Professional Development and Practice/ Employability Skills and Academic

Practice

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 Areas of Development
Emotional Intelligence and
Professionalism

Situations in which the weaknesses can be addressed

Project management teaches us about controlling emotions, maintaining ethics and behavioural decorum
aligned with maintaining professionalism. Since I am an emotional person, it is a challenge for me to control
my emotions. Stress from work affects my mental peace and thus I often get disturbed and feel changes in my
behavioural outcomes. My lack of communication skills is the main reason behind this imbalance of emotional
intelligence and disturbed mental health. I have observed that I get easily affected by criticisms and overthink
creating unhealthy scenarios mentally. This greatly affects my performance delivery and affects my team
management as well. I am often irritated and impatient as I am constantly thinking about what others are
thinking about me (Mitchell et at. 2017).

Due to a weak level of emotional intelligence, I experience rapid outbursts in my teammates. I tend to defend
myself which at times makes me quite unprofessional in my use of language or body language. Initially, every
project seems to be progressing gradually but with time all these issues start to appear in the picture. I have
witnessed people not sharing their discomfort or criticisms on my face but they would rather talk behind my
back. This changes domains of relationships and creates tension amongst teammates. Confusion generated
from these miscommunications results in negative influences such as internal politics and unfair play which
are unhealthy practices. I am determined to improve my tolerance of outside criticisms and opinions and
strengthen my level of emotional intelligence and refine my professionalism (Teachthought, 2019).

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 Actions to be taken to address the weaknesses

I have assessed my imbalances in emotional intelligence and professionalism concerning

Hall's reflective cycle. I need to work on my self-reflection and assessment further to
discover more areas of my personality that would likely have scopes of improvement. I
need to learn about controlling my emotions and thoughts. I have decided to meditate
regularly and learn to calm my mind and soul. Once I master this art of calming and
soothing I will be able to deliver impressive performances. My mind makes me think
about a lot of things that are greatly irrelevant to my work life so I need to stop caring.
Self-criticism is an ideal learning scope with regard to my issue of emotional intelligence.
I will be practising emotional management techniques and thus, improving my
professionalism. Thinking about work outside my workspace needs to be stopped and I
need to learn to be able to keep my personal and professional life separated. I need to be
aware of my boundaries and also mental state. Not every work or behaviour can be shown
towards everybody. So, I need to learn and control my outbursts (Helpguide, 2020).

I discovered that I am capable of taking responsibilities for new work and successfully
deliver it, when I have this capability all mI need to do is improve my skills better and
sharpen them to inculcate in my personality and build myself stronger in handling
professional hardships. I am sure that once I am fully improved I will be able to reach
higher levels in my career soon (Career, 2021).

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Reference List

Journal

Mitchell, D.E., Howard, B., Meetze-Hall, M., Hendrick, L.S. and Sandlin, R., 2017. The new
teacher induction experience: Tension between curricular and programmatic demands and the
need for immediate help. Teacher Education Quarterly, 44(2), pp.79-104.

Website

Teachthought, 2019, Stop, Practice, Collaborate: The Cycle Of Reflective Teaching [online]
Available at : https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/the-cycle-of-reflective-teaching/
[Accessed on : 20/04/2021]

Helpguide, 2020, Improving Emotional Intelligence (EQ) [online] Available at :

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/emotional-intelligence-eq.htm [Accessed on :
20/04/2021]

Career, 2021, Career and Professionalism [online] Available at :

https://career.vt.edu/develop/professionalism.html [Accessed on : 20/04/2021]