Career and strategic Planning

It is true that developing an ambitious personal career strategy is critical to defining one’s priorities as well as taking steps to achieve success. As a result, understanding the professional strategic means of carrying out the process helps in the development of an action-oriented and constructive career. Some aspects, in my opinion, are needed for cultivating a good career, such as collaboration, interpretation, synthesis, valuation, execution, and self-evaluation. The aim of this paper is to provide a final portfolio of my personal strategic academic and career planning focused on the principles, personalities, and understanding of factors that ensure life progress.
A. Communication
The main reason I decided to begin the journey in problem-solving as well as decision making from the beginning of the class is the need to improve on my career path. I recall in one of the first courses; our lecturer talked about values. He pointed out that to find meaning in life, career path and what meaning life is to someone, one has to find within themselves what they value the most. My value in life is to become a career individual who is a role model and an influential personality at that. However, to achieve that, I remember reading an influential book, Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, that talks about the desire to be at the table. The metaphoric gesture means that for someone to realize their potential they ought to understand what their goal is in life and work from there. So I realized for me to comprehend what my purpose in life was I needed to understand what is required of me in the world- the need to make a difference in the world.

Therefore, I discovered that I am passionate about business. The idea of generating income not only for me but also those I employ would serve as satisfactory to me. In my business, I will be able to control the ethical and moral standards that I adhere to or would love to subscribe to in the workplace. More so, by owning my business, I can advance at my pace, hold a high salary as well as learn throughout the process. These are the values I uphold to my name. They are by Brown’s Value-based Model which reiterates that career development is based on the values in career decision making, which can be direct or indirect towards the behavior in a directional manner. Brown theorized that values are shaped by genetics as well as the environment (Boston Consulting Group, 2017).

I can attest to this, because, in my opinion, I was raised up in a familial environment where my parents were core to instilling values, morals and ethics in my life as well as those of my siblings. In particular, the need to stand on morals that are just, respectful and realistic such as conducting oneself in a specific ethical manner around others. Nonetheless, at this time and age, I have learned that life is not about one person, especially for a parent. And being one, I have come to understand that the career decisions and problem-solving strategies I use affect those around me. Thus, values on job security, ethics, obtaining a high salary, how I interact with other people as well as the accomplishment is necessary for my two children.

Subsequently, my emotional (sentiments) and feelings of wanting to be successful stemmed my desire to be proactive and decide on what I wanted for my career. My initial opinion is that I was lost and did not know whether what I was engaged in school-wise was useful for my family and I. Having two children can be a daunting task and without a motivational directive idea of what one desires can place one in a dilemma. Thus, the feeling of wanting to be more hands-on in my life pushed me to be better by making the wise decision in my career and academic planning strategy. One of the primary directives I took for myself is the desire to include mentors or external factors in generating idealistic decisions that would steer me towards a successful career and fulfilling life (Canadian Association of Management Consultants, 2017).

Concurrently, I have come to understand that it is not only the lessons I have learned in class, but, also the external environmental factors may have played a role in enabling my decision making and problem-saving desires. My spouse has been my partner in trying to push me to be better. By aiming to be better, I gained a clearer perspective on what I wanted to become and how I could become my happy self. My partner aided me in identifying what I loved the most both personally and career-wise, how to merge the two and comprehend how my academic career would assist me in achieving the goals. Also, my parents have been my epicenter and my fanatics for as long as I can remember. Their cheerleader-mentality has enabled me to gain more perspective through their wise words that gave me the magical comprehension of what I need to do in my life. Mainly understand how my academic path, career path, personal growth and familial grow are intertwined and how they support each other as motivator factors in my success (Government of Canada, 2017).

Finally, what I have learned throughout the class careers are not molded in a day but a lifetime. Just as the adage goes, every dog has its day, so does everybody and how one gets to their DAY relies on how they handle their day-to-day events. It involves how one manages their goals, how they understand their vision, purpose and how that picture can be their motivation even when drawbacks are the order of the day. Majorly, the class has taught me that it all begins with academic goals as the foundational clay to a successful career. Additionally, what I have drawn from the course is that person also directs how people work best within their environments as well as how they relate to others. Therefore, there is need to comprehend the different types of personalities and how to connect with others especially in the workplace. It translates to productivity and quality of work regarding performance.

B. Analysis

There is a lot I have derived from academic path among them the values, personality, strengths and experiences that aid in shaping my life, my career success and how I relate to others. In one of the class assessments, it was a requirement for individuals to assess their values and skill set and understand how they relate to each other. In my case, I realized I possess more than ten values and skill sets that aid me in the achievements of my career success. They include job security, ethics in the workplace, advancement, appreciation, high salary, work-life balance, belongings as well as learning within the career.

When it comes to job security, I value it the most since I will not have to look for another job the following day on an unexpected timeline. Nonetheless, since I have two children, there is an importance in having a stable income for providing a sense of security for them through the provision of all the essentials in life. Another value I cherish the most is ethics in the workplace. Ethics are considered as the decision between right and wrong. At the workplace, it is crucial that there be right decisions always made and wrong decisions corrected when they occur. The idea to this, in my opinion, is that employees will be treated fairly, respectfully as well as professionally. For instance, if I am an employee in a firm, I think it is of importance that the company carries a professional as well as the ethical image of what employees reflect as good and evil.

When it comes to what is valuable to me personally, learning and knowledge are crucial to academic and career growth. Education and experience are intertwined in that understanding what is in a career then developing the expertise to aid in the process of career development. In my opinion, there is need to continuously learn to add the value of my job and allow me to feel satisfied as I develop myself with the accumulation of knowledge and expertise. Therefore, a career is not only a daily task that provides an income, but there is, more importantly, it aids us to grow as well as gain the knowledge to do something more impactful in the future. More so, there is a need to start my own business one day.

Also, I value advancement, accomplishment, and appreciation. My fourth value is about progression since it is one of my best ways to achieve success in my career. It will factor into my growth within an organization as well as confirm my work performance that is encouraging and motivating. Additionally, achievement is also a core value in my life. I consider myself as energetic since am goal oriented which means I am more motivated in achieving something and the feeling of pride in accomplishing milestones in my experience. Concomitantly, I value appreciation based on whether it is positive or negative feedback. Working with a team can be very beneficial but, it also places a person on a learning curve. Therefore, I appreciate any criticism that comes with the either being positive or negative but, I take it as progression in learning something new. Another value, as well as the skill I value, is having a work-life balance. By this, there is an importance in doing so especially when I have two children. It is countered with having a high salary which is essential in supporting my family.

All these values and skills have enabled me to understand that the world of work requires a person to be an A-type of person but, may be difficult to achieve it. Out of this, I consider occupations such as executive officers as being more lucrative to me than any other position. The reason is that such jobs require a person to be goal oriented as well as be able to balance between work and life. With the skills and values, I have learned and adhered to as well; they are essential options to gain within the occupations. As such, I have discovered that decision-making and problem solving can relate to the values and skills needed within the profession. I have learned that through decision-making confusion one can be able to gain an understanding of what sets them back and how one can overcome them. For instance, in my view under CTI, the decision-making confusion can entail not comprehending the skills and values a person requires as well as personalities that affect career decisions. Therefore, there may be a resonance on commitment anxiety creating external conflict. External conflict can induce anxiety which limits a person’s ability to make decisions as well as be able to solve problems.

C. Synthesis

There are numerous plans and decision-making strategies that I have created for generating occupation and educational options for myself. One of the ways through which I have produced the opportunities is through the use of media. The media is the best source for understanding what is needed within the educational and occupational standards. Most of the journals and articles in business describe what is necessary about a management consultant. Through the media channels, I have been able to designate the materials that allow me to understand the roles and responsibilities of a business management consultant. They include understanding the consulting design reports, manuals as well as systems. Additionally, they have guided me in interpreting what I need as a guide to my academic achievements. Newspapers and magazines such as the business Journal and TIME have allowed me to learn more and gain a broader perspective of what it means to be a business consultant (Career Cruising, 2017).

Therefore, I have four educational and career options for myself. They include reading as many journals and magazines on business consultancy. Another is possessing a mentor who will be my guide and wisdom partaker in ensuring that I do not veer off from my primary goals. Nonetheless, the purpose of a mentor is to provide an understanding of the changing trends within the business consultancy framework as well as guide me in the right direction to be on top of my gain. However, to get the right mentor, I have to assess which individual has the best interests at heart and how they are willing to aid me through the process.

The other two methods through which I have chosen for my career options and educational strategy include increasing my portfolio such as engaging in more direct approaches such as participating in more lessons. The more experiences I engage myself, the more exposure I gain on the career path, and the more I learn a broader perspective about my career path. Also, another strategy is to improve my professionalism by increasing more experience. I will have to get more internship positions and the more companies I work in different capacities I will be able to gain a diverse selection of the skills I possess.

To get there, I necessitated an elimination list that rendered the four elements above as the most necessary factors in my accomplishment. The others include using wisdom from everyone in the business platform who would advise me about my career path. But, this may lead to decision-making confusion and can lead to career anxiety regarding commitment. Further, another element had to be eliminated is the use of my conscious as a guide in my career. The reason why this was the first to be removed is that having the first opinion my cause my job. Therefore, the need to advice myself may not be the right move.

D. Valuing

Numerous factors dictated my decision path that includes my values and interests, family as well as practical considerations. When it comes to values and interests, they served as the core to the decision-making process. The reason is that, from them, I found my purpose and vision in life to become a business owner. For me to become a business owner, I have learned that I have to gain a career and therefore, developing it is crucial to the ends. As such, values and interests such as interest in business, ethical benefits as well as job security motivated my decision-making process and problem-solving phases. Additionally, the other factors that led to the ability to make decisions included the current preparation for my career. They include having a mentor who has to be in line with my goals and objectives in life. Also, the need to improve my job I have resorted to engaging more in developing my knowledge and learning of business consultancy. Finally, my family including my children, spouse, and family members have been the crucial factor in motivating me to chose my career and educational paths. Specifically, I have come to understand that most of my decisions are surrounded by what I think of my family including my children.

The costs towards achieving my decision within the career and educational decision path may be more than expected. It will strain my family financially due to the amount of time, effort and finances that will be required to fund the process. It will personally drain my energy since I have to work and study at the same time. But, the benefits that will be accrued in the process will be beneficial to my family and me. For instance, my children will gain a role model and will have a platform to aim higher in life. I hope this may be the same for my spouse and my siblings will be motivated to seek higher in life by challenging themselves.

E. Execution

The execution process shall be presented through an action plan as shown below.

One specific longer-term goal (within 1-5 years) that relates to my career development is:

The main long-term goal is to earn my own business under consultancy. This serves as my main objective because, based on my interests, aspirations as well as values. Nonetheless, the reason is because the independence that comes with owning a business may satisfy my endeavors in life such as high salary, gaining more knowledge and appreciation as well.

Possible internal barriers/conflicts related to this goal (e.g., self-knowledge, self-efficacy, fears/concerns, motivation/readiness):

Probable internal barriers entail self-sufficiency. I may not possess the energy as well as the motivation I need to finish or ensure that my decisions are at per with my career development. It may include lack of self-efficacy which may limit my ability to gain a perspective of what exactly I may need to succeed in my academic and career goals.

Possible external barriers/conflicts related to this goal (e.g., occupational knowledge, influence of others, economic/geographic factors, finances):

The probable reason as to why I may not be able to achieve my goal is the occupational knowledge I will require in achieving my goals. To be exact, there is the need to have enough knowledge about a particular profession in order to stay ahead of what I am doing in my career.

Support that might be enlisted to help achieve this goal (e.g., family, friends, experts, financial):

However, the most support I would get is from my family including my parents, my spouse as well as my children (indirectly). They are the greatest motivators in my life and would encourage me when I feel like giving me.

Compromises that may need to be made to achieve goal:

One of the numerous compromises I may have to give is time spent with my family especially my children. The ability to balance between work and life can be tricky and one has to be victim. Another compromise is that I have to sacrifice expenses in my life and my family’s life in order to pay for my education. Another compromise is that my children will have to go to an average school due to the expenses I accumulate due to my education.

Shorter-term (within next year) action steps (minimum 5) toward goal (may address internal/external barriers, garnering support; may require more self/occupational research, work/volunteer experience, education):

Date to be completed:

Address my desire for knowledge based on my career and educational path.

3-5 years

Improving of my self-sufficiency in my career path.

1 year

Ensuring that I have support from my family and friends by explaining to them what sacrifices I have to make.

1 year

Improve on my professionalism through seeking internship

2 -3years

Finish my education

2 years

F. Communication

Right now, in my educational process am about to complete my educational journey. As such, when it comes to my career path I am able to make decisions on what I want such as where I want to work, which position I aspire to and how I would want to make my career more enjoyable. Therefore, I feel a sense of fulfillment though a sense of self-insufficiency looms in me due to the lack of enough knowledge about my field (Government of Canada, 2017). Therefore, the next questions I would like to address include:

Am I happy with where I am in my Life?

Do I find it fulfilling to sacrifice a lot this far?

How does my family understand what am going through?

Should I check for another perspective about my career if I feel I have not achieved anything so far?

References

Boston Consulting Group. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.bcg.com

Canadian Association of Management Consultants. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.cmc-canada.ca

Career Cruising- Management consulting. (2017). Retrieved from https://www2.careercruising.com/careers/profile-at-a-glance/263

Government of Canada: 1122 Professional occupations in business management. (N.D.). Retrieved from http://noc.esdc.gc.ca/English/noc/ProfileQuickSearch.aspx?val=1&val1=1122&ver=11&val65=consultant

Government of Canada: Explore Career-Job Market Report- Professional Occupations in Business Management Consulting-Toronto Region. (2017).Retrieved fromhttps://www.jobbank.gc.ca/report-eng.do?area=9219&lang=eng&noc=1122&action=final&ln=n&s=2