Self-Development Portfolio

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Section – 1:..................................................................................................................................................3
Section – 2...................................................................................................................................................4
Section – 3...................................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................7
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................10
The Summary of Activities.........................................................................................................................10
Reflective journals.....................................................................................................................................12
Introduction

Individuals may use a self-development portfolio to document their professional progress and
development and inspire others to do the same. It’s vital because it helps you figure out what you
need to learn and when you need to know it, taking into account your past experiences and
current activities. The career development portfolio is a way to keep track of your progress as a
person and the abilities you’ve picked up along the way. The ability to lead is essential in every
culture. Leadership is the effort to influence one’s environment positively. But I think a better
way to put it is as a strategy for persuading other people to do what you want them to. When
people think about leadership, they often picture an inspirational figure who significantly
impacts their group of followers. Leaders inspire their followers and value their presence
regardless of their background. In this paper, I will summarise my leadership portfolio in light of
my experiences. The first part will explore what it means to be an ethical and responsible leader.
In the second section, I’ll talk about who I am as a leader, how I make decisions, and where I
have room to grow as a leader. In the third section, I’ll discuss what I’ve learned.

Section – 1:

A boss is different from a leader because the latter teaches the former how to do their
jobs. On the other hand, a leader is responsible for influencing others inside an organisation to
work toward a shared goal. Compared to an employee’s connection with their employer, the one
they have with a leader is unique. Because of this, they consider themselves in a position of
authority and exclude others from decision-making.

A critical way ethical leadership boosts morale is by demonstrating the organisation’s values in
everyday interactions with staff. To rid the company of fraud and other forms of serious
misconduct, ethical leaders should use philosophical understanding to raise moral consciousness
among their followers. Utilitarianism holds that the primary goal of ethics is to maximise human
pleasure and that any action that increases happiness should be taken regardless of the costs.
Utilitarians support anything that makes people happy, even if the final result of the processing is
prohibited (Ali, Wang and Johnson, 2020, pg 405, pp 4).

Another branch of ethics is called deontology (duty-based). The person acting should consider
the consequences of their actions; if they are positive, the behaviour is ethical; if they are
negative, it is unethical and should be avoided. Because of this, moral leaders make choices and
honest assessments about which directions to go.

In contrast to passive managers who only issue orders and sit back, ethical leaders are deeply
invested in seeing their vision through from start to finish. When leaders set a good example,
workers find it easy to follow suit while also providing moral support to others struggling
similarly (Small and Lew, 2019, pg 169, pp 1). In light of current issues in the workplace, such
as diversity and women in leadership positions, ethical leaders work to guarantee that fairness
and equality ultimately win out. Ethical leaders ensure that everyone is treated fairly regardless
of race, gender, or sexual orientation. By facilitating this organic process, leaders with high
ethical standards foster solidarity and provide a shared basis for making decisions. Leaders with
high ethical standards are guided by their convictions and act accordingly in their professional
lives. Examples of bargains include modesty, kindness, compassion, purpose, justice, friendship,
flexibility, candour, and support (Arshad, Abid and Torres, 2020, pg 432, pp 8).

With these principles in place, managers will find it much simpler to inspire their teams to realise
the goal. Ethical leaders foster potential, celebrate individual skills, and welcome everyone
without bias.

Having seen these traits, I believe that ethical leaders encourage their teams to realise the goal
they set. Ethical leaders provide the best possible working conditions for all staff members
thanks to their empathetic natures. In conclusion, leaders should help their teams understand
what is expected of them since a culture of honesty and transparency among employees is
essential to any company’s success. I know I can shape my future by contributing to teams that
reflect the variety of the world we live in today. I’ve learned how important it is to develop my
communication skills and work with people from various backgrounds and perspectives inside a
company. According to my knowledge, I lack significant experience working in teams of varying
compositions

People from different cultural origins who can work together to achieve a common objective
constitute a diverse team.
Section – 2

Each of us participates in decision-making regularly. Many social and economic problems have
yet to be addressed. Challenges need some discretion on the part of decision-makers. Choosing
one alternative over another defines a choice. Hence the decision-maker should ignore them.
Consequences accompany actions, which might be severe or exemplary depending on the
decision. The consensus is that people would rather avoid bad judgments than making good ones.
At the level of the organisation, leaders play a crucial role in making decisions. Leaders make
choices because they have the knowledge and expertise to handle various scenarios
(DelleMonache, 2019, pg 42, pp 1).

By and large, I like democratic leadership, which encourages everyone to have a voice in
decisions. Workers are encouraged to have a say in decisions under the tenets of the participatory
theory, with the help of their leaders, who serve as facilitators and gather feedback and must get
everyone’s input before coming to a decision that the most influential members approve.
Democratic leadership styles boost worker morale because they give workers a voice in business
decisions. Critics, however, argue that this kind of leadership undermines leaders, especially
during the implementation phase, which requires leaders to work together and motivate their
employees (Dopson et al., 2018, pg 218, pp 2). In making choices, I follow the ethical decision-
making paradigm, which has been effectively adopted by many global leaders and led to sound
choices that have contributed to the growth and success of their respective enterprises.

First, by piloting and continuously inquiring from my colleagues, I pinpoint the problem in my
area of responsibility and directly link the organisation’s insufficiencies or dangers; second, I
abide by the organisation’s code of ethics. Utilitarianism, deontology, philosophical egoism
(societal standards), and virtue ethics are only a few of the philosophical tenets upon which
ethics is founded. Different academics have defined the term “ethics” in several ways. As defined
by Dopson et al., (2018), ethics are the moral rules that govern how we interact with others and
how we should be rewarded or penalised for our conduct. Similarly, to organisations, norms and
standards dictate how almost all businesses function.

I consider myself to be a deontologist. I weigh the pros and drawbacks of my acts based on their
impact on others, and as a practical realist, I priorities things that make other people happy. But if
the change is for the better, I can support the action (McNamara, Smith and Murphy-Hill, 2018,
pg 507, pp 9). The third stage is for me to consider the available options and make a final
decision based on a careful evaluation of the merits of the various solutions. When I think about
anything, I weigh the advantages and disadvantages of many theories and approaches and settle
on the one that will have the most beneficial influence for the least amount of money. When I’m
ready to go on to step four, I brainstorm potential solutions by listing all the avenues I may go
down. Fifth, think through the outcomes for each perspective and plan how to mitigate any
harmful effects of your final decision. Finally, before really beginning the course action, I
thoroughly investigate the strategy that will be used. For conflict avoidance, it’s essential to
check that all potential next steps are socially, economically, and legally viable (Hayat Bhatti et
al., 2019, pg 1170, pp 8).

Section – 3

After giving some thought to how I make decisions in my leadership role, I’ve concluded
that I could stand to improve my decision-making skills and style. Today’s managers face
challenges that might originate from within or outside the firm. The culture of different
companies is an excellent illustration of this point. My role as a leader requires me to integrate
my knowledge of corporate culture into my leadership style so that I can help businesses achieve
their objectives by their values and principles. If a company’s employees stick to the rules
established by the company’s culture, they should be able to quickly their objectives efficiently.
They help determine the best way to accomplish what has to be done. To be successful in my
leadership development, I need the backing of the executive team. I will need significant formal
or informal conversations with top executives regarding this programme. The executive’s
budgetary commitment to the programme is crucial to its success; without it, leadership
development would be unable to maintain the necessary spending to carry out its intended
function. Collaboration with other leaders promotes honesty and accountability, and the team
collaborates on a unified platform (Igić et al., 2020, pg 11, pp7).

Second, I need to know what the company’s overall objectives are so that I may better integrate
them into my leadership development plans. I need to talk to key people in the organisation,
particularly the leaders, so they can fill me in on the group’s goals and the best way to help them
be achieved (Lucas et al., 2018, pg 79, pp 1).

Insights like this will help me fine-tune my leadership approach. It is more challenging to resolve
organisational challenges without an authentic leadership style and competencies. Further, it
erodes the group’s solidarity.

My third task is to develop a plan for managing organisational transformation, whose primary
purpose will be to help me spot areas for growth and direct my team toward realising my vision
for the company. The change management plan acts as a road map for these transitions;
therefore, I need to familiarise myself with different types of change management plans and the
methods used by other successful businesses. Making an assessment strategy is another skill I
need to acquire (Lim and Taeihagh, 2019, pg 229, pp 6).

The goal of an organisation’s evaluation strategy is to monitor and record the success of
implemented improvements. The successful evolution of a company is the direct result of the
efforts of its competent leaders. First and foremost, I need to focus on developing my leadership
skills. The incorporation of organisational principles achieves this in my leadership position,
which helps promote the organisation and guarantees that it stays true to its founding principles
and values. If companies choose CEOs whose leadership styles align with their own, they may
more simply and quickly achieve their goals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, leadership calls for sensitivity to others and a willingness to draw lessons from
experience since problems in the workplace tend to repeat, and applying previous wisdom is
essential to overcoming present obstacles. Progress in areas like gender equality and racial
diversity in the workplace necessitates leaders to adjust to these new realities to maintain and
improve their leadership skills. Leaders are responsible for fostering an environment of fairness
and justice inside their organisations by ensuring that all members have an equal voice and that
everyone’s needs and concerns are considered when making decisions. The group has had its
problems considered before a final decision is made. For this reason, in this article, I reflected on
my leadership qualities, the identities I use while making decisions, and how I want to grow
professionally and personally.
Reference list

Ali, A., Wang, H. and Johnson, R.E., 2020. Empirical analysis of shared leadership promotion
and team creativity: An adaptive leadership perspective. Journal of organizational
behavior, 41(5), pp.405-423..

Arshad, M., Abid, G. and Torres, F.V.C., 2021. Impact of prosocial motivation on organizational
citizenship behavior: The mediating role of ethical leadership and leader–member
exchange. Quality & Quantity, 55(1), pp.133-150.

Dopson, S., Ferlie, E., McGivern, G., Fischer, M.D., Mitra, M., Ledger, J. and Behrens, S., 2019.
Leadership development in Higher Education: A literature review and implications for
programme redesign. Higher Education Quarterly, 73(2), pp.218-234.

Hayat Bhatti, M., Ju, Y., Akram, U., Hasnat Bhatti, M., Akram, Z. and Bilal, M., 2019. Impact of
participative leadership on organizational citizenship behavior: Mediating role of trust
and moderating role of continuance commitment: Evidence from the Pakistan hotel
industry. Sustainability, 11(4), p.1170.

Igić, D., Vuković, M., Urošević, S., Mladenović-Ranisavljević, I. and Voza, D., 2021. The
relationship between ethical leadership, organizational commitment and Zero Accident
Vision implementation in the defense industry. International journal of occupational
safety and ergonomics, 27(4), pp.1076-1086.

Lim, H.S.M. and Taeihagh, A., 2019. Algorithmic decision-making in AVs: Understanding
ethical and technical concerns for smart cities. Sustainability, 11(20), p.5791.

Lucas, R., Goldman, E.F., Scott, A.R. and Dandar, V., 2018. Leadership development programs
at academic health centers: results of a national survey. Academic Medicine, 93(2),
pp.229-236.

McNamara, A., Smith, J. and Murphy-Hill, E., 2018, October. Does ACM’s code of ethics
change ethical decision making in software development?. In Proceedings of the 2018
26th ACM joint meeting on european software engineering conference and symposium
on the foundations of software engineering(pp. 729-733).
DelleMonache, R.L.M., 2019. Exemplary Leadership Development of College Athletes: the Role
of Reflection in Leadership Development. Eastern University.

Small, C. and Lew, C., 2021. Mindfulness, moral reasoning and responsibility: Towards virtue in
ethical decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 169(1), pp.103-117.

Tourigny, L., Han, J., Baba, V.V. and Pan, P., 2019. Ethical leadership and corporate social
responsibility in China: A multilevel study of their effects on trust and organizational
citizenship behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 158(2), pp.427-440.
Appendix
The Summary of Activities
Learning and How it was Time Who was Engagement
activities attained scale involved level
involved.
Engaged in an I discovered Four This was a topic of High.
online leadership via weeks conversation between
learning internet resources, my friends and me.
activity. particularly through
forums on social
media where people
discussed various
leadership
philosophies and
ways to further
leadership
development.
Discussion with We were able to Seven Instructors, seniors, medium
peers talk to my weeks &
classmates about myself.
leadership-related
issues and learn
from their
insights and
experiences.
Reading online I read a Six weeks Myself high
articles and number of
journals articles about
leadership. In
the year
 2020, author
Jacob
Morgan
wrote an
essay I found
interesting. It
was all about
leadership.
Gained I developed my Nine Me, my superiors, and the High.
experience from leadership skills weeks rest of the staff.
my workplace via the
responsibilities I
was given at work.
Since leadership
roles were rotated
among employees,
I had the unique
opportunity to
assess my own
areas of
development as a
potential future
leader.

Reflective journals