Essay Sample on Continuous Professional Development

Continuous professional development is defined as a process that helps an individual in maintaining his/ her professional life through the skills and knowledge that they have acquired over their lifetime. This test is usually accompanied by various learning activities both in and out of the learning centers. Continuous professional development has been applied in many professions such as teaching, medicine, and law. It has helped individuals to discover themselves and plan for a more realistic life. Continuous professional development is a key to being competent in life. My parents have mostly controlled my life and as such I felt the need to go through this process. It was also accompanied by the unfair treatment I received in school because of not being able to stand for myself.

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Many reasons have been laid down by different organizations and individuals to show the importance of continuous professional development. The reasons may vary from one person to another, but the aim is always the same. My reasons are pretty solid. First, the control my parents had over me when I was a child made me unable to make independent decisions. My parents chose for me everything that happened in my life.

My parents actions led to me being undecided on my purpose in school. When everybody was happy about school, I was not because I did not even know what I wanted to do in the school. When the teachers asked the students on what they would want to be in the coming future, I was the only one left with no idea of what I dreamt of becoming. This also caused other students to mock and tease me. But with my professional career now, am ready to make own decisions that would help me grow my life, enjoy what my parents chose for me, pursue other new studies and remain competent in my professional development.

The background of continuous professional development has been seen to really help individuals to be self- aware (Guskey, 200, 14). The fact that I was never aware of myself in the course of my studies is an important sign that I had to undergo this procedure. Continuous professional development is a learning process just like going to school to pursue a course in any field of study. The only difference is that continuous professional development is more work related as compared to other methods of learning (Institute of Hospitality, 2015, par. 1). Continuous professional development assumes that an individual has made life choices that are not interesting to him or her. For example, I wanted to pursue a different course from the one my parents chose for me but I could not because I did not wish them to think that I was disrespecting them. Therefore, the purpose of continuous professional development is to make these choices become interesting to an individual because after all, one cannot do away, with them. I cannot throw away my MBA certificate because my parents chose the course for me.

For an individual to take a continuous development test, he/ she must be a professional or an individual who is on the job market or is planning to do the same (Institute of Hospitality, 2015, par. 2). This is because the continuous development process is only meant to help individuals who over their lifetime are not self- aware. This process cannot be done with high school kids or those in college because they are not still able to make wise independent decisions and as such must be helped by their parents or guardians. Even though continuous professional development is for those who want to remain competent in the market, those individuals who undergo the process do it as though they were still in colleges or universities. The only difference is that these individuals also do practical tests like going to offices and working. This process will therefore help me set up my business with the knowledge I have gained from the study of my MBA course.

In a professional context, this process has brought a lot of significance for both employees and the organization as a whole. The most important thing is that it helps ones career to progress (Schostak, Davis, Hanson, et al., 2010, 8). Some people may not have intended to take the careers that they have pursued maybe because of family or financial issues. This process would help them to develop their career to greater heights. This process also helps an individual during the appraisal process (Schostak, Davis, Hanson, et al., 2010, 8). Once a person is well aware of who he/ she is, motivation will be developed which will later lead to better work and desire for success. This process is very effective for organizations that would require their employees to work hard.

The first test is the Johari window test. This test is also part of continuous professional development. This test was created in the 90s by Joeph Luft and Harry Ingram to aid in various phases of development (SelfAwareness, 2013, 1). It is a very extensive test and involves many practices that when completed give a person a new beginning. This test has helped me to change different aspects of my life. It is a mind test. The Johari window test is a very conclusive test because it covers almost every aspect of an individuals life. It is a good test for individuals who wish to change many aspects of their lives. It is especially important for job seekers or fresh graduates. It has shown a lot about myself.

I also underwent the Myers and Briggs test. It is the most conclusive test and entails a lot of things. This test involves developing positive relationships, being innovative and always aiming for excellence (Quenk, 2009, 1). It is also a test that focuses on the mental capabilities of an individual (Bayne, 1995, 3). It analyzes the psychology of a person and tries to come up with ideas that can help improve the factors mentioned above. It is thus a detailed test.

The first aspect of this test involves the insights of an individual (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, 2015, par. 2). This entails how a person hears, sees or notices something in his / her environment and makes a decision after that. Secondly, this test analyzes the judging capabilities of a person (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, 2015, par. 2). For example, if a person was a leader, how would he/ she be able to make a decision if faced with a tough one in which only his/ her knowledge is required? To answer these questions, the test is divided into several sub- branches that are administered to an individual after which the results are measured, and a conclusion is reached.

The first sub-branch is the extraversion or introversion test (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, 2015, par. 7). This involves the ability of an individual to either concentrate on oneself or on everything that happens around him/ her. For example, if a fire broke out in a building, will the person only focus on saving himself or herself or will the focus also be on other people in the building. This test showed me that I had the ability to focus on other individuals and not just on factors that please me. For example, when I was in school, I listened to every single thing that my parents told me even though they were not all going to benefit me. This, therefore, means that in a job setting I have the ability to concentrate on what affects other people.

The second sub-branch is called sensing or intuition (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, 2015, par. 8). This focuses on the ability of an individual to process information that he/ she receives whether in a raw or a complete form. For example, if a person is a manager and an employee comes and complains about another employee in the office, will the manager make a decision based on what the employee says or will he/ she carry out an investigation into the matter and make an independent decision. This test helped me to realize that my decisions are normally not based on deep thinking. When I wanted to pursue a course in fashion and beauty, my parents told me that MBA was better, and I followed suit without going into deep thinking of why they though that way. Therefore, this tests helped me to know that I can make my decisions based on my analysis and not just listen to what people say.

The third factor involves decision making (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, 2015, par. 9). Does an individuals decision-making ability depend on what he/ she thinks or what he/ she feels? For example, if one is a team leader and one of the team members who is family does not contribute to the team, and others complain about him/ her, will the leader make a judgement based on the complains presented to him/ her or the judgement will depend on what he/ she feels about his/ her family? This test helps an individual to be a decision maker who only decides based on facts. My decision-making process in the past was based on how I felt about what my parents say. I never wanted to disappoint them and as such I had to make a decision based on their advice. Based on that fact, the test has helped me to realize that decisions made with regards to feeling are not always reliable. Decisions made with regards to feelings are always not the right decisions. Decision making requires a mind that is open and stress-free. If one is faced with a choice and he/ she is not the right mind to decide, it is advisable to wait until the mind is clear and then later make a decision.

The final factor involves the ability of an individual to receive ideas from other people (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, 2015, par. 10). Does a person give out orders without considering the ideas of others or does he/ she receive the views of other people? This test especially helps an individual who wants to be a leader and who is faced with various decisions to make. It also applies to organizations that have employees who are full of ideas. For example, in an organization, during board meetings there is always the leader who makes the final judgment after he/ she hears the views of all the employees. Does the leader consider these contributions of the employees or not? This test has helped to develop my decision-making abilities. My dream of building my company in the future will involve being a manager and a leader to my employees. This test is, therefore, important for that future course. Even in the social gatherings in an organization where am the team leader, I will be able to develop the habit for always listening to each and every individuals contribution and after careful consideration, I will make a decision. It is not necessarily important that the decision must be based on everyones contribution. An idea might not be relevant in a context. This must also be put into consideration.

Once all these categories are analyzed and the results given, the final stage of this test is to come up with the type of person that you are. It is known as an individuals personality type (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, 2015, par. 11). The traits are represented in the letter as follows; Extraversion (E), Introversion (I), sensing (S), intuition (N), thinking (T), feeling (F), judging (J), and perceiving (P). All these traits have been discussed in the paragraph above. The traits that an individual has are expressed regarding four letters that have been mentioned above. For example, in my case my personality type is ESFP. This means; extraversion, sensing, feeling and perceiving.

The third test I underwent is called the team work test. Teamwork is an important aspect of continuous professional development. It shows the ability of an individual to work in a team of professionals and still remain relevant, contribute to the team or be able to lead the team. It also shows the kind of characters that individuals possess when working in gro...