Professional development is one aspect faced by all individuals in a certain profession.
Leading and Managing People
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Introduction
Professional development is one aspect faced by all individuals in a certain profession. It is necessary for the continuous development of a professional in their career as new trends avail themselves every once and in a while, and professionals need to keep current with these trends to become efficient and effective at their work. This paper will analyze two types of personal development programs which include the development of leadership skills in women and enhancing written and oral communication skills among individuals. In addition to analyzing these two development programs, the paper is also going to highlight the key features of these two and show their suitability in professional development.
Professional development is a term used to refer to the knowledge and skills individuals attain for career and personal development. Professional development involves all kinds of learning opportunities that are facilitated, ranging from conferences to college degrees to learning opportunities that are informal situated in practice. This form of development has been described as collaborative and intensive, ideally involving a stage that is evaluated. There are number of approaches individuals apply to professional development some of which include coaching, consultation, lesson study, practice communities, mentoring technical assistance, as well as, reflective supervision (National Professional Development Center on Inclusion, 2008).
Many individuals participate in professional development; these include such people as military officers, teachers, health care professionals, accountants, lawyers and engineers, individuals participate in professional development for many reasons. Some of them include interest of learning, to fulfill some sense of moral obligation, enhance progression in career to improve competence in profession, to stay updated with new practice and technology, or simply to comply with rules and regulations of a professional organization. Some organization might require individuals to upgrade their skills and knowledge regularly, and as such they are required to enroll in professional development programs (National Professional Development Center on Inclusion, 2008).
Generally, professional development might include such approaches as vocational education that takes a formal form, usually post- technical training that usually leads to the credential or qualification required for one to retain or obtain career or employment. Professional development at other times also comes in the form of in- service or pre- service programs of professional development. These programs might be informal, formal for either groups or individuals. In some cases, individuals pursue or seek to develop themselves independently or programs for individuals or groups might be made available by the human resource department. Professional development for individuals or groups on the job might be for the purposes of developing or enhancing process skills required for the job that are sometimes called leadership skills. Some examples of these leadership skills might include such things as effectiveness skills, systems thinking skills, and team functioning skills. Opportunities for professional development can vary widely from semester long course to single workshop course that are offered by a number of providers for professional development (Golding & Gray, 2006).
Professional development can be defined as all those activities, whether conscious or planned, that are supposed to bring about benefits directly or indirectly to an individual , school or a group of people which contribute to the education quality in a classroom. According to Day, professional development is the process by which among others, teachers evaluate renew and even extend their commitments to their professions as agents of change to the purposes that are based on morals of teaching, and through which they acquire and develop skills and knowledge important to good thinking among the professional, practice and planning with young people, children, and colleagues through each stage of their professional lives (Day, 1994).
Professional development is an essential process that improves and enhances the skills and knowledge of an individual in certain ways. In just the same way, it is the process that offers and imposes on individuals benefits for the development and growth of an organization and enhancing professionalism among groups and individuals. Some of the most common strategies used in professional development include such things as mentoring, notion of learning communities and coaching. There are also other definitions of professional development by other professionals. One other definition is that the term professional development is used to mean an overarching concept which should embrace staff development as well as the development of individuals (Bell, 1991).
From this definition, it becomes clear that professional development contributes to the individual and personal needs of a member of staff and it also includes the development of the staff as a group which is usually focused on how learning encourages and enhances learning within a group and in an organization. It should be clear here that individuals and organizations, as well, need to be responsible of their development; this is to mean that professional development should not always be viewed as the responsibility of the organization towards the individual. Rather the process should be taken as a process that is collaborative in which the organization, as well as, the individual takes some specific responsibilities for engaging and identifying some of the most effective and appropriate development (Bubb & Earley, 2007).
Professional development programs have numerous functions. For example, they aim to develop individuals and groups professionally. In most of the cases, the driving force behind professional development comes from a wide variety of directions. For instance, it is usually required and mandated by policies by the government, encouraged and sought after by teachers in education as a way of addressing certain challenges or even developed and established in partnership between different universities, schools and the wider community. However, it is essential that a balance be struck between the needs of an organization and those of the needs of the individual or group whatever the driving force (Speck & Knipe, 2005).
Today, for most professional groups all over the world, ongoing or continuous professional development has become a requirement for all members. Professionals like teachers, medical professionals, architects and other professionals are required by certain policies and regulations to undertake certain levels of professional development programs a few times each year. For some professionals, it is even mandatory to undertake these professional development programs each year. However, this inconvenience has been made easier by the World Wide Web which enables organizations and other groups to post professional development information on the web which makes it readily available to all professionals (Jasper, 2006).
According to recent studies, the majority, about 71 percent, of the organizations do not have strategies and philosophies that are well or clearly defined for the development of leadership skills and roles in women despite a lot of organizational efforts. The studies received and collected responses and data from thousands of human resource departments, diversity leaders and talent management departments from all over the world about development programs for women leadership. Leaders who are high- impact and experienced are aware of the fact that bad times are as a result of actions of leaders in good days. On the other hand, good times are as a result of effective actions that good leaders take during bad days. As a result, leaders must develop their skills and knowledge so that they get equipped with the correct tools to deal with bad times in business to result to desirable outcomes. The fact that women are not developed professionally on their leadership skills makes it possible for them to make mistakes in good times that can result to results that are undesirable (Austin, 1995).
Women leadership development programs, therefore, are designed to impose on women the chance or opportunity to strengthen and explore their skills in leadership while celebrating the abilities that they possess and that are unique to them as women. Such programs aim to foster an environment that is supportive of the women, in which they can explore the challenges and issues that face them specifically as women and to teach them skills, knowledge, and wisdom that women might find useful in reaching and achieving their full potential. As it follows, these programs give women time and the opportunity to reflect, learn, and to energize so as to develop and improve their leadership skills for them to develop into leaders who are more effective in their various roles and responsibilities. One of the common features of these programs is that they are usually focused on developing individuals and they are built upon the basis or the belief that individual women have the capacity to improve their leadership abilities and skills; that they still can grow, learn and change. Most programs are offered in a number of phases, the main ones being three, each of which builds on the other, each increasing the depth that opens more opportunities for the women to grow and expand as leaders (Rogala, Lambert & Verhage, 1992).
The first phase of most professional development programs for women focuses on the conceptual framework of leadership, the differences and similarities between female leaders and male leaders, social and leadership capital, and, the most crucial, creativity, the driving force of development of leadership. The second phase of the professional development programs for women leaders sheds light on the personality, of the individual, their character, and behavior using such tools as SDI or strength deployment inventory and the MBTI, Myers- Briggs type indicator. During this stage, the program focuses on the techniques and skills that make the women participants to interact with each other cohesively in a social network (Rogala, Lambert & Verhage, 1992).
The third phase of the programs provides the women participants with time to work on and improve on their needs for practical leadership development in a setting involving a small group. In such programs, the skills set and topic covered helps the women participants enhance their abilities in leadership. In most cases, participants are funded and self- selected by their organizations. These stages in training develop different areas in the participants with the first developing their skills and knowledge in management, the second developing their social interaction skills and the third allowing the women to practice and finesse their abilities and the knowledge they have learned in the program. The end result is that the women improve their skills all- round and become better and improved leaders. All these are achieved through a number of approaches including mentoring programs for the women, women presentations, workshops and keynotes, women networks and women leadership development coaching (Wake County Business Education Leadership Council V Wake County Public School System, 1995).
Leadership, whether in women or men requires one to be proficient enough in communication; both oral and written for them to be able to pass across information appropriately. As it follows, leaders need to constantly enhance and improve their communication skills in order to remain effective in communication. They can attend several training courses once in a while so as to improve both their written and oral communication skills. A leader who is considered all round and effective must be able to pass across information efficiently and effectively.
It has been argued that one of the main keys to success is possessing great interpersonal skills of communication. Individuals who possess these interpersonal skills of communication have been indicated to have better chances of being successful in the current world than those without mainly because people have finally come to appreciate the advantages of having and retaining the right business connections. It is widely thought that great interpersonal skills of communication are nor inborn, although in some cases individuals are born with traits that seem to naturally and impose on them excellent ways and skills of communication, however, studies have shown that interpersonal skills of communication can be learned and nurtured for one to become a more effective communicator. Experts in the field argue that communication that is effective has to have or has to be composed of different communication methods including voice, words, non- verbal communication and tone. Of these four, non- verbal communication has been indicated to be the most effective in delivering or communicating across a message between individuals (Elgin, 1993).
According to recent surveys words are only 7 percent in effectiveness when it comes to communication, tonal voice is only 38 percent effective in passing a message across. However, non- verbal communication was found to be 55 percent effective in communicating. Non- verbal communication can be made up of a number of components. Some of these components include body language, the emotion of the receiver, as well as, of the sender and other relations or connections between the individuals communicating like friends, professionals, and enemies. Some factors that might govern these connections and relationships and affect communication include personal differences or similarities, differences and similarities in philosophy, expectations, differences in profession and attitudes. This is to mean that what individuals say is not as meaningful or important as how they say or act while saying it. For example, a message could be dull when delivered by an incompetent communicator, but seem brilliant when delivered by a speaker who is charismatic, filled with enthusiasm and energy (Don Gabor & Schuster, 1994).
Just as well, a message which is brilliant and excellent can seem dull when delivered by a speaker who is not interested or enthusiastic because such speakers usually do not have the ability to spark the interest of the audience. For one’s speech to be as effective, it has to be delivered well with the speaker incorporating into the speech some essential elements of effective communication. Some of these elements include the quality of voice, body language, intention, clothing and dressing style, eye contact, animation, visual aid, manner, self- concept, pacing and rhythm, agenda, rapport, concept of the audience and other, hearing and listening to the underlying message, how the speaker hold the message, confidence, and attitude, and energy among others (John, 1995).
Making presentations that are effective to key individuals and groups is a regular part of the job of most executives. Delivering a message or a presentation that is easy to understand and clear that gains support from the audience obviously requires some skills and expertise in speaking in public. Also, it requires that the speaker understand the audience and its perspective and be willing to adjust to the presentation on the basis of the feedback they receive during the presentation. Therefore, attaining this expertise requires individuals to be trained on the same, and practice (Berlo, 1960).
The main purpose of any kind of communication is to persuade and inform. These skills are critical for business professionals. Numerous communication skills training programs have the sole purpose of enhancing written and verbal skills of communication. Other minor reasons for holding communication skills training programs include improving the effectiveness of written and spoken communication as well as improving the quality of communication. There are three main types of communication skills training that most programs hold. These include written, verbal and face- to- face communication skills training (Barnlund, 2008).
Clear verbal or spoken communication skills are critical for many professionals. Therefore, the ability of a professional to clearly speak, with impact, and briefly have a major influence on the credibility of managers and many other professionals, as well as, their organizations. As it follows, delivering presentations that are formal and other discussions in meetings and their places always present an individual with the need to improve their presentation skills. Just as well, what and how we write presentations creates a special impression on the audience. In most cases, individuals are required to communicate through compiling reports, through emails and briefing papers and it is adamant that they do so effectively and efficiently. The writing training courses, therefore, teach individuals how to develop their communication skills in writing giving them the ability to write concisely, clearly and persuasively (Corcoran et al., 2001).
The way professionals communicate in such situations as face to face, in which they connect and interact with individuals or groups can significantly affect their effectiveness in communication and how others see or understand them. Many training programs for improving face to face communication skills are based on principles of neurolinguistic programming or NLP, but with an increased focus on the provision of practical skills and techniques that aid individuals in maximizing their personal effect (Corcoran et al., 2001).
There are number of things that I learned from the professional development experiences described above. The key learning from the above discussion had a lot to do with developing leadership skills and developing proper and effective written and spoken communication skills. After completing the first part of the assignment, I realized that I had needs when it comes to communication, as well as, in leadership. I realized that my communication skills were not effective enough to accomplish the intentions of the speech. According to a number of studies, the best and most effective communication is one where a speaker establishes a connection with the audience and where the audience remains alert and attentive throughout the speech participating and showing emotion when appropriate (Stirling et al., 2000).
With this information, I evaluated my presentation and communication skills and I found out that connecting and keeping my audience attentive was one area where I needed to improve. According to my experiences above, I learned that such challenges could be addressed through attending a professional development program whose main focus is to improve communication skills. It is, therefore, possible for me to improve my communication skills if I am able to identify and find a professional development training program that is effective enough. After identifying such a program I could attend it to learn about the appropriate communication skills. After learning these skills, I would ensure that I finesse them by practicing a bit until I get the principles right (Lee & Barr, 1989).
Another problematic area that I identified I had, had to do with my leadership skills. It was clear from the above discussions that good leaders are those who manage to accomplish and coordinate activities during both bad and good days to result to desirable outcomes. I realized that my leadership skills were not as developed because I at times relaxed during the good days, consequences of which were apparent during times of need. It is essential for a manger to be alert and to remain knowledgeable at all times of their businesses and what is going around them in the market (Board of Teacher Registration, 1997).
As a result of this, they remain successful and effective throughout the year, fruits of which are seen when the business remains successful and fruitful. It was, therefore, apparent that constant knowledge and skills development is essential for all managers as it keeps them informed of new practices and trends in the market, and enables them to become effective leaders all- round the year. As it follows, attending some of these knowledge and professional development programs several times in year would make me an efficient and effective leader in today’s fast- changing world. Attending such seminars and programs would foster in me the right knowledge and information to remain an effective leader in business (Bouldin & Wilson, 2003).
Conclusion
As it has been seen in the discussions above, professional development is an essential facet in many professions. This is because it keeps leaders and other professionals in touch with the most current knowledge and skills for them to remain effective and efficient professionals in their fields.
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