Personal Development Plan 1

Personal Development Plan

Name

Institution

Date of Submission
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Personal development plan

Self Analysis

A personal development plan is a tool used to create an action plan based on awareness of

one’s strengths and weakness so as to encourage personal growth. In order to understand my

strengths and weakness and develop my personal development plan I completed the Big Five

Personality Test and the Oprah’s Self Assessment Test.

Big Five Personality Test

According to the Big Five Personality Test, my strengths have been identified as

Conscientiousness, emotional stability and sociability and my weaknesses as antagonistic and

easily irritable and low creativity threshold. According to the five-step model of the human

personality, OCEAN, I was placed in the 35th percentile on the first part that speaks to Openness

which means that I typically don't seek new experiences and tends to go for task that are

conventional and do not require a lot of creativity. On the next part, Conscientiousness, I scored

in the 92th percentile indicating that I am well organized and reliable. It shows that I am self

disciplined and act responsibly to deliver accurate results. On the 3rd aspect of the test,

extraversion, I was place in the 42th percentile implying I am a relatively social, have positive

energy and enjoy the company of others. On the next part, Agreeableness I score in the 87th

percentile which means I am good-natured, courteous, and supportive. The implication is that

have compassion for my colleagues and I less suspicious and antagonistic to others when under

stress. On the last part, neuroticism, I was placed in the 11th percentile implying I am calm and

confident even in tense situation. Its shows I am emotionally stable, have good impulse control

and I can work in stressful situation without buckling under pressure.

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Oprah’s Self Assessment Test

According to Oprah’s Self Assessment Test, my strengths were identified as good

leadership, hardworking, competitive and decisive. My weaknesses were described

confrontational, domineering and dictatorial. I scored highly in questions that had to do with

striving to help (10 points), recognized (13 points), knowledgeable (11), in control (10) and

secure (12 points). However, I should improve on striving to be creative (6 points) and

spontaneous (9). The test suggested I am ambitious and that I have a clear image of who I am

and work tirelessly to achieve my goals and inspire people in the process. However, I should be

careful as I am prone to being a workaholic. The test further asserted I am a supportive and

caring person in my personal and job relationship. The fact that the test suggested I am

spontaneous implies that I am action oriented, relatively out going and technically gifted even

though when I am not satisfied with my thirst for variety I can be impulsive and self destructive.

As a leader, the test emphasized I am confident, assertive and I know what I want and how to get

it done however when others refuse to go along with my agenda I become confrontational and

dictatorial. On the knowledgeable front, Oprah’s test suggested I try to surpass the competence

level of my peers and that I am incisive and curious.

I do agree with the results of these self assessment tests. I do tend to be attracted to tasks

and responsibilities that are conventional and analytical rather than imaginative. This makes me

be able to play safe and not to take risk. My colleagues have always asserted that one of my

weaknesses is that I am domineering and a control freak and I don’t give other people a chance

to take control of situation and this factor was elucidated in the above mentioned test. However,

they do recognize my leadership and organization skills. They also acknowledge the fact that I

am a reliable person and I always complete my task within the stipulated time while ensuring I
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produced a presentable result. I am able to work very well both with and without pressure. I

appreciate that I can get too carried away by a task in hand forget to be compassionate and

sensitive to people’s feelings and concerns. I am also aware that I am confrontational when my

ideas are not being appreciated and people don’t want to go along with my agenda. I am a very

social person and this factor has enabled me to acquire good communication as well as

interpersonal relationship skills. I am a curious person and strive to acquire as much knowledge

as I can on topics of interest. All factors considered, I confirm these tests are a true reflection of

what I feel about myself as well as what my friends appreciate about me and I am not surprised

by any of the assessment.

Examples of situations where I have demonstrated my strengths

I have been able to utilize my strong leadership skills in my discussion group. As the

chairperson of the group, I have development a time table that we all strictly adhere to and this

has enabled us to effectively manage our time. I am also responsible for assigning reading topics

to my colleagues and generally modulate the discussion to full participation of members and

settle disputes whenever they arise. I follow up on members to ensure they are punctual and

ready for the discussion and where possible assist to ensure they are up to task. Whenever I

assign myself a task, I make sure I do it in time and prepare adequately to give the presentation

to my group.

I have been able to employ my exceptional interpersonal relationship and communication

skills as a youth leader in my church at home. I am actively involved in mentorship program and

during my holidays I volunteer to help 10th grade students with their academic weakness in a

friendly environment. I also love giving motivational talks to inspire the youths in my church and
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my former high school and help them make career choices according to their strengths and

weakness. It is vital that one be able to understand this population and use his people’s skills to

make them understand the importance of setting out life goals while they are still young. Failure

to do so result in your attempt to make them be responsible people falling on deaf ears and

perceive your advice as a lecture other than an advice,

I employed my planning and organization skills into good use last year as a volunteer

during orientation of new students. I was a part of a squad of students who undertook the task of

being guides for the new students on campus. Our role was to organize and conduct a 1 hour tour

within the campus so ease their transition to the college life. Our team met several times before

the orientation to map out and organize the routes and stops on the tour. We allocated who would

be talking at each stop and what we would be communicating. As a result of our detailed

planning and organization, we conducted successful tours on two days of orientation. During this

period, I greatly enhanced my ability to plan and organize activities, and enhanced my team-

work, leadership and communication skills.

I am a competitive person and I am always on the lookout for opportunities to challenge

myself. During my last year of high school I participated in a one week Price Water House

Coopers competition organized through one of my teachers and the commerce club. We were

divided in five groups and were tasked with the responsibility of developing a strategy to

enhance the market share of a company dealing with stationery with minimal cost and give a

presentation to the class. Through a lot of determination and research, my group of four

eventually created a strategy based on the S.W.O.T analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities

and Threats) and gave a 20 minutes power point presentation. As a result, we were placed second

overall and even though we did not win I felt that we had completed a challenging task and learnt
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a great deal in the process. The opportunity to participating in such competition was an

invaluable lesson that enhances my skills in problem solving, team spirit, organization and

commutation.

Action Steps

In order to improve on my creativity and openness to new experiences I plan to spend at

least two hours within a week to concentrate on some type of creative project. During this period,

I plan to suspend my judgment and self-criticism, and then start writing down related ideas and

possible solutions. I will then report my progress to my discussion group for constructive

criticism.

In a bid to change from being a control freak I plan to reflect and understand the root of

this behavior and try to overcome it. I will tell the people in my life that I am trying to be less

controlling and enlist their help in identifying my triggers. I will delegate my duties in my

discussion group and give space to others to lead according to their preferences.

In order to improve on my organization skills I will employ the use of calendar, planner

and Smartphone to plan my day. I will sort out everything in my room and ensure my items are

their rightful place so to avoid confusion and ensure easy retrieval. I plan to keep to my schedule

and in an effort to avoid procrastination and ignore distractions.

I plan to be emotionally stable by taking an hour each day to reflect so that i can de-stress

and stay at my best. I will Learn how to compartmentalize my thoughts making sure the areas of

my life that are super stressful don't leak into the good parts of my life, ruining everything that's

going well. I will endeavor to think positively though thinking logically and control negative

emotions when they do crop up.

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I plan to improve my interpersonal relations by ensuring that I join a student club next

semester so as to get to know like-minded people. I will also minimize the time I spend

socializing online and make time for physical contacts with friend and relatives this will boost

my self esteem. So as to acquire more confidence in social situation, I plan to volunteer to be the

lead speaker during class presentation and play an active role during my lectures by asking

question whenever I don’t understand a point.

Conclusion

Through this assignment I have come to appreciate how vital it is for one to draft and

constantly review their Personal development plan. I have come to understand myself better and

appreciated what my strengths and weakness are and how to improve on them. I have learned it

is important in enabling me plan my objectives in life and helping me track my developmental

changes that are necessary to achieve both my short term and long term goals.