Planning and controlling
What I do
I currently work as a director of business development and marketing for a media company. My responsibilities in this company include growing the number of radio and television advertisements and attracting more radio listeners and television viewers for the company.
Strengths and weaknesses
In terms of strengths, I am a good listener able to withstand any challenge. I also pay attention to details in what I do. In addition, I am an organized person. Nonetheless, I have two major weaknesses. Firstly, I tend to be impatient when things do not work my way. This means that I do not waste time on anything that does not work the way I want it to work. Secondly, I tend to lose focus when I divide my attention on different issues at one given time. This notwithstanding, I have been able to devise ways of dealing with my weaknesses (Kerzner, 2013).
Step 1: career objectives
It is clear that one cannot achieve his/her objectives unless he/she defines those objectives (Schermerhorn, 2011). In relation to this fact, I want to become either a vice president or a president of a media company in the next five years. If possible, I might own a media company in the next five years, but if not possible, I might be a vice president or a president of any media company that we have around. This means that I have not restricted myself to owning a media company in the next five years, but if I own one, the better.
Step 2: where I stand right now
As I have stated earlier on, I currently work for a media company as a head of the marketing department. In this department, I head a group of marketers that execute the marketing campaigns for the company. My team and I work towards attracting radio and television advertisements, as well as growing the number of radio listeners and television viewers for the company. Right now, we have been able to increase the number of radio and television advertisements for the company and hope to do even more than what we have done in the last two years (Schermerhorn, 2011).
Step 3: The action plan
In order to become a vice president or a president of a media company, I will pay attention to this issue and distance myself from anything that might distract me from achieving this objective. By this, I mean that I will not be impatient with myself even when things will not be working as I expect them to. It also means that I will not focus my attention on anything else other than this objective so that I cannot be distracted from it. As a result, I will only handle my office work and work towards becoming either a vice president or a president of our company or any other company in the media industry.
Step 4: the premises
As I work towards achieving my objective, there are possibilities that I might be promoted in our company and become the person I want to be. However, if I might not be promoted in our company, I will focus my attention on transferring to another media company that may have opportunities for growth. This means that I will not restrict myself to our company alone. Instead, I will also look for opportunities in other media companies. If this alternative will not be possible as the first one, then I will work towards owning a media company and becoming the president of that company (Schermerhorn, 2011). I know that owning a media company is a huge task, but I will not be distracted by this fact.
Step 5: The actual plan
In relation to the above alternatives, I will start by looking for the possibilities of being promoted in our company. If there will be no possibilities, then I will look for those possibilities in other companies. If I find such possibilities in other companies, then I will pursue them by making formal applications. On the contrary, if there will be no such opportunities, then I will look for money to start my own media company and become its president. By so doing, I will have achieved my objective.
Control measures
In order to ensure that I achieve my objective, I will utilize concurrent controls. By this, I mean that I will watch closely what will be taking place in the media industry as well as in our company to determine my next course of action (Schermerhorn, 2011). If things will be working the way I want them to, then I will stick to one course of action. However, if things will not be working as I want them to, then I will evaluate the next course of action. This means that I will be dealing with challenges as they emerge.
Planning and controlling in my own words
In my own words, planning and controlling should work hand in hand. This means that as you plan, then you should also control what you do or execute on a daily basis because you cannot plan without taking control of what you do. However, planning should always precede the control process because you cannot control something unless you plan it (Schermerhorn, 2011). In this regard, one should always start by planning before taking control of what he/she does.
References
Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Schermerhorn, J. (2011). Exploring management. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.