Module Name Personal Effectiveness
Programme Name MSc Management
Student Reference Number (SRN)
Assessment Title
Declaration of Original Work:
I hereby declare that I have read and understood BPP’s regulations on plagiarism and
that this is my originalwork,researched, undertaken, completed and submitted in
accordance with the requirements of BPP School of Business and Technology.
The word count, excluding contents table, bibliography and appendices, is ______
words. Student Reference Number: __________ Date: ______
MSc Management
Personal Effectiveness
Coursework Assessment Brief
2
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................4
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................7
Task 3.........................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
Reference List..........................................................................................................................12
Appendices...............................................................................................................................15
Appendix 1: Communication Skill Test...............................................................................15
Appendix 2: Teamwork Skill Test.......................................................................................16
3
Introduction
According to Adams (2023), self-reflection helps in the development of emotional
intelligence. Self-reflection helps in increasing self-awareness which can be used to foster
personal development. In this regard, the report will explore an experience in which I was
required to complete a group task related to conducting secondary market research on the UK
retail market. The experience will be used to derive my strengths and weaknesses which will
further be analysed with respect to my choice of a career which is HR manager. In this report,
the skill of a business leader will also be evaluated by considering the Genome Project.
Task 1
1) Using a model of reflective practice, reflect on how you attempt any task at
work or university to identify your own skill set.
Figure 1: Gibbs Reflective Model
(Source: AC, 2021)
Gibbs reflective model is a framework of self-reflection which utilises experiences to foster
learning. The framework covers six stages which include, description, feelings, evaluation,
4
analysis, conclusion and Action Plan (Mwangi, 2021). The application of the Gibbs
Reflective Model is as follows:
Description
The experience deals with my college project in which I was required to conduct secondary
research on the retail market of the UK in a group task. For the task, the team was allocated a
period of 20 days in which a range of secondary data was required to be collected and then
interpretation would be carried out to make meaningful interpretations.
Feelings
Market research is vital for a successful business and helps businesses identify opportunities
and threats (Qualtrics, 2022). However, during the early stages, I was extremely nervous as I
had no prior experience of conducting market research. This also made me tense at times
before the project worker was started. The tension that I faced before the project can be
attributed to my lack of experience in conducting market research as well as the
circumstances in which I was required to work with different personalities.
Evaluation
During the project, our team was effectively able to complete the market research. I can
reflect that I was able to effectively communicate with my team members the challenges I
faced during the completion of my share of tasks. In this regard, my score on the
communication skill audit test was noted to be 50 [Refer to Appendix 1]. On the other hand, I
faced complexities sometimes in abiding by the instructions of my team members which can
be attributed to my non-collaborative traits. As a result, my score in effective teamwork is
noted to be 40 [Refer to Appendix 2]. In contrast, I think in the presented market research I
was able to effectively interpret the data and information according to the requirements which
is a reflection of good academic writing skills.
Analysis
During the market research, I also faced issues regarding finding sources which could provide
me with relevant data and information. This depicts that I need to work on my research skills
which would assist me in conducting further research. According to Barco (2023), emotional
intelligence is vital for building trust and fostering collaboration. In this regard, I also need to
develop my emotional intelligence which can help in future teamwork by fostering
relationships and building trust.
Conclusion
From this experience, it can be concluded that I need to enhance my research skills,
emotional intelligence and teamwork skills. Besides, it has also been reflected that
5
communication skills and academic writing skills are my strengths identified from the
reflection.
Action Plan
The action plan to address the skills and the weaknesses identified are as follows:
Goal Action Timeline
To develop research skills Learn the use of keywords 6 months
and advanced research
methods
To enhance team working Adhere to active listening to 12 Months
skills ensure
Table 1: Action Plan
(Source: Self-Developed)
2) Identify both strengths and weaknesses
Strengths Weaknesses
● Communication skill ● Research skills
● Academic writing skill ● Emotional intelligence
● Team working
Table 2: Strengths and weaknesses derived from the reflection
(Source: Self-Developed)
2) Analyse the skills you identified with reference to your choice of career or job
My choice of career is HR manager which is concerned with managing the Human Resource
Department of an organisation. According to Muthukrishanan (2023), the most frequently
mentioned skill in HR jobs is communication. Communication is vital for HR to ensure that
the skill requirements and job roles are effectively communication. This also helps in
developing a relationship between the employee and the employer. My communication score
is 50 which has been depicted as one of the strengths [Refer to Table 2]. In this regard, it can
be inferred that my communication skills are in alignment with my career choice of HR
manager. HR professionals who have emotional intelligence have also been noted to be
effective in engaging employees (CorporateWellnessmagazine, 2022). Employee engagement
is a vital area that the HR professional is required to address in which emotional intelligence
6
can be deemed as vital. In contrast, my emotional intelligence is an area of weakness which
can act as a barrier to my chance of becoming an effective HR manager.
Task 2
1) Using the CEO of the Genome Project critically analyse the skills of a business
leader of your choice.
Leadership is referred to as the ability of an individual or a group of people to influence and
guide the followers of an organisation to run the business successfully. Based on this premise,
the goal of the CEO project is the identification of the specific attributes that differentiate
high-performing CEOs. In this regard, the CEO genome project model identifies the four
essential behaviours that a successful CEO usually exhibits and it includes decisiveness,
engagement for impact, adapting proactively and delivering reliably (Thelimegroup, 2017).
In consideration to this, the leadership skills of Elon Musk have been analysed by taking the
CEO genome project into account.
Deciding with speed and conviction/decisiveness: It can be discovered that the "high-
performing CEOs do not necessarily stand out for making the great decisions all the time,
rather they stand out to remain decisive". Moreover, "High-performing CEOs often
understand that a wrong decision is often considered better than formulating no decisions at
all" (Thelimegroup, 2017). Considering this attribute of the CEO genome project, it can be
stated that Elon Musk is better known for this decisive nature. It can be witnessed that he is
not afraid of making bold decisions, for example, in recent times he claimed that it is
important to reduce carbon emissions to preserve the planet, but the use of oil and natural gas
should not be demonised in the medium term (Reuters, 2023). This incident reflects that his
decisiveness is considered to be a strong factor behind his success. Hence, as per the
requirements of the CEO genome project, Musk acted with speed and conviction to help
Tesla succeed in its unique attempt to provide environmental protection.
Engagement for impact: Engaging for impact requires the engagement of the stakeholders
for directing towards business success. It can be witnessed as per the CEO genome project
that the CEOs who deftly remain engaged with the stakeholders were 75% more successful in
the role (Thelimegroup, 2017). Additionally, it can be attributed that the CEOs who remain
engaged with the stakeholders do not invest their energies in being liked or protecting their
teams from painful decisions. In consideration of this, the common attribute of Elon Musk is
to inspire and motivate employees and help to visualise a greater picture that drives him
towards business success (LinkedIn, 2023). In this way, the employees feel motivated and a
7
part of Tesla. As per the contribution of the CEO genome project, it is important for a
successful CEO to understand the views of the stakeholders on the board and to direct
effective communication. Since Elon Musk inspires his employees to visualise a greater
picture, it can be deduced that he can be aligned with the respective behavioural traits of the
CEO genome project. However, as per LA Times (2018), Musk’s inability to engage was
evident with the board of directors which seemed to indicate his inconsistent and
ineffectiveness as a board member while being helmed under Tesla defying his ability to not
be able to portray the effective aspect of his engagement as denoted under the CEO Genome
Project.
Adapting proactively: It can be stated that proactive leaders need to adjust to a rapidly
changing environment in order to succeed in the business environment. According to a recent
survey, it can be witnessed that "CEOs who excel at adapting are 6.7 times more likely to
succeed" (Thelimegroup, 2017). In this regard, it can be witnessed that Elon Musk has
updated the popular electric vehicles with improved squinter headlights and slim tail lights to
meet the demands of the present generation (Hypebeast, 2023). This incident reflects that
Elon Musk is a proactive leader as he has adopted the attractive looks of the Tesla Cars and
brought technological innovation.
Delivering reliably: The CEOs who score high on reliability were twice as likely to be picked
for the role and 15 times more likely to succeed in it (Thelimegroup, 2017). It can be
witnessed that Elon Musk has taken bigger risks in the pursuit of his goals and has faced
multiple failures along the way and has now done the unthinkable and acquired Twitter for a
whopping of approximately 44 billion (LinkedIn, 2022). This incident reflects that instead of
his failure, he has not given up and brought improvement in his company’s strategies.
2) Compare the skills of the business leader with your own. Identify areas of
development that will help you improve your personal effectiveness.
Based on the above discussion of Elon Musk’s leadership traits, I found that I follow a
transformational leadership style. As per the opinion of Sihite et al. (2020), the
transformational leadership style encourages and inspires employees to innovate and delve
into new ways to direct positive change to the followers with the end goal of transforming
followers into leaders. It can be witnessed that Elon Musk inspires and motivates the
employees and helps to visualise a greater picture that drives him towards business success
(LinkedIn, 2023). The leadership approach of Elon Musk is attributed towards me and is
considered to be a key strength of mine for boosting personal effectiveness. In contrast to
8
that, it can be witnessed that in order to become an effective leader, it is essential to have a
good engagement with the stakeholders but in this regard, I am somewhat lacking teamwork
skills. It can be witnessed that Elon Musk fosters an active engagement with the stakeholders
for speedy decision-making, while I failed to establish that collaboration and put my expert
advice upon them, which is considered to be a loophole in acquiring good teamwork skills.
Besides this, it can be evident that Elon Musk has the potential to understand the perceptions
of others and can adapt to change according to it. For example, Elon Musk has updated the
popular electric vehicles with improved squinter headlights and slim tail lights which is
considered to be an active example of acquiring emotional intelligence skills (Hypebeast,
2023). Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand the perceptions of others or
empathise with others to overcome conflicts (Kaur, 2024). In this regard, I felt that I often
failed to barriers in analysing the behaviours or perceptions of others resulting in failure to
accomplish a task together. This reflects the readiness of the leadership skills that I lack and I
must consider the past issues and try to improve them in order to avoid the reputation of the
change issues at present.
Task 3
1) A short-term plan to improve two areas of development
Based on the above premise, it can be deduced that I lack the teamwork skills and emotional
intelligence skills that are essential for becoming an efficient business leader. According to
Haque (2023), teamwork is crucial for leveraging diverse skills and perspectives, in turn
enhancing productivity and fostering a positive work environment. While on the other hand,
Kaur (2024) stated that emotional intelligence enables a leader to better understand non-
verbal cues and is highly correlated with traits such as perseverance, self-control as well as
performance under pressure. Hence, a good teamwork skill will help me to establish a better
engagement with the employers and the emotional intelligence skill will be attributed towards
understanding the non-verbal cues of others. Thus, the short-term plan for bringing
development to the two main areas is:
Short-Term Plan Action to be initiated Time Duration
To elevate the team- ● Building diverse and 6 Months
working skill for providing inclusive teams
autonomy in decision- ● Encouraging clear
making and consistent
9
communication
● Giving autonomy in
decision-making
To elevate the emotional ● Proactive 8 Months
intelligence skill for communication with
understanding an team members
individual's emotion ● Communicate clearly
with the team
members
● Remaining open-
minded
Table 2: Short-Term Plan
(Source: Self-Developed)
2) Analyse one method for enhancing your personal effectiveness in each area of
development
Method 1: Pomodoro Technique
From the above section, it has been found that my two areas of development are teamwork
and emotional intelligence. However, it is vital to use a dedicated method so that the personal
effectiveness of the two identified areas can be facilitated effectively. According to Pyarali
(2017), the pomodoro technique is concerned with boosting productivity by creating
structured breaks at regular intervals. In this regard, the Pomodoro technique will be applied
to adhere to activities which have been planned to be undertaken for the purpose of
enhancing my teamwork skills. The use of the pomodoro technique helps in powering
through the to-do list while avoiding burnout (Afzal, 2023). Burnout can be considered as a
major challenge in personal development which affects the motivation level of the individuals
towards committing to activities that can facilitate personal development. Hence, the
Pomodoro technique will be considered when committing to developing personal
effectiveness regarding team working.
Method 2: Self-Reflection
The other area of development identified in the above section is emotional intelligence. In
this consideration, self-reflection will be used as a method of assessing and fostering the
development of emotional intelligence. According to Njiru (2023), emotional intelligence is
10
concerned with the ability of an individual to assess, recognise and empathise with others.
The use of self-reflection allows reflecting on the past incidents and identifying areas of
improvement. The implementation of self-reflection as a method will help me in
understanding areas which are being affected due to my lack of emotional intelligence and
keep doing a continuous assessment regarding the development of emotional intelligence.
Hence, from the above discussion, one method that will be used to enhance personal
effectiveness of each area of development are self-reflection and pomodoro technique.
Conclusion
From the personal reflection, it can be attributed that I lack adequate research and team-
working skills. While on the other hand, taking the CEO genome and the business leader
Elon Musk into account, it can be witnessed that decisiveness, engagement for impact,
adapting proactively and delivering reliably are the four distinct behavioural traits of a
successful business leader. Moreover, the team working and emotional leadership skills are
needed to be developed for me to become a successful business leader.
11
Reference List
AC, 2021. Gibbs’ reflective cycle. [online] Available at:
[Link]
[Accessed 10 March 2024]
Adams, T, .B., 2023. The Power of Self-Reflection: Unlocking Your Full Potential in Life and
Business. [online] Available at: [Link]
unlocking-your-full-potential-life-adams/ [Accessed 13 March 2024]
Afzal, M., 2023. The Pomodoro Technique: How to Stay Productive and Avoid Burnout.
[online]. Available at: [Link]
productive-avoid-burnout-muhammad-afzal/ [Accessed 10 March 2024]
Barco, D, A., 2023. The power of emotional intelligence in teamwork and how It enhances
our work culture. [online]. Available at: [Link]
intelligence-teamwork-how-enhances-alicia/ [Accessed 15 March 2024]
CorporateWellnessmagazine, 2022. The Increasing Importance of Emotional Intelligence in
HR. [online]. Available at: [Link]
increasing-importance-of-emotional-intelligence-in-hr#:~:text=HR%20professionals%20who
%20possess%20emotional,to%20feel%20valued%20and%20heard. [Accessed 11 March
2024]
Haque, S.M.S., 2023. The impact of remote work on hr practices: navigating challenges,
embracing opportunities. European Journal of Human Resource Management Studies, 7(1).
Available through: Google Scholar [Accessed: 18 March 2023]
Hypebeast, 2023. The 2024 Tesla Model 3 Turns Sleek With a Refreshed Design. [online].
Available at: [Link]
electric-vehicle [Accessed 14 March 2024]
Kaur, R., 2024. Emotional Intelligence at the Workplace: The Untapped Edge for Success. In
Leveraging AI and Emotional Intelligence in Contemporary Business Organizations (pp. 60-
73). IGI Global. Available through: Google Scholar [Accessed: 16 March 2023]
12
LA Times, 2018. What will (or won’t) Tesla’s board of directors do about Elon Musk?
Available at: [Link]
[Link] [Accessed 14 March 2024]
LinkedIn, 2022. 8 Incredible Life Lessons from Elon Musk. [online]. Available at:
[Link]
gitau/ [Accessed 12 March 2024]
LinkedIn, 2023. The Musk Mindset: Strategies Behind SpaceX and Tesla's Success. [online].
Available at: [Link]
success-lee-nallalingham/ [Accessed 11 March 2024]
Muthukrishanan, S., 2023. 18 HR Skills Every HR Generalist Needs. [online]. Available at:
[Link]
[Accessed 14 March 2024]
Mwangi, I., 2021. Explaining Gibb's Reflective Cycle. [online]. Available at:
[Link]
[Accessed 15 March 2024]
Njiru, L., 2023. Enhancing Emotional Intelligence through self-reflection. [online]. Available
at: [Link]
[Accessed 10 March 2024]
Pyarali, A., 2017. 5 ways to Enhance Personal Effectiveness. [online]. Available at:
[Link]
[Accessed 11 March 2024]
Qualtrics, 2022. The ultimate guide to market research and how to conduct it like a pro.
[online]. Available at:
[Link]
[Accessed 14 March 2024]
Reuters, 2023. Elon Musk says oil and gas should not be demonized. [online]. Available at:
[Link]
2023-12-16/ [Accessed 10 March 2024]
13
Serrat, O. and Serrat, O., 2017. Understanding and developing emotional intelligence.
Knowledge solutions: Tools, methods, and approaches to drive organizational performance,
pp.329-339. Available through: Google Scholar [Accessed: 18 March 2023]
Sihite, O.B., Andika, C.B. and Prasetya, A.B., 2020. A Literature Review: Does
Transformational Leadership impact and Effective in the Public Bureaucratic. International
Journal of Social, Policy and Law, 1(1), pp.44-50. Available through: Google Scholar
[Accessed: 15 March 2023]
Thelimegroup, 2017. What Sets Successful CEOs Apart. [online]. Available at:
[Link]
successful-CEOs-apart_May-[Link] [Accessed 13 March 2024]
14
Appendices
Appendix 1: Communication Skill Test
(Source: [Link]
15
Appendix 2: Teamwork skill test
(Source: [Link]
16