Identification of My Strengths and Weaknesses While at the Workplace, University, and Home

Strengths and weaknesses are inherent in everyone. An individuals' personality, environment and relationships can have an impact on, and be influenced by, strength and weaknesses of character. According to Stone (2014), an understanding and awareness of these traits can improve our interactions throughout our daily life. Knowing how our strengths and weaknesses affect our reactions to situations, help us to learn and adapt.

In the assignment I will identify and analyse three of my main strengths and weaknesses, using examples from my workplace, university and home. I will formulate a strategy to improve one of my identified weaknesses, which will hopefully assist with my personal development over the next academic year.

One of my greatest strengths is my amiability. I have always had the ability to get along with people, no matter what their background. Socially, I have lots of friends who I enjoy meeting up with, and I am well liked and popular. My amiability is very effective at my place of work. I have a good rapport with all my colleagues, including my managers. I enjoy interacting with customers, and have been commended for my attitude and my ability to attract new customers. I believe this is a strength that will be beneficial in my future career and according to McIntosh, Davis and Luecke (2008), is one of the most important skills for effective management.

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Following on from this is my strength as a team member. I enjoy participating in exercises at university. I actively participate in group discussions and often come up creative solutions to any problems. I am a good communicator, and effective at getting my point of view understood. I always make an effort to respect and listen to other team members ideas. In the workplace I have successfully contributed to team projects and have built strong bonds with my team colleagues. I have received positive feedback from my supervisor, praising my teamwork capability.

Being flexible and adaptable is another strength I possess. At work I am often required to operate in different departments, which involves a change of activities and procedures. I am always willing to attempt new tasks and learn new skills. I enjoy the challenge that this presents. I enjoy communicating and working with diverse people, and I always succeed in forming positive relationships. According to Thompson (2009), the ability to adapt to new situations is essential in order to form and maintain effective relationships.

One of my weaknesses is my nervousness when speaking in public. Although I am usually a confident person, the thought of an audience watching me speak, fills me with dread. I have recently researched and written a reflective essay about a situation at university where I had to speak in front of an audience. Using Gibbs (1988) model of reflection has helped me a great deal and has prompted me to learn more about the reasons for my lack of self confidence when in front of an audience. I have explored coping strategies for nervousness and learned about interpersonal skills and communication. I am still apprehensive about public speaking, but I am becoming more confident as I gain more knowledge and work experience.

My family and work colleagues tell me I am impatient. I acknowledge this is a weakness of mine. I like things to be done without delay and become frustrated if I have to wait too long. When that doesn't happen I get frustrated. At home I often miss my evening meal because I am too anxious to wait another ten minutes until it's prepared because I want to go out and socialize. In the workplace I become frustrated with colleagues who are slower at completing their paperwork than me. I am making a conscious attempt to see it from the other person's point of view, recognize that people approach things differently and not impose my own standards on others. I find if I provide constructive help rather than just getting impatient it will improve the situation.

The weakness that has most impact on my life at the moment is my abysmal time management. The Oxford English Dictionary (2014) defines time management as "the ability to use one's time effectively or productively: time management is the key to efficient working". I tend to put off important tasks (such as essay writing), and am easily distracted by things going on around me. I work full time and have an active social calendar, so finding the time and motivation to study is very difficult for me. I have decided to devise an improvement strategy to help me with this problem MacKenzie and Nickerson (2009) suggest that finding a quiet, personal space with no distractions, is important when studying.

I usually sit at the dining room table with my lap top when studying, where I am often distracted by other members of the family. I have decided to set up a desk in my bedroom with a permanent place for my lap-top. I also plan to visit the university library twice a week, for an hour of study after work. As suggested by De Jong (2014), I have devised a timetable where I have scheduled study time in the evenings, with no distractions. During this study time, my phone will be switched off and my family has promised not to disturb me.

I have made a calendar with assignments and deadlines for each module, which I have put on the wall in my bedroom, where I can refer to it as and when the need arises. I have scheduled every Sunday night to review my assignments, notes and my calendars. I intend to keep a study diary, where I can compare the effectiveness of my increased study time and my hopefully, improved results.

This assignment has enabled me to better understand my strengths and weaknesses and has increased myself awareness. According to Stone (2014) self awareness is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation and emotions. Having to take a good look at myself and understand how others perceive me has really motivated me to improve upon my weaknesses. Hearing the opinions of family, friends and colleagues was confronting but enlightening. Taking the time to reflect on their comments allowed me to better understand how others perceived me, and acknowledge my inadequacies.

According to Boud, Keogh and Walker (2013), reflection can be a helpful tool for understanding and accepting your weaknesses. Hansen (2000) believes that weaknesses are important and help us to become a unique individual, and the first step in overcoming any weakness is to become aware of it.

Having a greater appreciation of my strengths and weaknesses will enable me to grow as a person, both personally and professionally. I intend to continue to nurture and build on my strengths and be aware of and improve on my weaknesses.

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