Reaching My Potential, Essay Example

In the essay “Managing Yourself: reaching Your Potential,” author Robert S. Kaplan of the Harvard Business School offers a series of steps and suggestions that one can use to better meet personal and professional goals. Kaplan is clear to point out that the purpose if his article is not simply to answer the question “how can I get ahead in business;” rather, his goal is to describe ways that individuals can best assess their own definitions of success, how they can take an inventory of their own strengths and weaknesses, and how they can apply what they’ve learned through these exercises to serve as leaders in their fields and meet their own goals where success is concerned. I have some fairly specific ideas about what I would like to accomplish in my professional life, and Kaplan’s article has given me some solid advice about how I can help to narrow the focus of these goals and do my best to meet them.

The first thing that Kaplan discusses is the importance of defining success on one’s own terms, rather than on terms that are dictated by outside forces or other people. Kaplan uses an example of a client who was successful in one area of the financial industry, and points out that this person would likely be seen as being successful by other people. The truth was, though, that while he was financially successful and was earning a good living, he was not actually doing the job he had always wanted to do. Kaplan suggested that the client ask around to see of any other companies were interested in hiring him in his dream position. As it turned out, the company that employed him was willing to offer him this different position, which he never would have know if he had not asked about it.

The next step in the advice Kaplan offers is to take a personal inventory of one’s strengths and weaknesses. Kaplan asserts that it is often easier for people to make a list of their strengths than it is to list their weaknesses. It may be necessary to ask other people to help come up with a list of weaknesses, which requires earning the trust of people who might feel uneasy about offering such information. If people know you are sincere, Kaplan claims, they are more likely to help out in such a situation. By knowing one’s own strengths and weaknesses, it is possible to better match them to personal goals, and to figure out specific areas in which to work on making improvements, and to excel in the areas that will help one to meet those goals.

The third step Kaplan discusses is in the area of character and leadership. By taking what one has learned in the earlier exercises and matching it to an effort to demonstrate leadership, an individual can help to achieve not just personal success, but success for one’s entire organization. It is important to be willing to occasionally put aside what is best just for you, claims Kaplan, in order to do what is best for the organization. By demonstrating these traits, others in the organization will be more willing to follow you as a leader and this will benefit not just you, but everyone else as well.

Because I am still a student, I still have time to figure out exactly what my professional goals are. I have some solid ideas about what I would like to accomplish in my career, but I am also open to new possibilities that might arise as I continue my education. I am a Fashion Merchandising major, and my father owns a fashion company in Taiwan. I expect that I will work for my father’s company in the future, and I may even end up running it someday. When considering Kaplan’s advice, I began to consider that my personal idea of success might be to expand the market for the business into the U.S., which would require me to perhaps learn some things that I may not have considered as important before.

My father expects me to take over the company someday, but I may want to focus more on managing the U.S. arm of the company. I have some strength in that area, but I may need to work on some of my weaknesses. I will need to become as proficient as possible in speaking and writing English if I want to focus on working in the U.S., which may not be as important if I decide to work primarily in Taiwan. Even if I do not want to lead the company, it would be helpful for me to develop leadership skills so that I can be the best possible manager of the U.S. arm of the company.  Kaplan’s advice is primarily directed at people who are already in the business world, and offers suggestions about how to make improvements or changes to achieve greater satisfaction. Even though I am just getting started, Kaplan’s advice can still help me. By considering his advice as I make decisions about my future, I will be better able to ensure that I know how I define success and what I need to do to achieve that success.