REFLECTIVE ESSAY

Table of Contents

Introduction. 3

Value of reflective practice on managers and leaders. 3

Reflection on learning from subject and research process. 5

Skills developed over the MBA.. 6

Assistance in future career endeavors. 7

Conclusion. 8

References. 10

Introduction

Skills development and professional progression are the expectations of all while enrolling themselves in an MBA, but the unexpected benefit that emerges out of management education is personal development. A management degree calls for the development and awareness of self. Reflective learning is the kind of educational practice where reflection is done by the students on their learning practices. It is a complex and intentional process that identifies the role of experience in a social context. Reflective learning is important as it encourages insight. A persons own growth is fostered as they are able to control their learning. In this case, a persons ability to reflect upon their acquired skills and knowledge is enhanced as they ponder and compare their learning with others. Reflective learners think about the information they have gained. Thorough thinking is done before action is taken. I have understood that adoption of MBA skills is playing an important role that assist to know the key strategies of a manager and a leader. Through this MBA skills it is possible tom understand the key aspects of some retail sectors.

Through the practice of reflection, the students are able to study their own experiences and improve their performance by modifying their way of working. Reflection helps in increasing the confidence of a person by making them qualified and proactive professionals. Reflective learning and practice in management enable leaders and managers to use their own behaviors, self-awareness, and interactions as sources of learning. Emotional intelligence and its development are emphasized along with enhancement in performance and practicing on the applicable leadership styles. Reflective learning and practice are necessary for leadership as it leads a leader to personal mastery and helps them learn how to be present, attentive, and aware of their experience with the people they are working with all through the day. It is helpful in examining their strengths, weaknesses, current level of skills, behavioral patterns, and also the way the person influences others. Reflective practice is the capability of reflecting on someones own actions in order to engage in the continuous learning process.

Value of reflective practice on managers and leaders

Through the development of reflective practices, a leader or manager inculcates the capability to utilize challenges as opportunities for learning, experience satisfaction and purpose, and build alliances that are stronger than the previous ones. These developments do not only occur professionally but personally as well. Reflective practice is integrated into the learning program. Reflective practice helps the managers or leaders to make decisions, take responsibility, and make them prepared to work in various departments rather than one single area. Reflection makes us socially responsible which leads us to become clear-thinking decision-makers (Machado, 2018). Reflective practice helps us become flexible and open giving an inquiry orientation and local autonomy. I have come to know that transformational change and transitional change are including some key aspects that may assist to evaluate the business strategy by implementing the leadership qualities and creating some new perspective of leaders. Kotters eight steps may also assist to assume the changing process and some of them are urgency, influence, vision, communication, and empowerment (Beenen et al. 2018)

Reflection is deemed to be an essential part of learning. It facilitates personal learning that leads to personal development. Self-awareness is regarded to be a product of reflection. Self-awareness is really important in growing self-esteem. Reflective practice helps in shaping our social experience, our values, assumptions, and ways of interacting. It makes us question our beliefs and understanding events and then shaping the responses.

Critical reflection does not come naturally to managers. It is a practice that needs to be facilitated and learned. Informational learning or training cannot improve the ability to critically reflect. Reflective practice is beneficial for building confidence, learning to trust our decisions, and becoming better versions of ourselves professionally and personally (McDonald, 2017). Reflective practice is very important for managers and leaders as it helps them use their own behaviors, interactions, and self-awareness as a source of learning. Reflective practice leads to giving conscious effort in thinking about events and developing insights within them. It is a dynamic action-based and active set of ethical skills that deal with complex, difficult, and real-life situations based in real-time. Reflective practice helps the managers and leaders to explore different theories and apply those theories in experiences systematically and structurally. These theories can range from being formal theories extracted from academic research and also from our personal ideas (Beenen, Pichler and Davoudpour, 2018). Our assumptions and beliefs are helped to explore and it further leads us to find effective solutions to our problems. Competitive strategy is one of most key steps that may assist to gain competitive advantages and create a new market strategy in business that has come to know through the MBA skills. I have come to know that through the MBA skills some key dynamic capabilities has gained and that is very helpful for understanding the disruptive change and market complexity. Through this MBA skills it is possible tom understand the key aspects of some retail sectors and thus an individual came to know the customer segmentation and understanding the brand competition (Ahmad and Pesch 2017).

Reflective practice is not only an individual activity but a shared activity as well. It is not mandatory that it has to be done solely. According to psychologists, learning takes place when our thoughts are put into languages which can be both spoken and written. An insight can be announced loudly to ourselves or to a group. Reflective practice does not only pertain to the documentation of a formal course but by taking every day events and activities and also enlisting what is happening. The loops can be easily found and modifications can be done easily. Reflective practice is helpful in increasing our self-awareness and being empathetic in understanding the viewpoint of others. It also helps in the development of enhancing the creative thinking skills of the ones who strive to be managers or leaders.

Reflection on learning from subject and research process

In our business school, we were provided with an insight into the view of the development of management over the years. As we have understood from our subject and process of research, several things have been learned during the process (Cummings et al. 2018). We have learned and experienced during our studies that the manager resides in a world that pressurizes them for speed and provides instant solutions to the problems. Thus I have understood that strategy concepts has included some basic aspects that need to capture in mind. The Strategy theories assist to know how an individual may implement several strategies for getting some benefits in the workplace (Beenen et al. 2018). We have also learned that it shall appear to us that ample information is available at our finger-tips but the solutions need to be thought through according to the instructions and also the kind of the problem. A strategic manager often saunters for a while in the face of adversity. We are supposed to relax for a while and slowly understand the problem and its impacts and provide solutions to them (Dalton, 2018).

Another thing that we have learned is by noting down the thoughts and ideas that come up while working in a reflective place. We must make notes of the reflective ideas. The process of recording a thought in a journal is a type of thought-processing. Reflective learning has helped us understand that one of the most important parts of becoming managers or leaders is being present in the moment. We have to be really focused on our job. The experience of the past and the plan for the future is included in the thought of the present. The cause and effect relationship must be kept in mind (Donaldson-Feilder, Lewis and Yarker, 2019). I have come to know that it is very important to know the key concepts in managing the human resources, it is also clearly understood that the basic roles of the board of strategy and risk managers (Beenen et al. 2018). Through the strategy it has clearly understood that the importance of performance of employees, importance of financial statement of a company. With assistance of this MBA skills is essential for implementing the corporate strategy and control several customers behaviors and how to create the value through innovation.

Our learning has helped in increasing our effectiveness. There are three aspects of acting purposely and spontaneity. One of the aspects is to have curiosity by enhancing our desire to know and our interest in seeking an explanation of knowledge. Another aspect is to have a meticulous and careful approach in knowing about the existence of things. We have learned that we need to have tenacity and determination. It teaches us not to let go, or give up. If we can have an open mind and have curiosity, we can definitely improve. Perfectionism is not the way out in this case. We should focus more on awareness than perfection. A sense of completeness arises with the help of awareness regarding the theories of managerial practice and practical situations. Reflective practice helps in the suspension of judgment and feeling comfortable with not knowing. We must keep in mind the assumptions of others (Feij et al. 2019).

The learning and research process has helped us understand the reflective practice and how it helps in building managers or leaders. As we are trained to become effective managers or leaders, our confidence and self-awareness develop. A set of ethical skills also develop throughout the cognitive process. The process of learning helps us develop not only in our professional lives but also in our personal lives. Reflective practice has helped us develop our skills as managers or leaders.

Skills developed over the MBA

We, as leaders, have both positive impacts and negative impacts on our lives. Sometimes we have both. We need to focus on the management and leadership skills developed over the course of time. A leader must have different management skills (Oc, 2018). The skills that we have incurred during our MBA include decision-making skills, time management skills, communication skills, diagnostic skills, conceptual skills, technical skills, design skills, and human skills (Passarelli, Boyatzis and Wei, 2018). Skills of decision making are essential to be an effective leader. In our MBA course, we are taught to make effective and accurate decisions in a short while. We are taught to be creative in our thought processes and clear in our views. As per my viewpoints to become a manager from a leader it is very important to manage one of most important constrains that is time. Not only this, it can be said also that financial stability, cash flow, capital management are the basic thinks that an individual needs to follow in a significant way. Moreover, it has been come to know that an individual may get success in fulfilling the aims by following some business models (Ahmad and Pesch 2017).

Time management skills are very necessary for a manager or a leader. We are taught how to efficiently manage time. Time is a crucial resource that is made use of by a manager or leader. A leader must work efficiently, arrange work according to timelines and also delegate the tasks accordingly. Time is a unique element in management and leadership. If we do not make proper use of time, we do not get it back (Rubens et al. 2018).

Our communication skills are developed over the MBA. it is essential for a leader to interact with various people having various capacities. Another important set of skills that have been learned by us during our studies is diagnostic skills. Challenges are a part of our life that is inevitable in nature. A leader is supposed to experience challenges in their position of leadership. A particular challenge must be countered with a proper response (SIMPSON et al. 2019). The diagnostic skills help the managers or leaders to visualize the various solutions that can help counter a challenge and then choose the solution that is the most appropriate one according to the particular issue. Every solution that the leader shall provide has to be faced with a particular consequence. Every solution has certain consequences and benefits among which the proper solution has to be selected. I have enhanced my knowledge by finding the strength and weakness of an individual. In response to analyze the current market of a business it is needed to understand the market and indentify the industrial risks. I have come to know that SWOT and PESTLE analysis are the basic things that needs to include in analyzing the current market strategies.

Conceptual skills help the leader to ensure that everybody in the organization can embrace changes. The technical skills help in developing specific processes and handling them. Effective performance is ensured with their help. Design skills help in identifying the issues in beforehand and give feasible solutions. Human skills help in the creation of a conductive environment within the organization.

Assistance in future career endeavors

The acquiring of the different skills is essential for shaping our future. In our future careers as managers and leaders, we shall be bestowed upon various responsibilities that need to be accomplished. The skills that have been acquired during the MBA shall help us become future leaders and managers. We have learned that the inputs of the employees are essential to both the manager and the organization (Valiga, 2019). It has taught us how to solve the issues that arise among the employees. It will help in negotiating the different factors like salaries, work terms, and work timelines. Our studies and research work shall help us effective purpose in order to train the employees of the institution. The learning shall help in holding effective meetings. The skills that have been developed will also help to maintain openness as well.

A manager or leader is the one person who occupies the top rank in the company or organization. Each employee looks up to the manager. As per my understanding it can be said training is one of most essential part that makes a person fit and thus it will be possible for an individual to create a plan, geographical scope and thus trying to identify the internal competitive advantages.

When we shall become managers in our future, we are supposed to motivate the employees working with us. Our training helps us give the right motivation to the employees and also work hard in order to accomplish the objectives and goals set by the organization. Motivated employees show employee satisfaction and also a high rate of productivity. Our training teaches us to understand the weaknesses and strengths of our subordinates. We are trained to support the stressed employees and encourage them to run various projects in the company or organization. We are also taught to issue incentives and acknowledge employee contribution (Zhang et al. 2019).

A leader or manager must have the right skills to face, identify and overcome issues in the organization. We, as leaders, are taught to be attentive and also spot problems before they are spotted by the employees. We are trained to develop our analytical skills in order to determine the flow of information in the organization (DiGirolamo and Tkach, 2019).

Conclusion

In order to become an effective leader or manager, it is important to be efficient in the exhibition of skills of management. Self-reflection is another important step in the way of understanding completely what has been learned and also reflecting on ones own personal development. It helps in growing as a professionally and personally enriched human being. Self-reflection is helpful in giving the opportunity of exploring ones growth and change of viewpoints. When we take up a new role of leadership, he or she needs to keep in mind different skills of management. Self-awareness is considered to be the first and foremost step leading to effective leadership and management. The person who is in the leadership position must take time to learn about themselves. Recognizing ones own strengths and weaknesses help they grow as leaders. The opinions of others are respected by the individuals who have leadership qualities. A manager or leader must have integrity and should be trustworthy and responsible. However, through the MBA skills I have gained huge knowledge that may assist me in my professional life in future.

A manager or leader is a person who is on the top of an organization and it is the duty of the leader or manager to ascertain that the employees are productive enough and the goals and missions of the organization are met. A manager needs to be self-aware and embrace leadership skills. Leadership and management go hand in hand. A leader is able to identify problem-causing factors, issuing resources, have troubleshooting skills and provide effective solutions to them. Managerial skill development is an integral part of the training. This has helped us become successful in our future careers and also help us grow in our professional and personal lives.

References

Books

Machado, C., 2018. Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management: A Guide to a Specialized MBA Course. New York: Springer International Publishing.

McDonald, D., 2017. The golden passport: Harvard Business School, the limits of capitalism, and the moral failure of the MBA elite. New York: HarperBusiness.

Journals

Ahmad, S. and Pesch, M., 2017. Essential work skills and readiness: Perceptions of employers, MBA students and undergraduates. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 21(1), pp.1-10.

Beenen, G., Pichler, S. and Davoudpour, S., 2018. Interpersonal skills in MBA admissions: How are they conceptualized and assessed?. Journal of Management Education, 42(1), pp.34-54.

Beenen, G., Pichler, S. and Davoudpour, S., 2018. Interpersonal skills in MBA admissions: How are they conceptualized and assessed?. Journal of Management Education, 42(1), pp.34-54.

Cummings, G.G., Tate, K., Lee, S., Wong, C.A., Paananen, T., Micaroni, S.P. and Chatterjee, G.E., 2018. Leadership styles and outcome patterns for the nursing workforce and work environment: A systematic review. International journal of nursing studies, 85, pp.19-60.

Dalton, C., 2018. Reflection is embedded in my brain forever now!: personal development as a core module on an Executive MBA. Reflective Practice, 19(3), pp.399-411.

Donaldson-Feilder, E., Lewis, R. and Yarker, J., 2019. What outcomes have mindfulness and meditation interventions for managers and leaders achieved? A systematic review. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 28(1), pp.11-29.

Feij, F.R., Grf, D.D., Pearce, N. and Fassa, A.G., 2019. Risk factors for workplace bullying: a systematic review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(11), p.1945.

Oc, B., 2018. Contextual leadership: A systematic review of how contextual factors shape leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(1), pp.218-235.

Passarelli, A.M., Boyatzis, R.E. and Wei, H., 2018. Assessing leader development: lessons from a historical review of MBA outcomes. Journal of Management Education, 42(1), pp.55-79.

Rubens, A., Schoenfeld, G.A., Schaffer, B.S. and Leah, J.S., 2018. Self-awareness and leadership: Developing an individual strategic professional development plan in an MBA leadership course. The International Journal of Management Education, 16(1), pp.1-13.

SIMPSON, T., MARCHANT, D., ELLISON, P. and CARNEGIE, E., 2019, May. A systematic review of motivational and attentional variables to childrens fundamental motor skill development: The OPTIMAL theory. In 8th Annual Meeting of Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network (ESAN)..

Valiga, T.M., 2019. Leaders, managers, and followers: Working in harmony. Nursing2020, 49(1), pp.45-48.

Zhang, T., Li, Z., L, Y., Liu, Y., Yang, D., Li, Q. and Qiu, F., 2019. Recent progress and future prospects of oil-absorbing materials. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 27(6), pp.1282-1295.

Online Articles

DiGirolamo, J.A. and Tkach, J.T., 2019. An exploration of managers and leaders using coaching skills. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 71(3), p.195. [Online], Available at<https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fcpb0000138>, [Accessed on: 15.01.2021]