Self development: Grooming to be the best you can be

“Achieving a dream is about more than just what you accomplish. It’s about who you become in the process,” says leadership guru John Maxwell. Everyone wants to achieve excellence and realise their dreams. Some people achieve their goals easily while others struggle. What makes the difference is attitude and self-learning? This week, experts Dr Michael Atchia, Kevin Chellen and Ismael Essackjee provide an insight and elaborate on the importance of self development programmes in helping an individual to achieve their goals.

Education and training specialist Dr Michael Atchia says that based on his assessment, Mauritius lacks in self- development opportunities. He argues that neighbouring countries such as Kenya and South Africa fare much better. “In UK, for example, there are hundreds of self- development courses and lectures available every day and most of them are free. Self development programmes are valuable. But they comprise mostly of short courses, which are not sanctioned by formal academic qualifications. So are they useful? Yes, definitely. But clearly, they are not to be confused or indeed submitted as formal academic qualifications. Each professional or employee should regularly seek to upgrade, to improve himself. UNESCO calls this lifelong learning.”

According to Dr Michael Atchia, over and above academic qualifications, young professionals need skills in fields such as IT, language, public speaking, keeping healthy systems, and ethics to be successful. “There is no age to learn. For those who have left school and joined work, you should start as soon as you start working, and it should be ongoing, that it, it should never stop. We can and must develop such opportunities locally. The Mauritius Academy of Science (MAST) and the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre do so occasionally. Students aged 10 to 19 should enrol on online self development programmes of interest which are not offered at school. This is a way to strengthen your skills or get new visions.”

Ismael Essackjee: “The more valuable we are, the more we are paid” 

A specialist in personal development, freelance coach and JCI Local President of Quatre Bornes, Ismael Essackjee works with young people a lot. He is a mentor and trains young professionals. “A good academic education is, more often than not, fundamental to a successful career. However, many young people find themselves disillusioned and at a loss when joining the work place. The initial necessary adaptation period may be a reason but this can be attributed to lack of preparedness for real life action as well. This is where skills acquired through personal development can assist in the smooth integration to the work environment, readily adding value to the company and enhancing productivity. We are paid for bringing value to the market place. The more valuable we are, the more we are paid.”

Academic qualifications will help someone land an interview but it is how creatively he uses his ‘selling skills’, which will eventually get him the job. These skills are not distinctively catered for in the academic curriculum and it is up to the student to have this inquisitiveness to invest some time in self-grooming. “Academic qualifications are prerequisites for informed decisions. Yet, often employers are faced with the issue of performance gap discernible by the fact that knowledge is not readily translated into desired results. Personal development has proved to be instrumental in bridging this performance gap.” 

Taking his mentor Jim Rohn as an example, he says: For things to change, YOU have to change.

“Do not wait for the economic environment to improve or luck to come your way. Even though some opportunities may come your way, what have you prepared to make the most of such opportunities?” 

As Stephen Covey says: “Start with the end in mind” and work towards your goals. Put everything on paper and you will now be in a position to discern areas in which you need to improve to be able to achieve your goals. Most of these are skills development areas, advises the trainer. He believes that the most common skills young professionals need are public speaking, communication, dealing with people, time management or leadership.

How self development brings positive change? 

Young people who have embraced personal development have a vision based on their set goals, says Ismael Essackjee. “This vision dictates the overall direction that their career is heading towards. Every step they take or every major decision they make are in line with this vision. As such, on any achievement, they will celebrate while for any failure, they will bounce back and have a go at it again. Passion and enthusiasm keep them fuelled and success is bound to come sooner or later. On the other hand, someone who does not have a clear written vision will go with the tide and may one day find himself very far from what he has always dreamt of. “If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there” – Lewis Carroll. Even though someone is purely from an academic background, he may achieve (moderate) success but little does he know that he may have forgone massive success. This is when you may find people at the end of their career with what is seen as a successful one by many but deep inside, there is still a sense of unfulfillment in the individual.” 

He further adds that “it goes without saying that you should work hard (or work smartly) on the job which makes you a living. Nevertheless, one should also learn to work harder on oneself to allow for growth. The critical question to ask on the job is not “What am I getting?” but “What am I becoming?”

“A leader is one who knows the way…” 

For the Local President, personal development can open new doors for you or it will create new doors for you. “If you always do what you have always done, you always get what you have always gotten. Challenge your excuses. Start working on you by instilling some new small habits like reading everyday, maintaining a journal or starting your goals book. You will soon get to observe positive change in your attitude and outlook of life. Accept challenges, get outside your comfort zone and dare to fail. The only way to increase your success rate is to double your failure rate. FAIL is actually an acronym for First Attempt In Learning.”

Kevin Chellen: “Self development programmes complement academic training” 

Consultant and trainer at Influence Training Centre, Kevin Chellen explains that academic qualifications do not guarantee success. After our studies we join, what is commonly referred to as the University of Life. This is where we build our self.

“Nowadays, the knowledge and skills learned in academia are merely an entry ticket to get a job. Once we enter this ruthless zone, we are immediately expected to use our unique pool of soft skills to make a difference. The soft skills we develop over time through different experiences build up our character and define how we respond to the challenges in the professional environment.”

Unfortunately, he says, academia does not prepare future professionals in using their soft skills (for example, influencing and connecting with people, self-control, problem solving and managing their focus) in the working environment. This delays the new employee in reaching his full potential. Some of the skills will never be learned or used by some because they take setbacks as failures instead of viewing them as learning opportunities. 

“Many of them quit and they compromise their future. This is where self development or leadership programs come into play, complementing the academic training, to support professionals in identifying, using and building these new skills.” 

He argues that young professionals need to develop an entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial mindset. “The challenge is to shift professionals to the 'Abundance Mindset' which opens new possibilities and generate creative solutions. While competition is a necessary ingredient in the workplace as it boosts productivity, if not well managed, it can also be counterproductive causing undue stress which impedes the success of the whole organisation. With the abundance mindset, professionals develop win-win situations which in turn generate more opportunities resulting in the growth of the whole industry and the country as well.” 

He encourages professionals, young entrepreneurs and organisations to invest in personal growth because it is indeed the cornerstone of success. Personal development and leadership programmes have been designed to help people achieve more in life; we hope Mauritians will take advantage of it”