Managing Personal Growth at Work
Every individual chooses a career with high hopes that he or she will get the necessary gratification from doing the job he or she loves the most. People go through education hoping to secure the type of job that fulfills them in life. In their profession of choice, people expect to find different levels of happiness, they believe that the salary will be right, working hours will be flexible, they will be motivated to pursue the job at higher levels, and finally, they hope that they will find greater levels of achievement in whatever they do as a profession. Basically, there are four levels of happiness in a person’s life namely happiness that comes from some type of external stimulus, ego gratification, making a difference in a person’s life and seeking perfection from the ultimate. This paper evaluates the topic of managing personal growth at work by answering for question that tackle the subject from different perspective as will be discussed herein.
Exercise 1
| Level of Happiness | Actually Spend | Would Be Proud If I Spent |
|
External stimulus |
15% | 20% |
|
Ego gratification |
20% | 25% |
|
Making a difference to others |
40% | 30% |
|
Seeking spiritual growth |
25% | 25% |
|
TOTAL |
100% |
100% |
Before an individual can get to level 3 and 4, they must achieve and satisfy levels one and 2. At level three and four, an individual is at peace, experiences, truth justice and feel a sense of being on the right path to perfect happiness.
Exercise 2
The table below shows that activities that I engage in to show my level of satisfaction
| AT WORK | OUTSIDE WORK |
| External Stimulus | |
| Carrying out office work for the day
Ensuring that data is up to data and all files are kept in the right order Meeting with managers to plan departmental future work Creating charts for upcoming projects
|
Making plans for family trips with my brothers, sister, mum and dad
Cooking for the family which include my brothers, sister, mum and dad Choosing future location for the home Choosing the site building materials with my family members Planning for other family activities together Eating out with friends and family |
| Ego Gratification | |
| Taking total control of office work
Mobilizing colleagues to take part in office activities Creating events for colleagues to attend and taking them to these events Taking care of career trainings within my department Assuming the position of the boss when the manager is away |
Being the head of the house
taking important decisions concerning house hold activities Winning that golf session with friends Watching a nice movie in the evening Taking my wife and the children to dinner makes me feel like a winner
|
| Making A Difference To Others | |
| Going for charity events with other workmates
Attending community talk shows for empowering youths Fundraising for community development Visiting the homes for the elderly as part of office duty Covering up for absent employees and taking up their responsibilities Giving motivational talks to high school leavers about careers and career choices and explaining how to live a better life in future |
Helping y children with homework
Helping clear fee for my knees Planning trips for my relatives Taking part in family event to raise some little cash for the poor Helping my neighbor to fix his house
|
| Seeking Spiritual Growth | |
| Reading the bible in my spare time | Reading the bible, Going to church
Listing to tele evangelical preaching Pray together with my family |
Exercise 3
The gap between what I actually do now to what I would like to do to feel happy depends on the amount of work at my work place. Sometimes I have to take on other people’s responsibilities, which really does not make me happy. I also tend to help people a lot at home with their work instead of having my own time. Even though I do like helping people, sometimes it becomes too much when the same person is always asking for help but I cannot refuse.
- I fall short of what I would prefer because I seem to consider other people more than I do to myself and my needs
- I encounter the obstacle of saying no and not feeling guilty about it especially when someone asks for my help.
- I would prefer the other because I need time for my work and space
Exercise 4
| AT WORK
|
OUTSIDE WORK |
| External Stimulus | |
| Get further support and motivation from my work mates
Extra training and support from management Conducive environment or working |
Motivation from people from home |
| Ego Gratification | |
| Constant self assurance that I can do everything I set my mind to
Getting credit and appraisals from the organization Grabbing the opportunity to show my prowess |
Emotional support from family and friends
|
| Making A Difference To Others | |
| Support colleagues whenever I can
Say no when I am not available or when I am busy Get involved in organizational activities more. Train my fellow workmates as I strive for managerial position |
Be there for friends and family
May be take up teaching lesson Take part in training people on different ways of life
|
| Seeking Spiritual Growth | |
| Learn more about other people’s religion as it could make a difference in creating piece at work
Involve more in my religious issues |
Join my family and friends for religious services and festivals
|
- Schema of work
There are so many things that happen at work that make it hard to manage personal growth. For example, I am always forced to take other peoples responsibilities when they are away. I have to cover up for the boss and do all his work while ensuring that I complete mine at the same time. In order to be the nice employee who covers up for other, I usually start by doing other peoples jobs then finish with mine. This usually leaves me with a huge backlog and makes me go home late. Sometime I even have to carry work home to finish it there instead of enjoying quality time with family and friends or even watch something creative on television.
Therefore, for my schema of my work I would like total freedom. I would like to work in an environment where the boss does not pile his work for me when he is away. Otherwise, if I do him this favor, he should be able to return the same favor when he comes back. I would like to be free to exercise equality without worrying that I will be demoted or be fired for telling the boss to cover for me because I did the same for him. I would also like to be free from other duties of doing other employees work when they are not around otherwise they should also be made to my work when they return to work. It should be a rule that when one is absent, he or she should come back and deal with backlog alone without having to make others do their work.
I would like to experience total autonomy at work. I should be allowed to work at my pace as long as I finish the given work on time. Self-independence is very important to me since I am a person who does not work under any supervision. I do not need the boss to constantly creep behind my back to observe whether I am working or not. I want to be my own boss and achieve self rule in my little corner as second in command to the boss.
I am a hard working person and I am willing to work extra hard to achieve this position. I know that I possess proper work ethics and can do so much with a little freedom. I will ensure that I ring this matter to the attention of y boss to ensure that he does not have to supervise me instead of doing his work. I do not have to be monitored to get things done because I know when to and when not to work under pressure. The pressure should come from me but not from other people around me. I am also willing to finish my master’s degree within the shortest time possible so that I can look for a job, which guarantees me freedom within our organization, or in another company, that offers similar challenges but lots of freedom and autonomy at work. My area of work should be more motivating than it is right now. I will ensure that I work on self-motivation before I seek the same level of motivation from my boss and my colleagues who are motivating but not in the way, I would like them to be.
Finally, I should be able to balance work with other family issues and relationships. I would like to be finishing my work in the office so that I can have quality time with my family members (brother, sister, mum and dad) and enjoy relationships with friends and acquaintances occasionally. I understand that work is very important but so is family and friends. In order to achieve this balance between work and family, I have decided to be concentrating fully on my work activities at the work place. This means that I do not either work at home in the evening or have to go back to the office over the weekend to finish any job. I understand that I spend a lot of time at work, therefore, the few hours left for my family at the day is just for family, friends and personal life and should not be consumed by work.
Goals setting
I understand that I need to set the right goals for future development so that I do not move on blindly and regret later. I am currently working as a manager of a luxury brand handbag retail store for two years. I have really enjoyed working here as it has given me the opportunity to experiences major success from a managerial point of view. I have also had enough financial gain for working in this store. The luxury handbag line came with the added advantage of having to work with designers from top brands around the country. This has been an eye opener in the world of fashion and management activities. I decided to take up an MBA class to further my studies and climb up the corporate ladder. My current position as a brand manager has made it possible for me to realize that I can achieve my dreams with proper planning. I know that I am hard working and would be able to channel all the necessary resources and energy to get ahead in life. I figured out that the first to achieving this future success if my getting an MBA. Therefore, I enrolled for one and I am currently working and studying at the same time. I believe that I can never go wrong with education.
Once I earn an MBA, I hope to move up to district manager and keep going up in the next few years. My vision is to expand my academic horizons, which will also put me in the right path to career achievement for the next five years. I hope to be the district manager overseeing operations in more than twenty stores. The number might seem so much and could possibly come with added workload. The truth is the workload will be reduced since I will not be doing lots of paper and other junk work. Managing these sores at a district level will also mean travelling from one place to the next. This is something I have always wanted to achieve as I like travelling and I believe that it will further help me advance in my career. I should be able to buy a house, a brand new better car (I want to join the Ford family by owning a current model of a ford car). I should be more close to my mum, dad, brothers and sister, and monitor their progress because this will also count as success on my side. Once I am able to manage these stores successfully, I should be able to open my own brands and work there as the chief executive officer.
Learning goals
I would like to take up and finish my current MBA as a learning and development goal. During my study as an MBA student, I would like to acquire further managerial skills. I would like to increase the knowledge on how to be a multi store manager and be able to work or manage several stores with ease. I would also like to achieve managerial skills such as employee motivation, selection, recruitment and further human resource development and management. I believe that the success of any firm relies in the effective use of the human resource that is available. Therefore, I would like to a quire the most useful skills in managing the people I work with as leader to bring out their best potential for further success.
Every leader must aim at motivating the employees working under him. I believe that the acquisition of employee motivation skills will be a key learning factor to consider for future career development. I how to manage and rung many stores, I also hope to eventually open up my own business, therefore, employee motivation coupled with my current management skills will definitely make my future career more prosperous.
Mentorship programs are very effective in helping a person gain further experiences in life. Therefore, I will also enroll in mentorship programs to get a head start on what to do to achieve all my plans. While at the program, I expect to achieve effective leadership skills. I also hope to better my knowledge on management by learning what managers of top brands have done to ensure continued, unwavering success in their store. This will help in creating my career and promote learning.
I believe that behavior is paramount in whatever an individual does; I will therefore consider behavior management as a means to acquiring my intended goals. I will ensure that I get to work at the right time and leave at the most effective time. Communication is the key to achievement in any diverse organization; therefore, I will make sure that I talk to my juniors in a way that makes them feel appreciated. Similarly, I will ask them to learn to communicate to me and voice their concerns directly to me so that we can move forward together. Collaborative working is also necessity in any firm. Therefore, I will encourage teamwork to ensure that all my subordinate work together with the aim of achieving organizational needs. I will also set goals for both career and personal advancement. Reading equip people with further knowledge that is not taught in class, therefore, I will ensure that I read extensively and widely on other general topics such as become an effective work place leader. I feel that it is also important to be exemplary leaders.
Force field analysis
| Forces supporting goal
The need to be promoted The need to be the head od my department The need to use my existing skills The need to acquire more skills to be the best at work |
Forces opposing goal
Lack of enough resources Lack of proper motivation Derailed by friends and family Backlog from work |