“At fifteen I set my heart upon learning.

At thirty, I had planted my feet firm upon

the ground.
At forty, I no longer suffered from
perplexities.
At fifty, I knew what were the biddings of
Heaven.
At sixty, I heard them with docile ear.
At seventy, I could follow the dictates of
my own heart; for what I desired no
longer overstepped the boundaries of
right.”

- Confucius PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Setting up the stage…
0
Jakob Kunert
j.kunert@st.hanze.nl
Contents
.............................................................................................................................................. 1
Goals & Objectives…………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Professional Identity: .......................................................................................................... 3
Weaknesses and strengths: ............................................................................................... 4
Personal qualities................................................................................................................ 5
Professional Skills: ............................................................................................................. 6
Involvement ......................................................................................................................... 7

1
Goals & Objectives 2018:

Short-term (1year):
• By the end of the academic year 2017/18 I want to finish the program of the 2nd
year successful
• Finish the Honors program to start fresh and focused in the final year
• Professional year 2018/19: - obtain B.A. Sport Studies
I want to finish the professional year with good results.
• During my internship in the Sports service at the University of Hamburg I want
to focus on the Health value of sports*
• Obtain a C1-level certificate in English by the end of the B.A. Sport studies
• Improving my Excel, Word and PowerPoint skills
• Pass the GER-Test, to be able to apply for Masters - during the Professional
Year
• Apply for Masters at the University of Maastricht (Health Promotion & Health
Education; Governance and Leadership in European Public Health)
Mid- term (2-5years):

• Finish my Masters
• find a job in an international institution that is operating in the Health industry and
gain work experience – special interest in Vitality in Organisations, Health
promotion and education & Public Health
• reaching the C2-level in English

Long-term (5-10years):

• establish an international network in the professional field

• take a leading role in and gain leadership experiences
• define my professional goals for the next 10-20 years, answering questions like:
“Do I want to be an entrepreneur, a free-lancer, self-employed, or a manager in
a company?”
“Where do I want to settle to create my “base”?”
“What are realistic and challenging career goals I can commit myself to?”
“How do I want to balance work and private life considering my professional
goal(s)?”

Why do you want to focus on the Health value of Sports in your professional
year?

My main motivation to start the program “Sports studies” was the health aspect of the
studies. I want to create the right circumstances for people to live a healthier, more
balanced and aware life.
That could happen on an individual level, giving personal and group training. Or on an
organizational level by joining in the HRM of a company. I am also interested in
governance work and could image to work for NGO´s or the European Parliament, or
local municipalities issuing health policies and intervention.
As I am still young and need to gain experiences. I want to learn more about each of
these opportunities before I settle for one if I even ever decide to focus on one job.

2
Professional Identity:
My own professional identity is the core pillow of who I am as a professional and what
values, believes I stand for and what attitude I show in the professional field. Being aware
of those factors is of uttermost importance to effectively communicate them to other
professionals and to reflect on my own behavior in the professional field. I see the
professional identity as a dynamic structure that needs to develop over time through making
professional experiences, reflection and consciously changing my approaches - in other
words by trying out new things.

After contemplating about what I value most in my professional life, I decided to list my most
important values to give a clear outline of what drives me.

Image 1 - My Professional Values

Teamwork & Quality &

Cooperation Expertise

Empathy & Challenge &

Community Ambition

Resourceful
ness & Reliability &
Commitmen Structure
t

Based on my dominating values I have certain believes that influence my personal life and
my professional performance. Depending on the context it may have a positive or negative
impact on my efficiency at work. However, it is critical to distinguish between my beliefs of
how a project, company or event should be run and what the professional realty is.
My approach to work is to always seek for a challenge and to commit to it and to reveal the
true glory of a project. This attitude makes me a driver and goal getter. I like to dive deep and
structure tasks to ensure the success of a project and to give everyone a fair the chance to
find a suitable role and tasks they enjoy. In that sense, it is a pleasure to me to cooperate
3
within a team. I get most excited when everyone is enthusiastic about achieving a common
goal. I always try to facilitate this state by showing relentless effort. Often, I face the dilemma
in teamwork’s in case there are imbalances in the level of commitment, need for structure
and ambition to deliver a quality product amongst a team.

Regarding sports, I truly believe in the power of sports as a great tool to connect people with
different social, cultural and religious backgrounds. Sports is not a panacea. However, it can
help individuals & communities and nations to find together, to make friends, to learn, and
help each other just to mention few functions of sports.

Weaknesses and strengths:

Strengths:

1. Problem solver – My way of thinking allows me to keep a cool mind restore the things
(people, teams, products, programs whatsoever) to its true glory.

2. Brainstormer – I am a conceptual thinker. I always try to connect the dots and thereby
consider other people’s opinion and foster the creativity of my peers and try to facilitate their
thinking.

3. Accountability – I can take responsibility, direct people, with no fear of confrontation if

needed.

4. Self-believer – I bring certainty to a group, even though I face the same uncertain future
as the rest I seem to know where the team is heading to. Especially, in deskin making
processes that help to progress with a certain dynamic and certainty.

Weaknesses:

1. Overambitious – I am quite enthusiastic about new things, and I always want to make
the best out of given chances. In the past, I got frustrated because I saw many missed
chances, not only for myself but also for others and for the team (if involved in group work). I
could improve in that regard by channeling my ambition in a different project and active
reflection on my current state of professional development. Doing so I gained a more
objective view.
2. Impatient – This part strongly relates to the topics mentioned above. Due to my
ambitions, I am quick in conducting tasks and bring a lot of energy to processes. I am a
highly goal orientated person, and often I would like to get things done before it is even
possible. Thanks to the studies and the Honors College I learned to be more patient with
people and processes. Now I utilize my energy in other projects while waiting until I can
proceed with others.
3. Loathe highly structured environments – From time to time I struggle if there are too
many restrictions and limitations to projects I am involved in. I like to be in charge and
innovate processes. However, I am aware of the need for structure in certain situations and
learned to accept highly structured environments.

4
Uniqueness:

Everyone is unique and

similar at the same time. Self-beliver
That´s the beauty of life I
deeply respect. However,
there certain things that
make us unique individuals.
After doing on the various
test (see portfolio Problem
Organiser
solver
“Personality tests),
feedbacks (See portfolio
“feedbacks”) and the daily
Leadership
life I can say, that I am potential
good in empowering
people and I have a
genuine interest in
understanding things and
thereby do not hesitate to
question common sense. Brainstormer Philomath
Thus, I have certain
leadership qualities.

Personal qualities

What knowledge, skills and personal characteristics do I have?

Personal characteristics:
I have a heavy duty thinking and organizational talent. In critical situations, I stay calm
and deceive to make the right decisions.
In that sense, I am a highly reliable person, people can come to when things seem
overwhelming. I have great determination, what makes me a driver.
As a result, I can recruit great energy resources, in case I evaluated the given/chosen
challenge as worth investing my time. All in all, I am always listening to my guts and
do what I am most afraid of even though it scares me.

Knowledge:

- I can instruct various age groups to various sports. (groups, couple or personal training).
Whereby my expertise is in Fitness, functional and movement training.

- I have knowledge about organizing and executing sports events, such as Camps,
tournaments, and one-day events.
-I have the knowledge of the last two years of the Sports studies Bachelor

5
Professional Skills:
Planning & Organisation
Teamwork/building
Pro-activity
Responsibility
Problem-solving
Leadership
Flexibility
Presenting
Active listing
Interpersonal skills
Lifelong Learner
Verbal & Written Communication
Intercultural understanding

Do I already possess enough knowledge about work field related situations?

For the field of Sports instructions, I am confident to deliver a professional job.

Furthermore, I also bring some experiences in Sports event management and sports
camp organization. Due to my studies, I obtained a solid knowledge foundation that
will help me to adapt and learn quickly in the field of sports, health, and management.
My main concern to add value wherever I go, if that means I have to attain new skills I
often convince with quick adaptation.

Do I show behavior that is related to the situation (knowledge, skills)?

I am always eager to apply newly learned skills and to share my knowledge with
others. Moreover, I value giving and receiving feedback as a great tool for individual
and group development. The activities, assignments, and feedback represented in my
portfolio give you a good overview of my achievements.

6
What do I need to develop?

Financial Emotional
Intelligence Intelligence

Networking Negotiation
skills skills

Involvement

What is important for you?

Progress &
development

Being active A Vision for life

Freedom of Healthy
mind/speech relationships

Reliability and Time for

trustworthiness myself

7
What gives you energy?

I like to be involved. Helping to change things for the better by using my skills,
abilities, and strength. A good conversation and being active. And a good night sleep.

What kind of difference do you want to make?

I will contribute to a more conscious, healthy environment. I will also show the people
surrounding that moral, hard and honest work pays off. Not only materialistically, but in also
socially and personally. I want to display my idea of life and inspire others by doing so
without forcing and judging anyone for being different. Moreover, I will do my best to bring
different social classes closer.
Whom do you want to be?
I want to be a loving and loved person. Someone full of faith, wisdom and in peace with the
outer world. I want to be a leader with moral who empowers people by creating new paths,
and by supporting minds (individuals, businesses, organizations) likewise. One could say I
want to be a change agent.

What do you think?

I try to orientate on Gandhi's 5 Principles:

Non-violence Forgiveness

Life simple,
Think great

Perseverance Truthfulness

In general, I like the philosophical approach towards life.

What am I doing?

What kind of behavior do I show?

- Kindness & Helpfulness
- Situational Leadership
- Reliability & Certainty
- Understanding & Consideration
- Constructive critic

8
Do I show who I am?
I show myself as good as I can with my current abilities. As I keep developing my
capabilities I am sure that there are hidden traits that will reveal by time.

What could be my place?

Situational awareness

Do I see chances, possibilities, challenges?

Challenges are chances that create possibilities.
Do I experience barriers?
Certainly, but I usually find a way to overcome obstacles.
Does the situation influence my behavior and how?

Barriers make me think, and that makes me excited to think about solutions. Thus, I mostly
get motivated. However, I just like everyone else I need help when tackling bigger
challenges.
What is my place in society?
I see myself as a cosmopolitan, home is where I people welcome me. There is no such a
thing as my place in society, my place is your place, her place, his place. Sharing is caring.
Are you in the balance? What do you need/do to keep the balance or to (re)gain the
balance?

Good question, I think I am in balance. What helps me to regain my balance is reflection and
action.