Self Awareness And Skills development Assignment

The following topics represent areas in which managers and employees can develop their self-awareness and skills for more positive individual and workplace outcomes. This project is designed to allow you to explore and engage with the topics at a more in-depth level. 

You are required you to develop a theoretical and applied understanding of ONE of the topics/issues as set out below:- 

1. Authentic Leadership
2. Resilience
3. Organisational Compassion 4. Mental Health
5. Growth Mindset
6. Character virtues and the VIA 

Your report will require you to complete two main tasks:-

PART A. Write a critical review of 4-5 published JOURNAL articles for your chosen topic; and 

PART B. Develop, implement and reflect on a three week program of self development that allows you to actively engage with your topic in a way which improves your self awareness and knowledge. 

PART A. ARTICLE SUMMARY AND REVIEW

• You are required to find 4 to 5 relevant articles from scholarly journals relating to your specialisation topic. The articles should relate directly to your topic area and must be articles from peer reviewed, academic journals. 
• Your review should not merely summarise the key points of your articles. Rather, your review should compare, contrast and critique the ideas adopted in the various articles. For example, compare the strengths and weaknesses of each article’s approach, assess any biases or limitations of the studies. You will be provided with some materials on critical thinking in academic writing. Some examples of scholarly journals to look for your articles include (but are not limited to): 
• Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Communication, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Business and Psychology, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Australian Journal of Communication, Journal of International Business, Australian Journal of Psychology, Journal of Business Psychology, Positive Psychology Journal, Journal of Happiness Studies, etc. 
• Full text articles are available via the University library databases. When referencing articles from journals, please make sure that you reference the original article and not the database URL where it is located! 

ASSIGNMENT – PART A

PART A IS YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW 

4-5 RECENT AND RELEVANT JOURNAL ARTICLES (PREFERABLY WITHIN THE PAST 10 YEARS) 

SHOULD BE CHOSEN FROM THE LIBRARY JOURNAL DATABASES MUST BE FROM SCHOLARLY, PEER REVIEW JOURNALS ONLY 

STICK TO JOURNALS FROM WITHIN THE DISCIPLINE (BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT, PSYCHOLOGY JOURNALS) 

TRY TO FIND SOME ARTICLES WHICH RELATE TO DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE IN YOUR CHOSEN AREA
DO NOT CHOOSE ALL OF YOUR ARTICLES FROM THE SAME JOURNAL
WRITE A CRITICAL REVIEW – COMPARE AND CONTRAST IDEAS ACROSS YOUR CHOSEN ARTICLES (DO NOT SUMMARISE THEM ONE AT A TIME) 

HEADINGS ARE NOT REQUIRED WITHIN THE REVIEW INTRODUCTION/ABSTRACT NOT REQUIRED WITHIN THE REVIEW 

FINDING AND ANALYSING ARTICLES 

• STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH TERMS SUCH AS “LIBRARY DATABASES”, “SCHOLARLY JOURNALS”, OR DO NOT KNOW WHERE TO FIND ACADEMIC ARTICLES FOR THEIR REVIEW SHOULD WATCH “HEADSUP- MODULE 3” FROM THE LIBRARY WEBSITE http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/headsup 

• REFERENCING – HARVARD REFERENCING MUST BE USED – THERE IS PLENTY OF INFORMATION ON HOW TO REFERENCE ON THE LIBRARY WEBSITE, YOU SHOULD ALSO WATCH “HEADSUP-MODULE 5” 

• YOUR REVIEW SHOULD BE A CRITICAL REVIEW, NOT MERELY A SUMMARY. FOR INFORMATION ON CRITICAL THINKING AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS, SEE THIS WEBSITE https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/support/helps/self-help-resources/ academic-writing/critical-thinking-skills 

PART B. IMPLEMENTATION, SUMMARY AND REFLECTION 

• This section of your project allows you to apply your new knowledge to improve your own personal skills and practical understanding in this area. You may develop a program involving only yourself or you may choose to devise a program for a group of employees known to you, or a group of employees you work with. 
• This part of your assignment has three sections:- 

B1. Three Week Timeline of Activities 

Develop a timeline of activities, which you plan to implement over a three week period. These activities will allow yourself or your employee team to improve your applied/practical understanding of your topic area. You should present your timeline graphically or in a table. It should show clearly what activities you will engage in and at what times over the three weeks. Some examples of activities you might choose which develop your understanding and/or skills on the topic will be provided on UTS Online. These are only examples, you should be creative in thinking about other options! 

ASSIGNMENT – PART B 

• PART B REPRESENTS THE PRACTICAL COMPONENT OF THE ASSIGNMENT – YOUR SELF DEVELOPMENT ‘JOURNEY’. IT SHOULD COMPLEMENT OR LEAD ON FROM YOUR PART A REVIEW. THEY ARE NOT TWO SEPARATE ASSIGNMENTS! 

• REMEMBER THAT YOUR BLOG IS AN INFORMAL DIARY/JOURNAL ACCOUNT THAT SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN DURING YOUR DEVELOPMENT WEEKS. IT SHOULD NOT BE WRITTEN UP IN AN ACADEMIC STYLE, BUT RATHER HOW YOU MIGHT CREATE A SCRAPBOOK OF A HOLIDAY 

• YOUR BLOG IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE WORD COUNT 

• PART B COMPRISES YOUR 

  • THREE WEEK TIME LINE OF DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES 
  • BLOG SHOWING EVIDENCE OF IMPLEMENTATION (DIARY NOTES, THOUGHTS, PHOTOS, SURVEYS ETC.) 
  • REFLECTION
• WE WILL NOW LOOK AT EACH OF THESE COMPONENTS OF PART B 

B2. Implementation

Implement your plan over a three week period, keeping an online 'blog' diary of reflections, notes and observations 

PART B - IMPLEMENTATION 

• UNDER THIS HEADING YOU SHOULD WRITE A COUPLE OF PARAGRAPHS OUTLINING ANY SUCCESS OR FAILURES WITH IMPLEMENTATION. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU HAD TOO MANY ACTIVITIES AND COULDN’T FIT THEM ALL IN; YOU COULDN’T GET YOURSELF UP AT 6AM FOR YOUR PLANNED MEDITATION SESSIONS; YOU CAME DOWN WITH THE FLU IN WEEK 2 AND HAD TO POSTPONE ETC. 

• REMEMBER, 1-2 PARAGRAPHS ONLY, THIS IS NOT A REFLECTION SO SHOULD NOT INCLUDE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS OR REACTIONS. IT IS JUST A RECORD OF HOW SUCCESSFULLY OR OTHERWISE YOU WERE ABLE TO CARRY OUT THE PLANNED ACTIVITIES FROM YOUR TIME LINE 

• YOU SHOULD USE THE FIRST PERSON 

• IN ADDITION TO THESE COUPLE OF PARAGRAPHS, YOU ALSO NEED TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE OF IMPLEMENTATION VIA ONLINE BLOG (IF ONLINE, PLEASE PROVIDE THE LINK UNDER THE IMPLEMENTATION SECTION OF YOUR REPORT OR REFER THE MARKER TO UTS ONLINE BLOG OR PORTFOLIO) 

• YOUR DIARY IS AN INFORMAL, PERSONAL ACCOUNT AND SHOULD INCLUDE ENTRIES EVERY FEW DAYS OR SO OF YOUR REACTIONS, FEELINGS, EMOTIONS ETC. TO YOUR ACTIVITIES 

• IT CAN INCLUDE PHOTOS, SURVEYS, INTERVIEW NOTES, OR ANY OTHER EVIDENCE OF YOUR IMPLEMENTATION 

• YOUR BLOG SHOULD BE PERSONAL, REFLECTIVE AND INFORMAL, RATHER THAN STATEMENTS OF FACT 

• BLOG AND EVIDENCE OF IMPLEMENTATION ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE WORD COUNT FOR THE ASSIGNMENT 

B3. Summary and Reflection 

Write a summary and personal reflection on your three week implementation. Specifically, consider: 

• What have you learnt about this topic that might be of use to you as a future manager?
• Did your experiences resonate or conflict with anything you read in the literature (reviewed in Part A)?
• What did you learn about yourself through this exercise?
• What lessons about your topic do you think are critical for manager and employees to learn? 

PART B - REFLECTION 

• THE REFLECTION IS A PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF YOUR LEARNING EXPERIENCE OVER THE THREE WEEK SKILL DEVELOPMENT TIMEFRAME 

• YOU SHOULD REFLECT ON YOUR THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, REACTIONS, WHAT YOU LEARNT ABOUT YOURSELF, WHAT YOU LEARNT ABOUT DEVELOPING SKILLS IN THIS AREA, WHAT YOU DID WELL, WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE BETTER, WHAT YOU MIGHT DO IN THE FUTURE ETC. 

• REFLECTIVE WRITING SHOULD SHOW A HIGH LEVEL OF SELF-AWARENESS – IT IS INTROSPECTIVE, HONEST AND DEEP 

• THIS WEBSITE WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT REFLECTIVE WRITING:- 

https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/support/helps/self-help-resources/ academic-writing/reflective-writing