Chapter One: Who am I today? I am excited to explore this self-assessment. As Ancona, Malone, Orlikowski and Senge (2007) argue, a successful manager is one who understands his own weaknesses and strengths to build a collaborative network. In other words, a manager should work to improve his own weaknesses but also recognize when it is essential to rely on others. As Edinger (2011) notes, although weaknesses can be improved, it is more important for a leader to further improve strengths by understanding complementary skills that can be strengthened. You may be able to improve weaknesses to ensure that these weaknesses become longer obstacles in the workplace, however if these weaknesses are due to your values ​​and personality they may never develop into true strengths. It is possible, however, to further improve strengths, including those that are complementary to other strengths (Edinger, 2011). Through self-evaluation, you are able to understand areas for improvement and also positive strengths that can highlight the type of professional career that will be most rewarding. Through various self-reflection activities in the Masters of Management program, I have discovered that my strengths lie in communication and change management, however my weaknesses lie in the areas of finance and negotiation. I will need to gain additional financial knowledge to feel more confident in dealing with the financial aspects of management. My management experience thus far has not included budgeting, which hinders my overall management perspective. Furthermore, although I am strong in interpersonal communication, I need to further develop my negotiation skills specifically. This will allow me to feel more comfortable participating… in the center of the paper… in the field. Among the different approaches discussed in this program, I hope to be able to use Kotter's change management theories. I value innovation and the ability for continuous improvement, so change management is a field that interests me. The eight stages it presents provided me with a framework to use when engaging in a future change initiative (Kotter, 1996). ReferencesAncona, D., Malone, T.W., Orlikowski, W.J., & Senge, P.M. (2008). Incomplete leader's praise. Harvard Business Review, 8 (2), 61-71. Edinger, S. (2011). Become an extraordinary leader. Finweek, 38. Elrod, D. J. (2012). Become a trusted leader. Strategic Finance, 92 (10), 25-27. Toor, S., & Ofori, G. (2008). Leadership and management: how they are different and why. Leadership and management in engineering , 8 (2), 61-71.