Tweet

Who Needs Personal Development at Work?

Guest post by: Jacque Small

Article Overview: While trends in the past few years have advocated bringing your whole self to work, the prevailing culture in many industries still expects employees to leave their personal stuff at the door and stick to business when on the job. It seems the move toward openness has been brushed off the side of the desk in favour of leaner operations, especially with the current economy. This kind of ‘fluff’ just doesn’t impact the bottom line that much. Or does it?

Who Needs Personal Development at Work?

While trends in the past few years have advocated bringing your whole self to work, the prevailing culture in many industries still expects employees to leave their personal stuff at the door and stick to business when on the job. It seems the move toward openness has been brushed off the side of the desk in favour of leaner operations, especially with the current economy. This kind of ‘fluff' just doesn't impact the bottom line that much. Or does it? How much is productivity impeded by workplace conflict and resistance to change? Adapting to changes in the marketplace requires innovation and creativity. Typically the mantra of go to work, keep your head down, get the job done and go home does not inspire much innovation or creativity.

One of my colleagues's started on the personal development track over twenty years ago when she realized the future she had envisioned wasn't being offered to her. Rather than blaming her upbringing or being victim to economic factors, she took responsibility for improving her own life. Beyond upgrading her education it was evident her self-concepts were not serving her well. She was extremely afraid of being judged when someone in authority asked to speak with her. The fear of being in trouble would strike her belly like a sharp sword. In developing self awareness she began to see how past conditioning affected everything she heard, felt and saw. Imagine her relief when the boss was simply asking if she could contribute to a project proposal. She would have been even more enthusiastic and spontaneously creative without her fear of saying the wrong thing.

With self-awareness, I became aware when others were stuck in their own stuff. Consequently, if someone I was working with was being demanding it didn't serve me to get defensive or resistant. Instead I would be curious about what was driving their behaviour, empathize and offer solutions where appropriate. Whatever they were dealing with wasn't about me.

Working with business owners for 10 years I have noticed that those who choose self employment due to conflicts with authority in traditional work settings often made a big mistake. Rather than freeing themselves from conflict by starting their own business, they were setting themselves up for failure. When you run your own business it is imperative to have impeccable respectful relationships with everyone: your customers, your employees and most importantly new prospects.

Being present to what others are dealing with personally, develops rapport, strengthens relationships and makes it easier to collaborate when the need arises. There have been countless times when listening to my associate's personal challenges has strengthened the bonds of trust between us. They are infinitely more willing to respond to a request from me because they know I genuinely care about them.

For my colleague, it is apparent that Personal Development: self awareness, taking 100% responsibility for how she responds, and being able to respond to situations to the best of her ability served her career path very well. She leveraged a two year diploma program in media resources and 10 years of production coordination experience into a Program Coordinator position in a well respected educational institution without any further academic education. Her personal (spiritual) development and coach training gave her the skills to become a business coach. For me personal development has allowed me to experience a great deal of joy and happiness in my work and to choose a path for my business that I am passionate about.

So who needs personal development in the workplace? We all do: for advancement and to adapt to changing times. Whether you choose to make an investment in yourself as my colleague and I did or engage in programs your workplace provides it is a worthwhile investment.

Imagine what our businesses and workplaces would be like if everyone was self aware, 100% responsible, and responding to the needs of the moment to the best of their ability; I'd want to work there, wouldn't you?

Jacque

Related Articles
  Home Business Expert: Benefits Of Personal Development Education
  Personel Development to Achieve your Desires
  Simply Finding Courage in your Personal Development
  Gain Self Esteem Through Personal Development
  Becoming Successful at Personal Development Plan
  The Importance of Having A Personal Development Plan
  10 Secrets to Team Development
  What is personal development plan?
  Tools for Personal Development
  7 Of The Many Tips Toward Personal Development
  Setting Personal Development Goals – Achieve Success and Fulfillment
  To Create A Personal Development Plan?
  Who Should Have A Personal Development Plan?
  Great ways To Enhance Your Personal Development
  The Importance of Time Management in Personal Development Plan
  Performance Consulting
  PERSONAL AND EXECUTIVE COACHING
  VI. B. Banking Sector Development: WHAT DETERMINES STOCK MARKET DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA?
  Personal Development and Mental Attitude
  My Brain is Full- The Importance of Personal Development

Article Tags: bottom line, education, passion, personal development, self awareness



Related Forum Posts
Re: Personal Mastery And Leadership - Personal Mastery or Self Development is the basic key for success in life. A man said "there is no obstacle in life, the obstacle you see is the one you created"
Re: LEADERS - Nice post, i like the Doers and the listeners comments from my handbook 8.5 HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT LEADERSHIP? Planning Problem Solving Vision Innovation Leadership Emotional Intelligence Delegation Communication Self-Development Relationship Building Commercial Financial skills Personal Energy Ethics Transparency Even there I see that we are missing "PASSION"
Re: what position to request? - Hi Michael, Great suggestion from David, or you could try something around a design consultancy, How about Website Design Consultant, Design and Development Manager, Website Support and Development Manager or maybe Internet Business Development Consultant. Ultimately whatever you are comfortable with and good luck for the future, Mal.
BDC - [quote="IWDCanada":jib6tqt9]I think if you try to do business in the Maritimes the Business Development Bank of Canada might be able to provide grants.[/quote:jib6tqt9] On that note, does anybody have any experiences with the Business Development Bank of Canada that they would like to share? I have been considering approaching them for a business loan.
Re: BDC - [quote="Jones":255lkmrn][quote="IWDCanada":255lkmrn]I think if you try to do business in the Maritimes the Business Development Bank of Canada might be able to provide grants.[/quote:255lkmrn] On that note, does anybody have any experiences with the Business Development Bank of Canada that they would like to share? I have been considering approaching them for a business loan.[/quote:255lkmrn] I'll be working with the BDC later this month on a few projects. From what i've been told they are really great when it comes to small business. Their loans have a little higher interest but their payment terms are a lot easier to swallow. I can give you a contact if you need.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Mistakes Made by New or Inexperienced Sales Staff

Purchasing Real Estate using the SBA 504 Loan

The Biggest Domain Name Myth

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.