Professional identity may mean different things to different individuals in a professional context Job titles/roles; People defining themselves through a job title Engagement with CPD; It contributes to defining how people see themselves which may change over time.

1. Professional Self
Dr Ryan Thomas Williams

2. Professional Identity : what I call
myself defines who I am (Neary, 2014)
Professional identity may mean different things to different individuals in a professional
context
• Job titles/roles; People defining themselves through a job title
• Engagement with CPD; It contributes to defining how people see themselves which may
change over time.

3. Professional identity:
personality
Sanders, 2010 (cited in Watson and Reissner, 2014, p.128)
Personality
• Individual's distinctive cognitive structures and processes which are
difficult to change (but certainly not fixed)
• Inherent and learnt
• Aspects of our personality might be more suited to some organisations
than others
• The 'big five' personality traits
Myers-Briggs
• Introversion V Extroversion
• Sensing(basic info) V Intuition (interpretation)
• Thinking (logistics) V Feeling (individual circumstances)
• Judging (structure) V Perceiving (openness)

4. Professional identity: values
• What is right and wrong; what is important to the way we live and work
• An indicator of underlying motivations and aspirations (Watson and Reissner,
2014)
• Not fixed
• Connections between individual and organizational values
• Can help us to better understand the type of organization we want to work in

5. Professional identity: identifying your values
Make notes about the following:
§ A time when you were very happy
§ What were you doing?
§ Where you with other people? Who?
§ Were there any other factors which contributed to this happiness?
§ A time when you were proud
§ Why were you proud?
§ Did anyone else share your pride?
§ Were there any other factors which contributed to this pride?
§ A time when you were satisfied/fulfilled
§ How was this need/desire fulfilled (event/item)?
§ How/why was this experience so meaningful/significant?
Can you identify personal values emerging from these notes?

6. Professional identity: Norms
Expected patterns of behaviour
§ Societal and cultural norms
§ Workplace norms
Behavioural norms
 Professional standards/professional ethics
 CIPD (HR),
 CMI (management and leadership)
 CIM (marketing)
 Specified but also tacit knowledge of norms
 Socialisation (collaboration), articulation (communication) and internalisation (reflection on practice) of norms (Sanders,
2010, in Watson & Reissner, 2014, p.143)

7. Professional identity: emotion
 Emotional behaviours of individuals and the impact on the wider organisation
 Emotional behaviours of a manager: impact on organisational enviornment (Momeni, 2009)
 Management who cannot empathise with employees can impact on productivity (Kiel & Watson, 2009)
§ Emotional intelligence (EI)
§ High EI: strong relationships, management of difficult situations calmly and effectively, resilient in the face of adversity
§ Goleman (2005)
§ Self-awareness
§ Self-regulation
§ Motivation
§ Empathy
§ Social skills

8. Identifying your professional self
As practitioners
• What do you do professionally?
• What your job is?
• How do we communicate to others who we are and what we do?
• What is your level and contribution within a professional setting?
• How your contribution plays into the work environment?
• What your skills and competencies are?
• What the work and position means to you and what's your long term goal?

9. Identifying areas for personal development through
personal reflection
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Skills
• Problems
• Achievements
• Happiness
• Solutions

10. Personal SWOT Analysis

11. Strengths
• What advantages do you have that others may lack (e.g., skills, qualifications, etc,)?
• What do you do better than anyone else?
• What personal resources can you call upon?
• What do other people see as your strengths?
• What do you see as your strengths?

12. Weaknesses
• What tasks do you usually avoid because you don't feel confident doing them?
• What do I see as my weaknesses?
• What will the people around you see as your weaknesses?
• Are you completely confident in your education, skills and experience? If not, where
do your weaknesses lie?
• What are your negative work habits (e.g; being late, disorganized, etc)?
• What skills do you avoid using? e.g; a fear of public speaking

13. Opportunities
• What new possibilities are open to me?
• What new technology can help you to develop?
• Is there a need in your workplace that no one else is filling?
• You might find useful opportunities in the following: Networking events, educational
classes, or conferences.
• What works in my favour at the moment?
• What resources do I have at my disposal?
• Who or what can help me?

14. Threats
• What might cause me difficulties?
• What obstacles do you currently face?
• Is there any competition?
• Are your circumstances or role changing?
• Does changing technology threaten your position?
• Could any of your weaknesses lead to threats?
• What restrictions are there on me?
• Am I lacking in any resources or support?