Self-Reflection And Learning: A Personal Experience

1. Demonstrate the ability to relate to academic theory to the work environment and recognise the contribution of practice to the development of theory.
2. Confidently apply work related skills in a professional context.
3. Demonstrate a critical approach to evaluation techniques and reflective practice.
4. Produce a career and personal development plan to support their level 6 studies and entry to graduate employment.

Boud's Reflective Model: Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses

Self-reflection is one of the most important methods of learning from experiences. It is also a very beneficial tool in the context of gaining experience in the professional fields. There are many situations that arise in the professional fields. There are also many challenges that are faced by an individual in his professional field. It is only by the means of these experiences that he will be able to find out the particular traits present within him. I have selected the Boud’s reflective model because it is the simplest model through which I have been able to identify my own traits. I have been able to find out the strengths and the weaknesses that I have. I will also make sure that I am working on my strengths so that I can use them for the future use and at the same time, I can also focus upon my the drawbacks that I am having. I will try to work on them and undertake all the necessary means that will help me to overcome the drawbacks that are present within me. I have applied the Boud’s reflective model and have realized that one of my greatest strengths is that I am an honest person. I make sure that I try to keep up with my honesty at each and every step. I feel that knowing my strengths and my weaknesses are of utmost importance because this will surely help me in the long run (Gould and Taylor, 2017).

One of the easiest ways to learn from the experiences and then analyze the situation is through the Boud’s model. This is because I learn the best lessons when I pass through certain situations. One of the experiences that I am going to narrate happened during one of the assignments at the office. Each one of the employees had to prepare a presentation that was to be delivered in front of the seniors, other co-workers and also some of the externals. I really worked very hard on this assignment. It was actually a group project that I had been working on for a long time. I was in that project along with three other colleagues. We also had to give a written assignment few days prior than the presentation. I had received huge appreciation from all my seniors for my work. It was liked and appreciated by all. I thought that this will remain the same while I will be delivering the same on the presentation day. On the day of the presentation, I was really feeling very tensed right from the morning. I was having a feeling of intense tension and anxiety. I was suffering from this fear that I will forget everything while speaking in front of so many people. I also had this feeling that I will be speaking not only in front of the known faces but there will also be many unknown faces as well. I was suffering from this feeling that I will not be able to speak and I will fumble. I also had this feeling that I even if I manage to stand in front of so many guests including my seniors, my co-workers, and many other externals as well. I thought that I will be forgetting all the points of the presentation and will not be able to deliver the assignment properly. I was suffering from a lack of confidence. However, I knew that I had already worked on the same topic in the presentation and I really worked hard on this project and did very well in the same. I also felt for a moment that I will give some excuse and go away. I became much tensed when the presentation finally started. I was waiting for my turn and was seeing my colleagues going up to the stage and starting with the presentation. I started suffering from the feeling of palpitation. I thought that I will not be able to say anything when my turn comes. I had a feeling of intense fear, tension, and anxiety. I had prepared really well but as soon as my turn came, I felt that I was sweating and I found my legs shivering. I went up to the stage when my name was called. I was so much tensed that I forgot what I had to say. I somehow managed to deliver the presentation but I did not perform as much as I could if I was confident enough. So, I realized that I was suffering from a lack of confidence. It is due to this problem that I could not recollect whatever I had prepared. Though I knew that I had really prepared very well for this same project and I had also performed so well for this same project earlier. The only difference now was that I had to speak about this project in front of so many people and earlier I had to only write. After a lot of difficulties, I somehow plucked up courage and made sure that I can speak at least something. Though I managed to finish the presentation somehow, I could not really get good ratings from my seniors or even from the externals who had come there to rate the project and the presentation.

Overcoming Lack of Confidence when Delivering Presentations using Kolb's Reflective Model

So, I realized that I have this stage phobia and I suffer from the lack of confidence. So, now I had to take this action so that I can mend these errors in the near future. I realized that I will be facing these challenges at every step of my life both in the personal and the professional levels as well. If I do not start working on my confidence level then I will not be able to be a good leader as well. There will be, many instances where I will have to host several events and also undertake many public dealings as well. I will have to speak and address so many people at meetings and speak in front of many of the internal and external members of the organization. So, I need to have proper fluency and self-confidence.

In order to make sure that I can work upon my lack of confidence I will make sure that I Undertake many of the yoga classes and the concentration gaining classes. These will help me to make sure that I am being able to increase my confidence level. I will have to open up more and more with my friends, colleagues and rest of the people around. Engaging in conversation will help me to make sure that I am sure about what I am speaking and that I am not really afraid of anything. I will also make it a point to take part in as many as the public meetings and social gatherings so that I can interact more and more with people and I can make sure that I am able to speak without any hesitation. If I take part in many of the social gatherings then I will be able to listen and hear about many of the social topics and will also get to see how other people speak in front of such a large group of audience.  I know that my greatest scare is to speak in front of so many people. I have realized that I need to overcome my fear myself. Nobody from the outside world can help me out unless I am ready to do it myself. So, I will make sure that I make it a routine to stand in front of the mirror every day for at least an hour or so and speak about any topic of my choice for at least a period of half an hour. This will help me to overcome the stage phobia that I suffer from. I will also make it a point that I do not fumble in front of the people. I will make sure that I do not suffer from this stage phobia. I know that I will have to deal with this pressure every now and then and I will also make sure that I do not forget those points that I have to speak about. I will also make it a point that I am involving all the employees in a group activity where I need to speak about any particular topic. This will help me to inculcate the practice of speaking in front of the people. I will also make the employees give me feedbacks about my improvement. This will also help me to track the way I am improving. Thus, it will also help me to improve myself a great deal. I will make sure that I am able to speak fluently whenever I am addressing any projects in front of so many people. This will surely be very helpful for me in the long run. This will help me to make sure that I am gaining self-confidence day by day and I have also had full faith in myself.

Taking Action: Improving Confidence Level and Honesty

Self-reflection is the best method of learning. Be it in my personal life or even in my professional life, I always try to learn through the means of my experiences. The best way through which I can learn is by the process of self-evaluation and self-reflection. I have learned well about my traits when I started working and stepped into the professional world. I have fallen into many different situations and learned that I have both the positive and the negative aspects of myself. I have started taking steps that will help me to overcome the negative aspects and work on the positive ones. I will be using some of the reflective models that will help me to narrate the different experiences that I have learned from the different situations that I have been through. The first model that I will be talking about is Gibb's reflective model. The description of the event goes like this that it was during one of the office projects. A very important business meet was scheduled and we were asked by our team leader to stay in the office at night so that we can easily deal with any kind of emergencies. Though all the employees apparently accepted the proposal they actually had different plans. They did not stay honest and had taken leave and did not stay in the office for the night. I had this feeling that I cannot apply any dishonest means. I stayed honest and dedicated towards the work and stayed at the office all night. On being enquired by our team lead, all the employees said that they were at the office all night. However the team lead had a secret camera set in the office, so he had seen who stayed at the office for real and who did not. So, he had suspended them all for a week and gave me a promotion for my honesty. So, after analyzing the event I went to this conclusion that I must always stick to this honest nature and inculcate it further for the future days. My action will be to make sure that I never allow any dishonest means to crop up in my way. I will always be honest in all my endeavors.

I will be talking about a certain incidence with the help of the Kolb’s Reflective model (Kolb,  2014). The experience happened when we had to deliver a presentation as part of a business project. I did exceptionally well when I prepared the presentation. I got the highest rating than the rest of the employees. However, I had a huge problem when the same presentation had to be delivered orally and we had to speak on the same in front of the colleagues, the seniors and also some of the externals.

I was literally shivering and I did not know what to do and what not to do. I was extremely nervous and I somehow managed to go and deliver the presentation. I had forgotten most of the points and I could realize that I was really suffering from a lack of confidence. I could not perform well due to the lack of confidence that I had. So, I have learned from this experience that I must be able to inculcate within myself a confidence and a faith within my own abilities. So, I will make it a point that I take part in many of the public meetings and social meetings where I can really carry on with the practice of speaking in front of such a large number of people. I must work on myself and overcome this lack of confidence. I will also stand in front of the mirror every time. This will help me to overcome the fear of speaking in front of a large number of people. I must always open up to people and try hosting many of the group activities that take place in the office. This will help me to overcome this problem of lack of enough self-confidence.

The other situation that I am going to narrate is through the Boud’s reflective model. The experience goes like this that once we were really facing huge issues at our office. We were really being kept under huge pressure by one of the new manager who was appointed. He made us work all day long without any break. The normal working hour was 8 hours each day, whereas he made us work for almost 15 hours each day without any refreshment breaks. We also cannot raise our voice as he threatened that he would register some false reports of theft against us to the senior management. These were slowly getting on our nerves and so all the employees decided that they would talk to the senior management personally and would escalate against the manager. However I was very afraid to do this because I thought that it would worsen the situation and no one will ever believe us. So, I had a feeling that maybe we will get thrown out of the office and will be terminated. So, I thought that it is perhaps better to not register any complaints and carry on with whatever is going on for the time being. However, it was with the support and encouragement given by my co-workers that I gathered the courage of going to the senior management and escalate about this manager. However, even at that moment I had this feeling that I am not really doing the correct thing. I was suffering from the lack of courage and also from the lack of sufficient confidence. However when I saw that the rest of my colleagues were very bold and they fearlessly escalated the manager and told about all the harshnesses that they were facing. Then I thought that I must not stay silent and must speak out. So, I finally plucked up courage and joined with the rest of the people. I talked about the hardships that I was facing along with others and about the unethical practices that the manager was following. I was surprised, happy and also very shocked to see that the management had really accepted our grievances and they promised to take necessary actions against it. They also said that they were really very happy that we did raise our voice and did not accept that what was unfair and unjust. They even scolded us for not approaching before this (Potter, 2015). The senior management did no delay in taking further actions.

They said that we must have reached out to them just when we started facing these tortures. They also did not delay at all in taking any actions. They called for the manager in front of all of us and terminated him for his unjust acts. They even made sure that we do not face any such issues ever again. They also told that henceforth they will make sure that none of the employees are being humiliated or tortured physically or even mentally. Thus, it is from this particular event that I concluded it is not always prudent to be a safe man. It is also necessary that one raises his or her voice for their own rights and well being. So, I will make sure that I abide by this lesson and take the required actions for the upcoming days. I will start picking up my courage and confidence and then speaking about that what is right. I will make sure I am not being a safe man always. I will not step back whenever there is any such emergency. However, I have also got this knowledge from this experience that it is wise to be a good listener and a good observer. I can at least stay on the safe side for some time and then get to know the entire matter. This will help me in understanding each and every situation properly and then take the necessary actions. This will be very helpful in all my future endeavors. However, I also got this lesson that in some of the other cases it is also required to be on the safe side especially when there are any controversial situations that arise in the organization. Revolting is always not the best option. There can also be many harmful effects created due to this untimely and unjust revolts or problems (Gould and Taylor, 2017).

So, it can thereby be concluded that I will always be very open towards the entire positive and the negative aspects of my personality. I will be looking towards the situations and the experiences that take place with me. I will try to work on the negative points and improve them for the future days. I will also be utilizing the positive aspects for the better means and will be nurturing them further. I will also keep a proper track of the improvements that I am making by taking regular feedbacks from the friends, relatives and also the colleagues with whom I will be meeting on a regular basis.

References

Gould, N. and Taylor, I., 2017. Reflective learning for social work: research, theory and practice. Routledge.

Kolb, D.A., 2014. Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. FT press.

Potter, C., 2015. Leadership development: an applied comparison of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and Scharmer’s Theory U. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(6), pp.336-342.