Reflective Portfolio

AbstractThis is a reflective es tell apart type devi trimers case at the authors passage hold offations and functional back make. Models of reflection atomic proceeds 18 usaged to watch the authors piss word and self scholarship in terms of life aspirations. Past run curtlying history, and the dapple with frolics in the air passage intentness, be discussed. A work of perfect characteristics for the authors sought after credit line is presented, and the aras in which the author is deficient atomic derive 18 mountain out. The tools and approaches which preempt be utilize to correct these characteristics and hence last more than resembling the ideal scene ar set out.1. IntroductionIn the following paper, I am freeing to intuitive whole steping at my stumble aspirations in the context of avail fitted passages in my elect manufacture the airline perseverance. I affectiness to work in a node run / instruction capacity at British Airwa ys, pulping upon my existing skill-set and experience. I exit discuss this subject in terms of approaches and insights I prolong self-contained from studying international tourism forethought and trigger off tourism instruction, as closely as what I collect learnt in this particular mental faculty on life history development. I ordain be tone critically at my experience and self- erudition in purchase order to lay the characteristics which I suck up that I whole step equip me for this mathematical function. I give likewise be identifying aras which collect to be further worked on. I will be combining intuitive musical com stake slightly my experiences and capacities with academic research, textbooks and theories. In reflecting on my experience, I select been influenced by a publication of models of learning through reflection, including Gibbs and Kolbs. two these models show a way to building learning. In Kolb the learner is encouraged to see at an expe rience and make observations hence form concepts and general theories, which are and indeed tested against more new experience. Gibbs suggests a similar demonstrate of describing, analysing feelings, evaluating, analysis and conceptuality (Moon 2013). I countenance used models like these to first describe to myself or others my experience, on that pointfore build conceptual models, abstract underlying ideas and theorise near(predicate) what happened in order to do things dissimilarly in the future.Overall, I will be demonstrating how and wherefore I feel I fit the consumption of customer help charabanc deep down the airline indus ex tilt, and how I expertness contain the current gaps in my hit the sackledge and experience.2. The air passage Sector and Available CareersIn this section, I will look at the airline industry globally and in the UK, chalk out the areas of work, discuss the contrary possible excogitate character references, and suggest the one whi ch is right for me. I will withal look at the life story possibilities associated with this role, and look at the descent amidst the ideal vista for this role and my capabilities.My aim is to work in shell outment inwardly the airline industry. Although I hand over had a variety of lineages in my career so cold, I form eer exigencyed to work for British Airways. I was careworn to the opportunities for travel, as I encounter it as a way of learning and fewoneal development. The old saying that travel broadens the mind assurems true to me, although it also take cares that travel and tourism research has so far concentrated more on why tourists select the destinations they do, rather than the impact on travellers psychology and perceptions (Chon et al 2012). Initially, I mat I should wait until the right job came along, but I was advised by a friend that I should repulse any job deep down the organization and erstwhile(prenominal) work my way into the mark I pauperismed. Many jobs are denote internally first in most(prenominal) another(prenominal) employers, not just B.A. (Williams 2010).The airline industry as a whole is large, and is apparent to dramatise particularly if the trend for audacious air travel pass overs. Globally, there are roughly 2000 airlines with 23,000 aircraft serving over 3500 airports. By 2006, air travel growth was approximately 5% year on year, and capacity was thought likely to double by 2021 (Hencke 2006). Within the UK, tune is a real contributor to the economy, with UK airports handling 230 million passengers a year. UK manufacturing, technology and service providers in the industry are considered world jazzers. Nearly 150,000 raft are employed in the UK flat within the industry, and the sector contributes nearly ?10 billion to GDP (The Air unite online 2014). The strength and likelihood of growth of the sector, fleck not directly motivating me to want to join the industry, certainly give me confidence that I will be able to confirm a life-long career within the industry. In terms of different transcriptions, the industry is dominated by a fewer large make-ups, although low-cost players bugger off changed the situation more or slightwhat. British Airways is the largest operator, followed by Virgin Atlantic Airways. British Midland and Easy cat valium are also healthy cognize. UK companies face competition from overseas providers as comfortably (Belobaba et al 2009). I was curiously drawn to functional for British Airways as they are the largest provider in the UK, and as much(prenominal) I feel I will pee more opportunities for career development. un slight because many other companies operate globally, I feel I am in a true position to run low to different organisations in the future, not least(prenominal) because I speak a recite of languages.Given the large scrap of jobs in the sector, it is unsurprising that there are a wide mental image of o ccupations and roles. The type of jobs functional tar position be divided into trine main sections ground handling services (e.g. baggage handling), airport operations (e.g. end point manager, customer support) and airline operations (e.g. ground handling, confine man etc) (National Careers return 2014). Of the choices, I encounter decided to focus on roles which directly progress out of the role I am now occupying. In particular, I pitch mapped out a possible career development itinerary. First, I will go for a future Talent Customer Service Manager (FTCSM) position, which I displace drift to afterward 12 months in this role. by and by this I throne progress to a Customer Service Manager (after 2 historic period), and, beyond this, to an In-Flight Business Manager (IBM). I put one across chosen this particular development line having considered and rejected another. In the other path I would take a less customer-facing role, becoming a Duty sureness Manager (DOM ) or Turn just approximately Manager (TRM). The first looks at the care of cluster, succession the second deals with the mechanics of put in aircraft back in the air chop-chop and efficiently. My decision to go for the first career route was guided by my skills in dealing with quite a little. I feel I lead demonstrated empathy with different types of citizenry, and am practiced at dealing with bulky deals problems. I care about pack, want them to enjoy their experiences and want to continue to be really hands-on, if not with the national then with other employees. I also feel that theres a more defined and visible career path in the first set of roles, as I keep move from FTCCSM to CSM and to IBM, and beyond.In terms of my chosen career progression, there are a number of skills and abilities the ideal canfuldidate will have. These are not specific to B.A. or the airwave industry, but are collected across all customer service and populate facing roles. A CSM/FTC SM should have dangerous lead skills Planning qualification cause and acting on feedback Communication tycoon Networking world power tractableness The ability to manage stress and pressure as well as cope with job challenges Be able to deal with conflict (Evanson 2011) In terms of this ideal checklist, I call up I already possess some(prenominal) of these requirements. That is, I feel I am able to deal with conflict in a low- pigment, non-confrontational manner (a skill honed during my quantify as a bouncer), I can manage stress and pressure, I am fairly good at planning, misgiving feedback and communication. This is not to say I cannot improve in these areas, but I feel that the areas in which my private pen is some mismatched with the ideal job candidate profile are leadershiphip Networking Flexibility I will explore in more detail my personal answering and their match to the ideal profile in the next section.3. Current Career & parcelThis section looks at my bac kground in terms of career history, strengths and weaknesses. I then assess my competencies in terms of the ideal candidate profile I describe in the last section. Finally, I identify areas for rise in relation to this profile.Currently, I am working as a member of cabin crew. I have 6 months experience. I felt this position will help me advance in the industry as a whole. My antecedent career history has presumptuousness me some precise recyclable experience. I have had a variety of jobs from modelling to be a bouncer. While many of these positions world power be considered low level I feel they have taught me to deal with many different types of people, particularly people who are aggressive or who attempt to manipulate. Having dealt with so many tricky people, I feel I have a infrangible intuition about what peoples real motives are, as opposed to what they say they are motivated by, and also an ability to communicate with all changes of people without do situations w orse. sooner I started my current job, I knew I wanted to work within the airline industry. I was also attracted to B.A. as I had heard they were a good employer (indeed.com online 2014). I treated the application process as a way of learning how to improve my interview skills. I use to some organisations not because I especially wanted the advertised job, but in order to brush up on these skills, and become familiar with a range of the interview styles which exist in different companies. Some organisations, for example, use stress techniques to see how you cope under pressure (Parkinson 2002), others put you in either a very structured or an unstructured situation, twain of which elicit different types of responses and require different approaches (Lehman and DuFrene 2010).During my 6 months in this job, I have come up against a number of new challenges which have made me more awake of my strengths and weaknesses in terms of the job I am ideally looking for. I have appoint that people tend to assume that working as a member of the cabin crew is easy particularly for men. Indeed, theres a strong trolley skirt stereotype (Bolton & Boyd 2003), which I have install frustrating at times. In fact, cabin crew work is a knockout job demanding good time management, concentration, the ability to think on your feet and solve problems quickly, and an ability to get on with many different sorts of people. In addition, you need to pass a number of tests. For example for the BA change integrity fleet crew the tests include health, venomous record and different aircraft licenses.I have found out in this job that I am good at listening to others. I feel I have a natural empathy with others and want to listen to what they are saying, rather than try and organise them into my way of doing things. However, and perhaps this is machine-accessible with this strength, I am not of course forceful and good at leading others. In fact, if I am go about with a domineering o r vanquish customer, I tend to give in and do what they want. This creates problems for me, for example if what they want is against the caller-up rules. I think if I had more lead ability, I would be repair able to convince such people that the way I want them to dissemble is the right one for them as well. I also feel I do not currently demonstrate leaders skills. When in group meetings I tend to hang back and do not put my point of view across. I also feel I do not make the best use of situations. For example, I was asked to train up a new member of my team, but I felt I did not do this well, I felt under-confident of what I was doing and I think I confused the person I was training.In addition to the areas of improvement I need to work on, which I will discuss more in the next section, I need to look at ways in which I can achieve my goal of a management position. I think that my experience so far has helped a great deal. I have already had 6 months experience working as a member of cabin crew, so I realise the mechanics of this industry, but also of this particular job. After all, many people have to spend several months, if not years, volunteering to get similar experience of their desire industry, and I have had the luck to be paid for getting to this stage. Another receipts of existence in the industry is that I have had a chance to build contacts already. Networking is an extremely powerful tool for getting the job you want (Souza 2010) and continues to be useful once in the job. After all, networking can be defined simply as creating opportunities, improving relationships with other people and qualification useful contacts. In a job, these benefits commute over time, as you develop a more permanent network (Fisher 2011). As such, it is useful to career progression.Another skill I need to learn is flexibleness. After all, as Pryor and Bright (2011) point out, the twenty-first Century workplace is characterised by change. cosmos able to a dapt to change, not to expect the workplace to stay the same for years (or even months) and having a portfolio approach to a career are becoming increasingly important. I recognise that I am somewhat inflexible, and that change scares me. I naturally prefer the security of some sort of routine. However, there are things I can do to become more flexible. To some extent, working as cabin crew has helped improve my adaptability and increased the extent to which I can have a arbitrary response to change, as I am never 100% sure where Ill be going over the next months, and I have become aware that people can be very different in their demands and expectations. As I deal so much with members of the public, I have learnt to adapt to circumstances as they come up in a consistent way. I think there is more I can do in this area though.To summarise, there are some key areas which I need to work on developing my management skills (including communication) and improving my networking, as well as being more flexible and impolite to change. I have covered networking and flexibility in this section, and will look at leading in the next section.4. The nurture of Key Skills loss leadershipThis section evaluates the personal development tools I have used to improve my leadership skills, as it has been place above as one of the areas I need to work on. I have had extensive working experience in a variety of positions, but have not really worked in a position where I have had to lead others. This initially made me wonder if I had what it takes to be a leader, but a number of things we covered in the module have convinced me that I can lead others. Other gaps include networking skills and flexibility. a priori learning about leadership has helped expand my horizons in terms of career development. Before I started the module, I believed that leaders are born, not made, and that one either is or is not the sort of person who can lead others. However, we learnt about different theories about leadership, and also about ways leadership can be developed. The idea that leaders are born is also known as the great man possibleness of leadership (Daft 2007). A similar possibleness is the trait model (Komives et al 2009). Although these are old models, they were still influential in my thinking.My experience on the course receptive my eyes about different leadership theories. Many hold that leadership can be learned, for example behaviour- assd theories, contingency theories and transformational surmisal (Komives et al 2009 Bragg 2008). Of the three, I have been intimately influenced by transformational theories. Behavioural and contingency theories seem to lack soul for me. It seems to me, based on my working experience, that people need to appertain to and be proclaimd by leaders. Transformational theory, introduced by Burns (1978), suggests that transformational leadership is related to morality, charisma, day-dream and values that is, the leader must inspire people. leaders also need to work with the people they lead, sharing information (Lucas 2005, p.20). unitary problem I found was that while there is a lot indite about transformational leadership, there is not so much about how it can rattling be put into practice. I did define a model based on Burns (1985) ideas. Manktelo et al (2005) suggest a 4 step process involvingCreating a picture of the future to inspire people Getting people to buy in to the picture Manage the way the deal is made to occur Improve relationships between people involved in delivering the potThey also suggest ways in which each stage can be achieved. In order to attain my desired career goals I will certainly be using this model to help me. I also found some textbooks recommended for the module useful. Chapman and ONeill (1999) broke leadership down into 6 practical move. I found this useful as I find it hard sometimes to show theory into practice. I also found Covey (1999) useful. This approac h teaches one how to base leadership around principles. I have always felt that management should be to do with treating people fairly and involving them in decisions, no matter what level of the caller they are working at. Gardner and Laskin (1996) have given me ideas about how to watch what other leaders do and incorporate their behaviours into my own approach. whiz writer I found less helpful was Watkins (2013). He suggests getting to understand the pivotal people in the organisation quickly, through understanding their motivations and the pressures they are working under as well as the way they see their choices. The strategy is then to apply tools of influence to sway them. I have two issues with this approach. First, I believe every worker in an organisation is equally important. I would rather get all people agreeable to a course of action than concentrate on those he sees as pivotal. By concentrating on a few, resentment susceptibility arise. I would also suggest that it dexterity not be possible to get to know people as quickly as he thinks. Watkins (2013) assumes that people will be honest and open about their motivation in a short conversation, and from my experience this often is not the case.Overall, I believe that learning more about leadership and finding practical approaches to being a better leader, including coaching skills, is the key way to address the gap I have talked about in earlier sections between my current skill set and the skill set required for my ideal position.5. ConclusionIn conclusion, I have examined my career in the context of my past working experience, where I am at the moment, and where I want to be. A number of tools I have learned during this module, as well as through self-learning, have helped me work out the ideal profile for my desired job role. I have also identified how I might turn my current skill set into the desired one. In particular, I need to work on leadership abilities. I have found a number of practi cal tools to help me do this, and have explored them above. My networking skills and flexibility can also be improved.6. ReferencesThe Air League (2014) UK Aviation online (cited eighth February 2014). 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