A SWOT Analysis
A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and threats) analysis is a structured framework which helps either the researchers or planners to come up or prioritize any goal and goes ahead to identify the strategies which will help in achieving them. It is a technique that has been used by many to prioritize their important goals based on their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. SWOT analysis for a long time has been highly regarded by the businesses, but currently many individuals are using it while planning on their normal activities (Helms \ Nixon, 2010). Therefore, every person has an opportunity of evaluating him or herself on leadership and see whether he or she has traits which can help him motivate others and also lead them into new and better directions. In this paper, I will carry out a personal SWOT analysis to analyze what am good at and what I need to cultivate on.
Discussion
The current world is very competitive and to be successful in it, it is essential for one to identify the strength and weaknesses and one has as well as the opportunities and threats offered by the environment. If one has an awareness of the four presented aspects, it becomes possible to use them for one's advantage. If I realize and identify the strengths and opportunities posed to me, I will know where to tread with both confidence and security. More so, if I realize the weaknesses and threats posed to me also, I will be able to focus on those areas to overcome obstacles and improve upon weaknesses.
Strengths
Education has been one of the key determiners of success in the current world, and with my bachelors, I feel confident in handling any managerial task. It was after being involved in the family business that created the urge in me to gather professional knowledge to be able to monitor processes involved in production and marketing. With the little experience I had out of my father's guidance, I was able to monitor all employees in our enterprise and revenue collected increased by a third. This is an achievement that my father forced me to take credit on, and since then I have been very proud of myself and wish to continue increasing skills in the managerial roles. I believe in this task; I can effectively lure employees to work extra harder without necessarily adding pressure on them or creating a negative impression of the management. I have friends who pursue psychology and have helped me understand the nature of employees and how well to handle them. These are close friends, and their close attachment will help me increase my knowledge on the best way to handle employees and make the effective and efficient.
On top of the above strengths, I consider myself innovative and creative being one of the reasons our enterprise is enjoying huge profits. I always keep my mind open, and this is a trait that has enabled me to be more efficient and effective when compared to some of the senior employees in our enterprise. Am always open to new ideas, and it has been good at being adaptive to new situations. With an already established business in our family and the confidence that my father has on me, I believe I stand at a better position of continuing to thrive and becoming more better.
Weaknesses
Weaknesses are inevitable, especially if what we are dealing with is competitive. There have been various drawbacks which hinder me from the pursuit of my own goals and dreams. For quite some time, I have come to realize that am not good at instilling friendship with an anonymous person. I tend to avoid creating a deep friendship with people I do not know and takes time to trust them. This may sound as good as testing before trusting, but it is one of the qualities that might make me a poor marketer. The primary and most important of any business is the marketing department, and without it, there is no revenue creation. Therefore, I believe being poor in establishing a new friendship may hinder my career in the future.
Additionally, I find myself weak in time management. I am a poor timekeeper and my general awareness of time is also poor. There are certain times that I carry out tasks without planning, and as a result, I affect my schedules. The primary attribute to this is being overcommitted. This might seem like an obvious weakness, but it is one of the reasons that make me a poor timekeeper. I tend to focus on some issues so much such that I put less emphasis on others. There are times when I put more effort and concentration on something such that am not able to stop despite realizing that I may be going down the wrong path. In most cases, I follow this path till that time I run into a dead end.
Opportunities
I have several opportunities that make me worthy of continuing to pursue my dreams. Some of these are that I have a lot of friends with whom I have a connection with. They are resourceful people who help me do most of my things efficiently and effectively. Noting that ma still studying, I have a chance to continue expanding my knowledge and techniques with the help of my teachers and tutorials. There are managers and other employed people in the management positions who have apparently joined the school to further their education, and making them my friends can broaden my horizons. I also have a good relationship with my relative, especially my father, from whom I am sure of getting sufficient support.
Threats
There are several things which I believe can stand in the way of accomplishing my goals and others that can negatively affect my ability to compete with others. The largest threats which I feel might act as impediments towards my success is probably competition from those people who are also seeking the same success as I am and the obstacles of completing my studies and performing well in the process.
Based on the assessment above, I tend to think that am a democratic leader and my traits of being open to ideas and giving a chance to everyone enable me to give a chance to the subordinates while coming up with decisions. Unless that am trying to solve a problem of my own, I always let those who are around me understand every step I take in my decisions and consider their opinions on the decisions. Lack of trust and the creation of immediate friendship with others people I don’t know is one of my weaknesses, but my leadership traits help me get into a solution. Allowing other people to influence my decisions and listening to their views is one of the ways to win their trust and form a commendable friendship, and in my managerial career, this is the right way to go. Once am fully marketable, I can combine the achievement of my capabilities in the production cycle, thus becoming a fully functional manager.
Work cited
Helms, M. M., " Nixon, J. (2010). Exploring SWOT analysis–where are we now? A review of academic research from the last decade. Journal of strategy and management, 3(3), 215-251.
