I am currently pursuing a foundation course in Leadership and Management and have an opportunity to work with a non profit organisation (Church) in the area of Pastoral care and mentoring youth. My purpose for this personal statement is to reflect and draw on conclusions from the experiences of my work related case studies and how this may inform my professional development. During my work based practice, I dealt with several case studies such as: conflict management, problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, pastoral care, discrimination, Equality and Diversity issues, as well as leadership and management.
As mentioned by Rodney (1960); the acquisition of knowledge is empowerment which I viewed as a vehicle for professional and personal development. I have gained knowledge and skills from case studies, which enables me to resolve conflicts between staff and employers. In a particular situation, the lack of proper mediation could have lead to legal repercussions and heavy cost to both sides. In resolving conflicts, understanding the various view point is important.
I am a good mediator.I am able to negotiate and arbitrate, because I can sustain a dialectical engagement, listen without being judgemental and weigh issues on their merit. This skill facilitates conflict management and resolution. I am confident such skills would be beneficial in any aspect of conflict in an organisation. . I have good experience in identifying problems and solving them before they become crisis or barriers to the smooth running and the efficiency of an organisation.
When you are dealing with people who have different ideas and values, or working in a team, you can not avoid problem such as: dissension, personality clashes and desertion. My knowledge and the experience drawn from my work related tasks have given me an understanding of the needs of others and I always try to achieve a win-win situation in conflicts, which leads to the satisfaction of all parties. This skill enables me to build and work with a team, get along well with colleagues and senior management.I can help to maintain harmony as well as promote efficiency and productivity in an organisation. In an environment, one may not always be able to predict crisis or an emergency situation but when they do occur, it requires quick thinking and decision making skills to minimise the impact.
This is an area I find my self competent in, because I always rise up to the challenge. I can handle pressure; stay calm and collective in the mist of ciaos. During an incident in one of my case studies, I had to identify a potential crisis and make quick decisions to avoid its impact.I am bold so I am not afraid of taking risks. The competence I have gained from that experience has enabled me to be responsible and dependable.
These qualities I have are necessary in any organisation in terms of decision making and crisis management. I am a critical thinker, I analyse and evaluate information I gather from my observation, experiences and like to reflect on my practice. I question things as well as assumptions to ensure they are based of sound reasoning. I do not take ‘no’ for an answer, I dig deep.I like to think outside the ‘box’ to resolve issues.
It enables me to make good decisions, discover truth and handle conflict well. This skill is useful to an organisation, in dealing with management issues; and helps to promote efficiency and achievable goals. As suggested by Gravel and Simpson (2009), the changing and diverse nature of society poses an adaptation challenges for establishments, employers, individuals and professionals. Sometime people say and do things without due regard for, or the awareness of equality and diversity laws.
I have dealt with a similar situation which could have lead to breach of the following: Anti-Discrimination Act, Equal Opportunity and Employment Act, as well as equality and diversity legislations. This could have been costly to the organisation in terms of legal fees and its reputation. My experience from the case study influenced my own belief system in line with Kolb’s (1978) experiential learning, where a learner is able to reflect on past experience to change practice or theories. Currently I have a good understanding and knowledge of legislations and policies regarding employment, equality and diversity.I can help in educating professionals or formulate policies, training, procedures and code of practice in an organisation.
I believe an organisation would find such knowledge and skills very useful if they are not up-to- date with current employment legislations. In the current competitive economic market, it is not surprising that some employees have become victims of stress and depression as it has been in some of my case studies. This can be costly to an organisation in term of staffs taking time off ‘sick’. This is where my natural abilities stand out.I am naturally hardworking, able to work under pressure to meet targets. I am persistent and optimistic.
These abilities have been tested and further developed through out my practice. On the other hand, as a leader or manager I am sensitive to the needs of staff. From the experience of my case studies, I am able to address and balance people’s needs and organisation’s objectives with sensitivity. I believe my attributes and skill are great potential for any organisation.
I have proved to be a situational leader (Hersey 1985) in the case studies I experienced.Looking at feed back from my colleagues and mentor, it was said; I am able to adapt and think quickly when faced with any scenario, to formulate a plan or strategy to either solve a problem or make a decision. I am firm and assertive, but I have a likable personality, because I endeavour to demonstrate congruence and unconditional positive regard for people in accordance with Rogers’ (1951) ‘person centred approach’ in counselling. I applied these principles in all my case studies especially when dealing with people and as a result, I am able to cope with difficult people and make them feel comfortable.
My personality and qualities enabled me to, not only motivate individuals I worked with, but also inspire them, thus demonstrating traits of transformational leadership (Burns 1978). I believe these are leadership qualities which are required when an organisation is faced with a complex situation. I can take charge of and manage groups. From the experiences and knowledge drawn from my case studies, I have significantly developed personally and professionally. I am confident that, my professional qualities and abilities demonstrated in this personal statement are necessary and therefore would be good attraction to any organisation.
