What Is Developing the Professional?

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This leads to interaction, and interaction must always be done with respect. Everyone has a story and a background which as stated earlier has shaped our here and now. Where people are not allowed to interact for fear of judgment, societies won’t grow and progress. No one knows it all and in my organization we are encouraged to speak up and give ideas. It’s one of our core values called empowering our people. It’s something I expect from everyone I interact with from as high as my bosses all the way to my housekeeper at home, my team most of all. My success is based on their skills and the collaboration of our minds.

Interaction gives way to open mindedness, and I believe one of the challenges Nigeria and the world faces is the failure to be open minded and accept people’s culture, beliefs and general way of being. At work I encourage my team to be open to changes and believe me there are a lot of changes on the job. Having that mindset allows me to quick on my feet and allows me provide solutions quickly when a curve ball is thrown in the work space. Because my team is a front line team i.e. we deal directly with customers we must be adaptable and understanding to the different personalities we will meet on the job. On my job I’ve learnt to also be open to correction and criticism and to give constructive criticism to my team.

In my course work I had said that the failure of a person to learn and to grow is the desire to be irrelevant. Hence the importance of lifelong learning. The desire to learn is not only advisable to develop oneself, it’s an absolute necessity in our world today. It was my bid to learn that allowed me discover the MBA program at the University of South Wales. In my workplace, a few courses are posted on our internal intranet and I’ve been opportune to take a few that have been helpful. The nature of my job demands that I’m aware of the on goings in the telecoms industry and how competitor activities affect my customers.

In a bid to be honest I must confess that I struggled with two dispositions, professional ethics and critical thinking.

In the case of critical thinking, once in a while I find myself getting overwhelmed. There are times at work some issues confuse and drain me and I mentally shut down. While it’s done with somewhat good intention, it’s unacceptable professionally. On the positive side I go out of my way to see different opinions and ideas and look for the best ways projects or issues can be resolved and closed.

After I completed the course work on professional ethics, I found myself working at getting to the office on time. There’s no excuse for tardiness and it’s extremely unprofessional to get to meetings late. It’s a conscious effort to close tasks at work, and every day I get better at it aided by the processes I’ve put in place to help me reach this goal.

Overall in professional disposition I would say I’m pleased with my decision making and thought process, my openness and desire to learn.

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Concept chart-Professional disposition and me, Hannatu Adegboyega

My five minds

The study of the five minds of the future shows ways our minds can be used if only we choose to apply the time and effort. The study exemplifies how ordinary people, who may have started out leading ordinary lives changed the course of their lives through dedication and development of their minds making them leaders and experts in their industries.

When doing my course work on the five minds I was reminded of my natural inclination to strong women in leadership positions. My case studies at that time were Ibukun Awosika, Tara Fela-Durotoye, and Hillary Clinton.

I realized that a common thread with these women was not just the positions or power they held, even though it’s a great motivation. What I think I admired the most is their love for family and the way they were able to raise well-grounded scandal free children whilst being leaders in their industry. Family is important to me and I personally believe no matter how professional I become, it’s the bedrock of my foundation.

Another common factor I admired and strive to attain is the Ethical and respectful mindsets of not just these women but of most women in power in the world today. This is something I challenge myself to share and emulate in my daily life and at my place of work. Something I would like to be remembered for is my empathy and the actions I took towards helping the world around me either professionally or personally. Since starting this course I’ve joined a charity and I’m planning towards doing more in the line of social responsibilities, corporate or personal.

For her effectiveness in using both her synthesizing and a disciplined mind I admire Ibukun Awosika, the first female chairperson of the First Bank of Nigeria. One of the things I wish and hope I become is a person known for my ability to assess the trends and happenings in the economy and translate that into a learning point for my industry. Just as in the case of Mrs Ibukun Awosika, I intend to successfully juggle my appointments (if any) my business commitments and my family with an understanding of multiple perspectives and strategic thinking.

Tara Fela-Durotye is someone I’ve greatly admired for her creative mind in her field which has made her a trailblazer in her industry today. I stated in my course work that the depth of her creativity and her problem solving skills was and still is being tested by the attack on her business by counterfeit “Tara” products.

I’ve always fancied myself to be a creative sort and at work this is seen and tested in my quick decision making. Some situations that arise don’t necessarily have a by the book answer and they require quick thinking and creative reasoning. At work I’m constantly looking for creative ways to grow my market share and revenue, and I would say some of the best ideas we have generated as a team have come from a creative mindset i.e. outside the box.

Now more than ever my admiration for Hillary Rodham Clinton rises. I said in my coursework that she