2010). The evaluation will determine whether the implementation process is in line with the set objectives. A self-evaluation is necessary in finding out the weaknesses and what needs to be done to manage the weaknesses. Out of this understanding, one is able to come up with objectives which match the overall organizational goals so that there is continued harmony between the two.

Action plan

Month 1	Register for leadership and management courses and take a test at the end of the month. Develop the negotiation skills. Participate in the negotiation skills training program
Month 2	Use the local company LMS to further my leadership and management skills. Visit companies, study & learn the effectiveness of business technique in decision making.
Month 3	Attend four different leadership and management courses and carry out a number of structured presentations Study the case studies relate to various leadership styles and how each style applies business techniques
Month 4	Start various skill tests by assessing my progress on the actual job. Develop communication skills. Study new language, develop the English speaking, and do sound practice. Join public speaking groups, use new technology to increase the skills. Use these strategies to develop personal confidence.

 

As a manager of an organization, the plan involves taking the shortest time possible to improve my performance in accordance with the relevant skills and gain power. The development plan will outline the process through which I will carry out a self-assessment, to find out my weakness and the strengths that I can use to manage the weaknesses. The outlined strengths present a good strategy I can use to manage staff through specific leadership and management skills. In order to improve my performance, I will be able to concentrate on reducing vulnerabilities.

Developing personal skills is necessary in the evaluation of my performance, and given that it is important in leadership and management to ensure improved performance. It is therefore important to work on the development plan in the interest of the company to reduce the time needed to learn the skills and abilities. It takes one year to gain leadership and management skills, which is a long time. it is necessary for the company to gain from  such experience , which will be translated in increased profitability of the organization. The objective tasks during the period. The skills that will be relevant include:

1. Strategic thinking: Learning to step back from the day-to-day tactical details of my business and focus on the “why”, not just the “what” and “how”.
2. Listening & Coaching: Use active listening, open-ended questions, body language, and eliminate distractions that may hinder my ability to hear. It involves working with daily reports so as to create individual development plans.
3. Financial acumen & Collaboration: Learn how to understand, interpret, and use “the metrics” to improve everyday financial goal and encourage others to do so. Work on relationships with my colleagues dealing with financial reports. Be a better associate, understand their goals and needs, and learn to work together to help achieve each other goals.
4. Leadership presence: plan my activities in such a way that my presence will be felt among those staff that I delegate duties. This will be possible if an effective communication process exist.
5. Time management: Learning ways to work more efficiently and prioritizing tasks. Time management involves the manner in which time will be divided among different activities. (FARCHT, 2007)

 

The plan outlines various characteristics of a good leader:

• Efficient in problem solving
• Have high self-confidence
• Good communication skills
• Adaptive to change

 

The revised development plan outlines the strategies through which personal skills and abilities can be improved within a short time. The needs for more managerial training should be identified and a plan well developed to take advantage of personal growth opportunities. Communication enhances sharing of information about personal skills improvement and recognition of abilities. This will bring about effective team work which will facilitate achievement of organization’s goals and objectives.

When it is mentioned the company objectives, the company required to get more sales and more profit. Same time they required to fulfill the customers and provide them what they need. For that it is important to match the objectives of the plan with the company requirements. To obtain the company objective manager has to perform well in his job and for that he has to have the necessary skills with him. Therefore it is important to have negotiation skills, communication skills and the leadership knowledge with that person to perform well in his job.

Personal development evaluation

My activity helps me to develop my skills. I developed my planning and organizing skill by attaining time management and project management to maintain manage my time and project properly. It also helps me to set specific goal and attainment of the goal. To develop the managing other I have undertaken human resource management course and volunteering on fund raising for local football club. It helps me to understand understanding human behavior. It helps me to motivate the subordinates as well as my co-worker. Volunteering service help me learning skill to manage people who with no interest in regarding field. My delegation workshop to helps me to delegate works to other understanding the capacity and ability, willingness to do the job. It sharpens my delegation skill in wide range. As a president of management club, I learn how to delegate work to designation with motivation. My online communication skill helps me to interact with people more efficiently. It develops my oral as well as written skill of communication and presentation skill. My debate competition participation helps me to become a well listener, establish logical thinking for competitor and challenge other thinking with critical reasoning. My motivation session helps me develop persuading others skill. It helps me to estimate the focus, need, ability of the other party so that I am able to persuade others with their needs, which result in efficient outcome. My persuasion training session helps me to providing proper instruction, monitoring and give feedback to others work. To develop inspiring others skill, I attended motivation training which results in understanding the employees needs, ability and willingness to attain the organization objectives. In my volunteering session in rehabilitation center I develop motivating skill to depressed persons. (Griffin, 1990).

 

Areas of further development and updated personal development plan

Recognizing how the skills and abilities I have recognized can be transferable to the various contexts such as the work environment.

Having a planned future which is focused on improving employability in managerial positions.

Good preparation  to decrease the risk of deviating from my development plan.

Conclusion

Even though I still have much to study on IT, I am already capable of dealing with the basic programs necessary for my areas of work. There is still room for sharpening my management skills but so far the personal development plan has been a major success.

References

Adams, B. & Adams, C. 2009, “Transformation”, Leadership Excellence, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 14-15.

Amabile, T. M. & Khaire, M 2008, “Creativity and the role of the leader”, Harvard business review, vol. 86, no. 10, pp. 100.

Ayman, R. & Korabik, K. 2010, “Leadership”, American Psychologist, vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 157-170.

Boulter, J. 2010. Recovery Leadership. Leadership Excellence, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 13-13.

Brown, T. 2009. Leadership in challenging times. Business Strategy Review, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 36.

Dixon, M. L. & Hart, L. K. 2010. The impact of path-goal leadership styles on work group effectiveness and turnover intention. Journal of Managerial Issues, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 52-69.

FARCHT, J. (2007). Building inspirational tools & personal techniques for work & life leadership. [Garden City, NY], Genesis Publishing.

COLEMAN, M., & GLOVER, D. (2010). Educational leadership and management: developing insights and skills. Maidenhead, Open University Press.