Why professional development is personal development

Written by: Julia Rogers

Personal development is a vital part of your growth and progression. By actively pursuing self-improvement opportunities, you are more likely to feel fulfilled and not only personally, but also professionally. Why? Because the two are intricately linked.

How personal and professional development overlap

There is no one definition of personal development, but we like to view it as an ongoing process of self-improvement that focuses on building upon your self-awareness, your knowledge, and your skills.

Professional development can be ‘defined’ as the dedicated learning to earn or maintain credentials directly associated with your work. Doing so often involves following coursework and a mix of formal and informal learning opportunities in practice.

Simply put, professional development focuses on the workplace and takes in all the training, education, and certifications you need to succeed in your career.

Often, employers and organisations view professional and personal development separately, and there’s often more focus on the professional than the personal. However, we believe this is a limited – and often detrimental – way to view things and argue strongly that professional development is personal development and vice versa.

The benefits of personal development

Working on your personal development is not only essential to self-improvement, but it can help you thrive professionally. You will learn more about your abilities and aspirations and be able to leverage that knowledge to help you succeed at work.

So, what are the benefits of personal development and how can they help you in the workplace?

You will be more confident. Better understanding your emotions and what makes you tick can help you to become the person you want to be, improving your self-confidence and performance at work. This has a positive impact on your self-esteem.
You will define your purpose. Uncovering your values and beliefs will help you to define your purpose for what you’re doing, in both your personal and professional life. Once you understand why you’re doing what you’re doing, you can work towards becoming the best version of yourself.
You will be able to set clearer goals. Once you have uncovered your values and defined your purpose, you can use this information to set clearer and more specific goals that will benefit your personal and professional life.
You will be more motivated. There’s nothing worse than working towards a loosely defined goal that you’re not excited about, which is why it’s important to have clear goals to work towards. There’s plenty of evidence to show that most of us are much more likely to feel motivated about reaching our goals when they’re clear and achievable. Once you focus on your personal development, and set goals that make sense to you, you will be more productive in carrying out the necessary tasks to achieving them, whether that’s at work or outside of work. Seeing improvement in yourself can give you a confidence boost and motivate you to achieve even more.
You will improve your career prospects. By committing to self-improvement, you’re demonstrating to your current and future employer that you can learn and grow. In our information society, individuals who are committed to ongoing learning are the ones who enjoy the greatest amounts of career success.
As a leader, you can help your team and organisation grow. Everyone benefits when leaders spend the time to improve themselves and their skills. By participating in personal development activities, you will develop the knowledge and skills to mentor and motivate your team members towards achieving a common goal.

Start by knowing your strengths and weaknesses

The key to managing your personal development is knowing your strengths and areas for improvement. And once you know your challenges, you can turn those into strengths.

The starting point is an accurate self-analysis such as LH Dynamics, which is central to our unique 360 approach to developing highly effective individuals, teams, and organisations.

Our full-circle approach, which includes training in both technical knowledge and leadership skills, focuses on three main areas:

Insight – helping you to discover your potential and unleash talent.
Growth – empowering you through education.
Support – ensuring everyone stays on track with professional coaching and mentoring.

With this approach, LH helps to unlock your true potential through a mix of complementary personal and professional development.

Development needs support and guidance

Self-improvement doesn’t happen overnight; it takes consistency, dedication, and support, which is why our highly trained coaches and mentors are here to work with and guide you, wherever you are in the world.

If you’re ready to invest in your personal and professional development, please contact us.