HOW CAN THESE TOOLS BENEFIT MY LIFE?

By taking MGTA459, I have noticed several methods and tools that I can take advantage of and presumably can change my life. I would like to further develop and utilize these tools in a few ways. First, I want to be more influential in my future career life. Additionally, I aim to enhance my personal productivity and overall well-being by incorporating these tools into my daily routines. I see the potential for improved teamwork, effective communication, and better decision-making, all of which contribute to a more fulfilling and successful life. In the following chapter, I will elaborate on the concepts and tools that I want to further develop and provide a prescription for me to follow in the future.

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In this section, I will list the skills that I want to develop in the future and the influence of leveraging those tools. Checklists and prescription are also provided to make sure I can achieve those goals in 5 years.

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Networks

Networking is always the tool I want to develop first. I was an introverted person and didn’t have the courage to talk with strangers. However, building strong networks is always fundamental for career development. When I was doing my summer internship, I was too shy to build connections with senior team members. I always tried to avoid eye contact and have small talk with my colleagues. To build networks, I have to overcome this obstacle and try to make connections with people. I would like to strengthen my networks to achieve the following goals:

1. Gain more opportunities from my networks
2. Acquire information for expertises in different business areas
3. Learning from the experiences of others can help me navigate challenges
   
   

Future Action Plan

Start at least two new conversations per week with colleagues/friends
Connect with at least 10 new contacts on LinkedIn each quarter
Initiate conversations about mentorship with at least 2 potential mentors per year
Follow up with new contacts within three days of meeting them
Attend a minimum of four relevant workshops or seminars per year
Connect with a minimum of 5 new professionals in your field each month

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Agency

Agency is a critical characteristic for being influential. When I worked on my school and internship projects, I always tried to take more responsibility and provide my own thoughts for refinement and improvement. However, sometimes I am still afraid to take the initiative on topics where I lack confidence. Also, I always feel I’m not senior enough to provide my thoughts and make changes to the status quo. However, from this course, I realized that it’s always important to challenge the status quo regardless of my experience. Further improving my leverage on agency will be very crucial for my future development and allow me to being more influential in the organization. I would like to achieve these goals in my future endeavors:

1. Always take an initiative and be proactive work
2. Think one step ahead for finding improvements
3. Being a rule-breaker and dare to challenge the status quo
   
   

Future Action Plan

Actively seek opportunities to take the lead on at least 10 projects
Volunteer for tasks that require responsibility and initiative at least 15 times
Identify and set goals to overcome confidence issues in at least 5 identified areas
Seek mentorship or coaching sessions for confidence-building at least twice a month
Identify and propose changes in at least 5 aspects of my work or processes
Actively implement positive changes, regardless of seniority, at least four times a year

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Coalitions

Coalitions are a tool that I really want to rely on in the future. Before this course, I never noticed that coalitions are such an important tool. From the in-class coalition exercise, I realized that it’s super important to know how to leverage this power. If used properly, coalitions can be super effective. Also, from that exercise, I also observed that combining situation awareness with coalitions can be even more powerful. The combination of those two tools can help me to better identify the critical stakeholders and build the coalition with them ASAP. From my previous experience, I always avoided building this kind of relationship with others and never thought of using coalitions strategically. I would like to develop my skill on coalitions and achieve the following goals: Build coalition with stakeholders to achieve goals Work with situation awareness to spot the best coalition strategy Cultivate relationships with people who might be influential in the organization

Future Action Plan

Successfully build and lead at least one coalition per year to achieve specific project or organizational goals
Regularly integrate situation awareness into coalition-building strategies in at least 80% of projects over the 5-year period
Initiate and nurture relationships with at least 3 influential individuals within the organization each year

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Team Building

Team building is a skill that I have developed a lot recently. I always place great emphasis on the team and try to work in a collaborative environment. However, I would like to further improve my team-building skills. To be frank, I sometimes ignore some voices from team members because I focus too much on my own thoughts. Also, I usually prioritize tasks over the group. To be a better team leader/member, I would like to achieve the following goals:

1. Create an upbeat team environment
2. Every voice matters; be more sympathetic to others
3. Prioritize group cohesion rather than only focusing on tasks
   
   

Future Action Plan

Practice active listening in team meetings, ensuring that I actively seek and consider input from all team members at least twice a week
Actively encourage and welcome diverse perspectives within the team, ensuring that all voices are heard at least once a week
Shift focus from individual tasks to team goals, ensuring that project objectives are consistently prioritized over individual tasks in 80% of projects
Organize and lead at least two team-building activities or workshops per year to enhance team cohesion
Establish KPIs to measure team effectiveness and regularly assess progress against these metrics

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After taking MGTA459, I started to think about what kind of skills can really benefit my future life. From the cases and exercises in the class, I began to realize that those skills are extremely powerful, and I must develop them in my future career. In the future, I will follow this guideline and achieve my goals step by step. Hopefully, I can fully leverage those tools in my future career endeavor.