The process of Self-development “Self-development of the effective executive is central to the development of the organization .” Peter Drucker (1967) The Effective Executive, Heinemann, London. People grow according to the demands they make on themselves. Self-development takes place through self-managed or self-directed learning.
Self managed l earning An individual learns more if he struggle to find out things by himself. Self-managed learning is about self-development and this will be furthered by self-assessment. In Self-assessment stage, one identifies that what knowledge & skills he possess, and what he need to gain.
Identifying learning & development needs You can identify learning and development needs by ensuring that you understand what you are expected to do and the knowledge and skills you need to carry out your job effectively . These will include reviewing your performance against established performance standards and assessing the levels of knowledge and skills you need to improve.
Methods of Self-development; Coaching Coaching is a person-to-person technique designed to develop individual skills, knowledge and attitudes. In Coaching, Specialist Consultants concentrate on helping people to develop more productive ways of behaving and to change dysfunctional management styles .
Mentoring Mentoring is the process of using specially selected and trained individuals to provide guidance and advice that will help to develop the careers of the people allocated to them. Following are the benefits of Mentoring: Guidance on how to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to do a new job. Advice on dealing with any administrative, technical or people problems individuals meet, especially in the early stages of their careers.
Mentoring (Cont.) Advice in drawing up self-development & learning programs. A parental figure with whom the people they are dealing with can discuss their problems and concerns. Help in tackling projects by pointing them in the right direction.
Action learning Action learning is a method of helping people to develop their skills by exposing them to real problems. In this method, People are required to analyze the problems, formulate recommendations, and then take action. It accords with the belief that People learn best by doing rather than being taught.
Self-development strategies These are the strategies for achieving Self-development: Create a development log – record your plans and actions. State your objectives – the career path you want to follow and the skills you will need to proceed along that path. Ask other people about your strengths and weaknesses and what you should do to develop yourself. Focus on the future – where you want to be in the longer term and how you are going to get there. List significant learning experiences – recall events where you have learnt something worthwhile; this will help you to understand your learning style.