According to research, many employees now favour personal development over career progression when it comes to the factors which will keep them with an employer.

This reflects both a shift towards a more value-led work culture, and a blurring of the lines between life and work. The experiences of both are what shape people, and there is a sense of crossover, where personal skills can harmonise with the demands of the workplace.

When it comes to a choice, it is not so much that personal development is preferable to career progression, but rather that in many situations, it is integral to it.

 

Leadership Value

Increasing numbers of business schools offering MBAs also now include courses in personal development.

 

The benefits to employers are clear: they can retain the talent without necessarily stretching the budget. Moreover, personal development is an essential prerequisite to readiness for leadership

 

Leadership skills derive from being able to inspire and motivate others, but also from a deep-seated resilience. After all, leaders are more than likely to meet resistance, if not hostility, to some of their ideas.

The strength to develop and maintain a vision, while also taking other’s opinions on board, comes from a sound foundation of self-knowledge and self-awareness.

Personal development offers insight and the opportunity to bolster your weaker points while maximising your natural strengths, leading to greater fulfilment in the workplace.

 

Testing Times

 

Leadership is a test of personality. To meet this test, to pass it and go beyond it means understanding yourself and others

 

This will not come from being familiar with policies and procedures, or knowing how to strategise, or fire-fight in trying circumstances.

Instead, it comes from connecting with yourself, and knowing how to make your personality work best in a work situation.

This comes from intensive coaching, to develop the personal skills that will complement the other, practical business-related skills you have acquired.

To discover how Ubuntu HR can develop your people and benefit your business, please: