This individual development plan outlines Samantha Turner's goals for improving in three key areas: building resiliency, managing stress, and strengthening face-to-face communication skills. For building resiliency, her plan is to challenge herself with new activities and learn to play the ukulele. To manage stress as a Type A personality, she will reflect on stressful situations, set aside relaxing time, and join a support group. Finally, to enhance communication, she will practice active listening skills and public speaking. Her plans include specific actions, timelines, and methods for self-reflection to achieve her personal development targets.

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Individual Development Plan
Samantha Turner
Jacksonville University
MGT 550
Spring 2016

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Table of Contents
Personal Background....................................................................................... 2
Personal History ........................................................................................................................ 2
Work History............................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction..................................................................................................... 4
Summary of What You Learned.............................................................................................. 4
Benefits of further Development.............................................................................................. 4
Targets for Improvement ......................................................................................................... 5
Building Resiliency........................................................................................... 6
Personal Mastery....................................................................................................................... 6
Desired Mastery......................................................................................................................... 6
Action Plan................................................................................................................................. 6
Time Line ................................................................................................................................... 7
Stress Management.......................................................................................... 8
Personal Mastery....................................................................................................................... 8
Desired Mastery......................................................................................................................... 8
Action Plan................................................................................................................................. 8
Time Line ................................................................................................................................... 9
Face-to-Face Communication........................................................................ 10
Personal Mastery..................................................................................................................... 10
Desired Mastery....................................................................................................................... 10
Action Plan............................................................................................................................... 10
Time Line ................................................................................................................................. 11
Conclusion...................................................................................................... 12
Summary.................................................................................................................................. 12
Summary Table ....................................................................................................................... 13
References................................................................................................................................ 14

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Personal Background
Personal History
I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, where I lived with both my parents and my
two older brothers for most of my life. At an early age, I was involved in sports as I participated
in track and field, volleyball, and basketball. I was also involved in extracurricular activities such
as cheerleading, dance, and art during this time. Even though I was involved in many sports and
extracurriculars, my family always emphasized the importance of my education and doing well in
my course work. My father would always say, “school comes before sports”. This ideal was strictly
enforced in my family since if my brothers and I were not passing our classes then my parents
would not allow us to participate in any type of sports or extracurriculars. This principle taught me
a lot about how to manage my time as well as learning study habits that would allow me to excel
in the classroom so that I could do the sports and activities I loved.
In high school, I continued to play sports but I began to focus mainly on track and field
when I learned I had the potential to earn a collegiate track and field scholarship. After discovering
this, I put all my effort into becoming a better student as I maintained a 4.0 GPA while dedicating
my extra time to practicing for my sport. From my hard work and determination, I was able to
acquire a track and field scholarship from Jacksonville University after graduating high school.
I began my undergraduate degree at Jacksonville University during fall of 2012, where it
took me three and a half years to obtain my BBA in Marketing and Management. While I was in
my undergraduate degree, I was a thrower for the track & field team at Jacksonville University, I
had been awarded Academic All-Conference and Freshman Field Athlete of the year honors for
the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons. Not only was I an excellent student-athlete but I was also
a member of the Brumos Circle of Excellence, National Society of Leadership and Success, Beta
Gamma Sigma, and Phi Kappa Phi.
Currently I am pursing my MBA with a concentration in both Management and Consumer
Goods & Services. I am also still competing as a thrower for the Jacksonville University Track
and Field team. Even though my passions are both school and track and field, some of my hobbies
include painting, dancing, and cooking. I also enjoy traveling to new places and trying new things.
I also enjoy going on new adventures and I feel that being a part of the MBA program is my next
big adventure.

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Work History
As a student-athlete I have always taken pride in my time management skills, which I
acquired from having to manage my academics, athletics and involvements in many organizations.
However, I was able to further develop these time management skills when I began my
undergraduate internship in October of 2014 at the United States largest wound care provider
known as Healogics. At Healogics I held the position of a marketing intern, where my work
concentrated mainly on community outreach, wound care center education, and sales of Healogics
products and services.
During my eight months at Healogics I became educated on how to conduct data analysis
for the productivity of Healogics individual wound care centers. From that information I then
created evaluation reports that were sent to each individual hospital whose wound care centers
were performing at a profit loss. I also developed a mock sales pitch during my internship where
I had to utilize information from sales and data analysis in order to create the simulated sales pitch
which was then presented to the marketing department.
After I completed my internship in May of 2015, I completed my bachelor’s degree at
Jacksonville University. From the completion of my bachelors in December of 2015, I continued
on graduate school at Jacksonville University. I began my MBA for the spring of 2016 at
Jacksonville University and received my current position as a Tech assistant for the Davis College
of Business.
In my current position as a Tech assistant, I am responsible for managing the Davis College
of Business’s technological device inventory, which includes conducting updates, maintenance,
and written records of devices such as surface pros, Ipads, and dell computers. I also assist
professor, Dr. Mattia, with two of her undergraduate classes, where I help make sure her classes
run smoothly by distributing laptops to designated students and properly updating, charging, and
storing the laptops after her classes. Though I commit twenty hours a week to my tech assistantship
I still remain actively involved in the Jacksonville University’s Women’s Track and Field program
as well as the Brumos Circle of Excellence, National Society of Leadership and Success, Beta
Gamma Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

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Introduction
Summary of What You Learned
From the use of the self-assessments, guide books, and in class discussions I was able to
understand how important self-reflection was when trying to be an effective manager, leader, and
team member. By using the information gathered from these personal development activities I was
able to recognize what my strengths were and what areas of listening, communicating, and
management I was weakest. Since most of the self-actualization of these strength and weakness
came from the self-assessments, I discovered that testing your level of mastery in areas of personal
development should be done frequently so that you can create a plan of how to improve and
strengthen areas of development you are weakest in. This enlightenment on self -reflection led me
to recognize how personal development is a continual life long process that must be incorporated
in any situation where you engage with others in order to develop and maintain strong relationships
with these individuals.
Benefits of Further Development
Furthering your personal development is ultimately a necessity if your trying to maximize
your potential as a leader, manager, teammate, student, or friend. Since furthering your personal
development is essentially “a way for people to assess their skills and qualities, consider their aims
in life and set goals” (What is Personal Development, 2015) the benefits of using personal
development is that it provides you with self- actualization, self-confidence, time management
skills, and transferable skills that you can apply to all aspect of your life By incorporating further
personal development you can be aware of your weaknesses and then eventually turn them into
strength from recognizing, evolving, and utilizing the skills you established from this
developmental process.

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Targets for Improvement
For work, school, and my sport I find it very hard to accept adapting in order to grow in
my personal development. This creates a hindrance in my life since I constantly struggle to adapt
to new challenges that accompany personal development. Since I want a future career in
management, it is important that I acquire the ability to change not only so I can be more flexible
but also so I can influence others to adapt in order for the organization to be more productive. One
way managers can influence others is by their ability to communicate in a way that is clear,
effective, and motivational. This is why in order to further and improve my personal development
as a future manger I must focus on the following three target areas:
1. Building Resiliency
2. Stress Management
3. Face-to-Face Communication

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Building Resiliency
Personal Mastery
According to the self-assessment “How Well Do I respond to Turbulent Change” (Vaill,
1989)I scored a seventy-six on the rating scale. This score was below the average score of seventy-
eight, which concluded that I was a person who found change uncomfortable, unpleasant, and
overwhelming (Vaill, 1989).Since the assessments measurement of my response to change
determined that I was more pessimistic when it comes to change, I can agree with these results
since my initial response to change is always to resist and question authority. This type of response
towards change can cause a hindrance when management needs to incorporate new ideas, new
skills, new strategies, and new procedures since I see change in negative way. I understand that in
order to be more comfortable with change I must build resiliency in order to create opportunity for
my further development of adapting to change.
DesiredMastery
In order to build resiliency and become more comfortable with change, my goal is to
increase my assessment score by ten points so I receive a score of eighty-six. To achieve this goal,
I will have to integrate optimism, problem solving skills, continuous learning, and self-confidence
in myself and my abilities when I’m faced with new and challenging activities (Sasson, 2016). To
do this I must put myself in new and uncomfortable situation where I must deal with the
unexpected. By putting myself in these new and uncomfortable situations more often I will be able
to learn to adapt to new environments and create skills which will allow me to develop a comfort
with turbulent change in order to build resiliency.
Action Plan
1. I will try four new activities/experiences I have never tried before and am hesitant to try.
These activities consist of eating at a Mediterranean restaurant, going hiking at the
Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve (Theodore Roosevelt Area), going on an Old
Town Trolley Ghost Tour of St. Augustine, and doing a beer crawl of the King Street
District in Jacksonville, FL.
a. I will utilize my time, money, ID, and the company of friends to experience all four
activities.
b. I will be using a journal to record my overall experience.
i. In the journal I will note my expectations before the
experience, my actual experience, and something I learned
from trying these new activities.

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ii. This will act as a physical record of the activities and my
experience so that I can evaluate and self-reflect on my
progress towards building resiliency.
c. I will have to utilize patience, optimism, open-mindedness, acceptance, and self-
reflection in the process.
2. I will learn to play the ukulele by taking beginner level ukulele classes to provide myself
with an opportunity to learn a new skill, where I will be faced with challenges that I must
adapt to.
a. I must commit to two classes per month, while also committing to two hours of
practice two times per week
b. I will have to utilize patience, teamwork, continuous learning and listening skills in
the process.
3. I will join and become an active member of the Jacksonville Bucket list group, which is a
Jacksonville based group that organizes activities that people in the group want to cross off
their bucket list but lack the confidence in doing them by themselves. This will cause me
to have to handle the unknown and view change as an opportunity whether the experience
is disappointing or successful.
a. I must attend three organized events each month.
b. I will be using a journal to record my initial thoughts before the event and then after
the event.
i. I will write down my overall thought of the experience both good
and bad.
ii. This will provide a written record of how each group activity
created an opportunity to learn and grow, which will help build
resiliency in understanding that change provides opportunity in
personal development.
c. I will have to utilize patience, optimism, open-mindedness, and self-reflection in
the process.
Time Line
1. Every Saturday after 1pm from January 22, 2016 to February 28,2016 until the four
activities are completed.
2. Take lessons twice a month on Wednesdays at 6pm at Georgia’s music. Practice every
Tuesday and Thursday during the time of 5pm to 7pm. This will begin on May 9, 2016
and finishing on September 2, 2016.
3. Three events each month starting from April 4, 2016 and finishing September 4, 2016.

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Stress Management
Personal Mastery
According to the self-assessment “Am I a Type-A”, I scored one hundred and eleven on
the scale, which calculated that I was a Type A personality (Bortner, 1969).The four characteristics
that I scored high on that are known characteristics of Type A’s were the behaviors of never being
late, competitiveness, feeling rushed, and doing too many things at once (Bortner, 1969). From the
interpretation of the assessment, I agree with the results of having a Type A personality since I
observe myself having similar behaviors of “striving to achieve more with less time”, “being
consistently impatient”, and “measuring success in terms of how much acquire” (Bortner, 1969).
This causes me to build up stress that negatively affects my performance since I try to take on too
many tasks with my limited amount of time. Since I I become stressed and frustrated very easily
by being a Type A personality my health and my relationships are negatively impacted.
DesiredMastery
As a Type A personality, I’m constantly dealing with becoming easily frustrated from
stress. Since this stress has a very profound effect on my everyday tasks, my goal is to lower my
assessment score from one hundred and eleven to one hundred so that I will be a Type A-
personality according to self-assessment (Bortner, 1969). Though I can’t change that I’m a Type
A personality completely, I think if I can manage my reaction to stress I can become less of a Type
A personality. In order to lower my score, I will work on stress management as recommended by
the assessment (Bortner, 1969). This will include focusing on understanding my unique issues that
cause my stress, provide time to vent about my stress, improve my reaction to stress, and finally
find ways relieve stress (PENN Behavioral Health, 2008). During this process I will have to be
optimistic, watch out for warning signals of stress, and then continually adjust my goals so that I
learn how to deal with stress that comes from having a Type A personality (Mind Tools Editorial
Team, 2016).
Action Plan
1. I will be self-reflecting with my assistantship supervisor about ways in which I can handle
the frustration that occurs from my stress from being a Type A personality. From speaking
with my supervisor I will describe why I thought the situation particular situations were
stressful, reflect upon how I handled the stressful situation, determine what the positives
of my reaction were, and then discuss what ways I could improve my reaction to the stress.
a. There should be two-way communication where I give my own thoughts and then
my supervisor acts as a mediator so I can find ways to improve the way I handle
stress in various situations.

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b. The responses will be written in a journal and act as a way to self-reflect.
2. I will set aside time for myself each week to listening to music, which I consider a de-
stressor. This will provide me with a designated time where I can relive tension, anger, or
frustration that comes from my daily stress as a Type A personality. This activity will be
done alone to be able to fully destress.
3. I will create a support group with three friends, where we discus our stressors for the week
over brunch. This will create a support system that I can lean on when things get hectic.
a. Topics of discussion include work, school, life, and relationships.
b. The goal is to relieve stress in a social setting.
c. Group must act as a trustworthy and reliable support network.
Time Line
1. Twice a week, Mondays & Wednesdays, during the time of 1pm to 5pm, from
February 1, 2016 until May 1, 2016
2. One hour on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from March 1,2016 until
December 1, 2016
3. Meet once a week on Sundays during the time of 11am till 2pm from August 28, 2016
until December 4, 2016.

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Face-to-Face Communication
Personal Mastery
According to the self-assessment, “What’s My Face-to-Face Communication Style”, I
scored seven in the dimension of contentiousness (Norton, 1978). The dimensions I scored the
lowest were dominance, dramatic, animated, relaxed, and open, which were all scores below a
three. From my scores, the dimension that most negatively affects my face-to-face communication
is my high score of contentiousness which makes my face-to-face communication style seems
argumentative and closed off (Norton, 1978). I recognize that by lowering my high dimension of
contentiousness I can begin to portray myself in a way that is respectful and focused on creating
rapport with others rather than combative.
DesiredMastery
Since my face-to-face communication style is a seven in contentiousness making me seem
argumentative, my goal is to lower my score in this dimensions from a seven to a two so that I can
create a face-to-face communication style that helps create rapport with others. In order to lower
my score, I will focus on being aware of the message my body language sends as well as
incorporate active listening and clear expression in my face-to-face communication style. By
focusing on these areas, my face-to-face communication style will portray a “clear expression of
ideas in a manner and tone that can be easily and correctly interpreted by another party” (Bowles,
2014) rather than seen as argumentative.
Action Plan
1. During my assistantship I will carry a note pad with me, where I will write down notes
during the moments I have face-to-face communication with my supervisor about
directions or feedback about my work. This will provide me with an opportunity to prevent
my face-to-face communication style from coming across as argumentative, closed off, and
inattentive in order to create rapport with my supervisor.
a. I will take notes of my supervisors points and then create follow up questions
that will be asked after my supervisor finishes talking.
b. After my supervisor has completed talking I will then ask my follow up
questions to her previous statements.

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2. I will request people who I frequently communicate with face-to-face to provide me with
feedback on my face-to-face communication style. This would include people such as my
friends, family, coaches, professors, classmates, teammates, and supervisors. This will
provide me with insight on how my face-to-face communication comes across so that I can
improve my body language, tone, and conciseness during my face-to-face communications
with others.
a. I can ask that these individuals each provide written feedback on my face-to
face communication style, which would include both positive and negative
aspects of my style.
b. I would also ask them to provide some advice on how to improve a negative
aspect of my face-to-face communication style so that I could incorporate that
recommendation into my development plan.
3. I will join and become an active member of SOAR, which is a local Jacksonville women’s
empowerment group. This group will provide me exposure to new people that I will have
to communicate with and work on my contentiousness dimension in order to prevent from
coming across as argumentative.
a. I must be conscious of my body language, attentiveness, and clarity during the
face-to-face conversations.
b. I must use my active listening skills as well as convey positive and open face-
to-face communication style.
c. I must also avoid seeming too dominant or argumentative when meeting the
other members of SOAR.
Time Line
1. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, during the time of 1:00PM to 5:00PM from March 7,
2016 until May 30,2016
2. On Wednesdays, from June 1, 2016 until November 1, 2016.
3. One Saturday each month from 11:00AM till 1:00PM starting May 2, 2016 and finishing
December 28, 2016.

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Conclusion
Summary
After completing the course assessments, readings, and in class discussions, I fully grasp
how personal development can help provide your career with a competitive edge. Subsequently
people who further their individual growth are able to be more open minded, team oriented,
empathetic, and patient, these skills provide individuals with the ability to be able to plan, organize,
and set of common goals for self-improvement. Since I want to pursue a career in management
understanding my levels of adaptability to change, frustration from stress, and my personal image
helps with my focus on my continual growth in the areas of resiliency, stress management, and
face-to-face communication.
From completing this individual development plan, I plan to continue assessing my current
skill levels in my future management career and determine in which ways I can improve my areas
of weakness. By using my skills of problem solving, active listening, self-reflection, patience, and
optimism I will be able to continue to develop into a manager, leader, student, athlete, or friend
that is open to change and accepts opportunities to learn and grow. Below I have included a few
pictures of my individual development journey as well as concepts I have learned and incorporated
for my further development.

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Summary Table
Target Area Current
Level
DesiredLevel Action Frequency Duration
Building
Resiliency
Turbulent
Change:
76
Turbulent
Change:
86
1.Try four new experiences consisting of
trying a Mediterranean restaurant, going
hiking at the Timucuan Ecological & Historic
Preserve (TheodoreRoosevelt Area), going on
an Old Town Trolley Ghost Tour of St.
Augustine, and doing a beer crawl of theKing
Street District in Jacksonville, FL.
2. Learn to play the ukulele by taking lessons.
3.Join and become an active member of the
Jacksonville Bucket List group.
1.Every Saturday after
1pm
2.Lesons every
Wednesday at 6pm.
Practice every
Tuesday and
Thursday during the
time of 5pm to 7pm.
3.Three events each
month.
1. January 22, 2016
to February 28,2016
until the four
activities are
completed
2. May 9, 2016 to
September 2, 2016
3.April 4, 2016 to
September 4, 2016
Stress
Management
Type A
Personality:
111
Type A
Personality:
100
1.Self-reflect with assistantship supervisor
about ways I react to stress and how I can
improve my solutions to manage that stress.
2. Set aside time to listening to music in order
to destress.
3. Create a support group with three friends,
where we discuss our weekly stress over
brunch.
1.Mondays &
Wednesdays during
the time of 1:00pm to
5:00pm.
2.One hour on
Mondays,
Wednesdays, and
Fridays.
3. Sundays during the
time of 11am till 2pm.
1. February 1, 2016
to May 1, 2016
2. March 1,2016 to
December 1, 2016
3.August 28, 2016
to December 4,
2016
Face-to-Face
Communication
Contentiousness:
7
Contentiousness:
2
1.Useof anotepad to writedown notes during
the face-to-face communication with
supervisor.
2.Request people who I frequently
communicate with face-to-face to provide me
with feedback on my face-to-face
communication style.
3.Join and become an active member of
SOAR
1.On Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday,
during the time of
1:00pm to 5:00pm.
2.On Wednesdays
each week.
3.One Saturday each
month from 11:00AM
till 1:00PM.
1.March 7, 2016 till
May 30,2016
2.June 1, 2016 to
November 1, 2016
3.May 2, 2016 to
December 28, 2016

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References
Bortner, R. W. (1969). Short Rating Scale as a Potential Measure of Pattern A Behavior. Journal
of Chronic Diseases, 87-91.
Bowles, C. (2014, March 12). Effective Face-to-Face Communication. Retrieved from
Livestrong.com: http://www.livestrong.com/article/158753-effective-face-to-face-
communication/
Mind Tools Editorial Team. (2016). Managing Your Emotions at Work. Retrieved from
Mindtools: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_41.htm
Norton, R. W. (1978). Foundation of a Communicator Style Construct. In Human
Communication Research (pp. 99-111). Sage Publications Inc.
PENN Behavioral Health. (2008). Handling Anger and Frustration at work. PENN Behavioral
Health Corporate Services, 8.
Sasson, R. (2016). The Power of Positive Attitude Can Change Your Life. Retrieved from
Success Conciousness: http://www.successconsciousness.com/positive_attitude.htm
Vaill, P. B. (1989). In Managing as a Performing Art: New Ideas for a World of Chaotic Change
(pp. 8-9). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
What is Personal Development. (2015). Retrieved from Skills you Need:
http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/personal-development.html